Page 114 of Forking the Billionaire

If I was bleeding and there was something wrong with little Pecan, I’d feel it, right? There’d be not just pain, but unbearable agony.

The dissonance had me slowing, pulling back slightly against Jasper’s firm hold on me.

“I’m going to the bathroom first, in the light,” I said, feeling like my body wasn’t my own, like I was floating above watching this horror show unfold. It couldn’t be real. “I have to see what’s going on.”

His eyes were wild as we reached the porch and I fumbled with my keys. My hands were shaking.

Everything I’d thought was changing, the new addition I thought was overtaking my life now felt so fragile. What if I lost the baby?

That couldn’t happen.

I wanted this baby.

Wanted wasn't nearly a strong enough word. I felt a fierce need to protect him or her, to cherish them, to love them.

The key finally went into the lock, and I hurried into the bar straight toward the bathroom.

Jasper followed right on my heels and slipped in before the door shut.

What did he think he was doing?

I blinked at him. “Get out.”

“No.”

I growled at him and tried to push him out the door. How dare he insert himself so firmly into my business?

I said, “You don’t need to be here for this.”

“I do. I have to know our baby is okay.”

Our baby—the words repeated in my head over and over again, but no matter how many times I replayed them, they still didn’t make any sense.

I stared at Jasper’s stern expression.

I waited for him to backpedal and smile and say something stupid about how Pecan was everyone’s baby because of friendship.

Something. Some excuse.

He offered no explanation. He just stared at me with an intensity that frazzled my already frazzled nerves.

Exasperated and lost, I said, “What do you mean,ourbaby?”

TWENTY-NINE

JASPER

I dropped down to my knees, ignoring Esme’s question.

Esme deserved an explanation, of course she did, but explaining my word choice was the least of my worries at the moment.

“Tell me,” she said, her voice rising in pitch and volume.

Her shawl was stained with blood. The sand was stained with blood. Her pants stuck to her wet leg.

“Jasper,”she snapped.

“Pull down your pants.”

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