Page 23 of Whiskey Reveals

Chapter 12

Today would be a better day.And if Melody kept telling herself that, it would totally happen. She wasn’t going to throw up, pass out, or cry in Fox’s arms. She had done enough of that the day before, and she was over being a drama queen. She had spent way too many years of her life being that person and overreacting to every single little thing because her life had been all about dance. Nothing else mattered. But she was not going to allow herself to regress.

“Easier said than done,” she whispered to herself.

She stood in front of the long mirror in the room her grandmother had let her have, trying not to let her stomach roll any more than it already was. She wasn’t showing yet, and she had no idea when she would start. She was months behind where she needed to be, weeks behind reading and checking on websites and making sure she could be a good mom.

And what struck her the most out of all of that, was that in the day she had known she was pregnant, she hadn’t once thought about not having the baby. The doctor had said she was pregnant, and even though it hadn’t quite sunk in yet, her thoughts had gone to how to tell Fox and what she was going to do as a mom.

Other things like how to tell her grandmother, and how the hell she planned to run a dance studio while she was pregnant also filled her mind, but not having the baby had never been an option.

And if she were honest with herself, Fox’s reaction had been something of a revelation, as well. He hadn’t questioned paternity. Hadn’t even doubted that she was pregnant at all. He had just sat there, rambled right along with her, and had said that they would form a plan. Neither of them had been up to actually forming a plan then, but saying something along those lines had at least calmed her enough to think that they could figure this out.

And because she felt as if she were calm about it, she knew it hadn’t quite hit her yet. She’d had less than twenty-four hours for her mind to go through everything that she needed to go through, and all she could think about was that she really needed a nap. That and the fact that Fox had been wonderful. Yeah, he’d fallen on his ass in front of the coffee table and had mumbled and rambled just like she had, but there hadn’t been a Fox-shaped hole in the door from him running away.

He had stayed. He believed her. And, somehow, she felt as if he believed inher.

Only her grandmother had ever truly believed in her—even those times when she didn’t believe in herself. And the fact that Fox had just shakingly held her, confused her more than anything.

She didn’t really want to analyze those thoughts, though. She hadn’t been lying when she told Fox before all of this happened that she didn’t want to deal with a relationship. She truly didn’t want to open herself up to anything like that again and risk getting hurt. But she knew it was more than that. Because if she focused on what she could have been she would mess up what she’d already worked towards.

But it seemed that all of that might’ve gone out the window with one whiskey-filled night.

All of her plans about forming this new life of hers where it would center on her work and caring for her grandmother felt as if they were sliding through her fingers. She had no idea how she was going to juggle everything. No idea how she was going to handle being pregnant at all. And just using that word, pregnant, made her hands shake and her stomach roll once again. She honestly didn’t know if the nausea came from morning sickness or from the idea that she knew she was pregnant.

This was such a new experience for her, and she was truly afraid that though she had tried so hard not to end up alone as she had been for so long, she feared she would end up doing this alone anyway.

She wasn’t going to put any excess baggage on her grandmother. Grandma Pearl was a force to be reckoned with and had lived her life hard and strong and to its fullest. Melody didn’t want to take away any of the time her grandmother had left, or fill it with worry and stress over what Melody was doing with herlife.

She’d already done enough of that as it was.

In the end, Fox had held her and told her that everything was going to be okay and that they would figure something out. How could she believe that? She didn’t know him. Yet she’d let herself fall into his arms not once, but twice now.

She hadn’t forgotten that kiss either.

It had convinced her to tell him exactly what was on her mind. She hadn’t known how she was going to break the news to him; how she would tell him that she was carrying his child. Yet with one kiss, she had been lost. But with Fox, that wasn’t anything new.

After all, a single kiss was how they’d gotten into their situation to begin with.

And though he seemed as if he were going to be by her side, how could she trust that? How could she put Fox through that? He had his life in order. He looked as if he knew exactly what he was doing in the small town with his family surrounding him. And now she felt as if she were stripping all that away because of the one night they had spent together. This child might be both of their responsibilities, but she still didn’t have any of the answers.

She was once again working herself up into circular reasoning in an argument that made no sense. So she rested her hand on her belly, the awe sliding through her at what she held shocking, and let out a deep breath.

“Now or never.” Since the contractors were working on the studio today and her grandma had plans with friends, she was headed over to Fox’s to talk. He had said that he was going to take the day off from work, though she wasn’t quite sure how he’d do that since he owned the paper. But since that’s what he had said, she was just going with it.

However, the idea of talking with Fox worried her. Maybe worried wasn’t the best word for it, but she was still nervous. She had no idea what he would say, and she had even less idea what she was going to say. Because even though a small part of her wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to take any responsibility and that she could do it on her own, the rest of her knew that was totally not the case.

She did not want to do this alone.

But she had a feeling this small town and Fox’s family within its borders wouldn’t allow that to happen anyway. Now there was that nauseous feeling once again. She was going to be that woman. Yes, that woman. The one who slept with one of Whiskey’s most eligible bachelors and ended up pregnant.

Accidental pregnancies were not supposed to happen in this century, yet her body did not agree. And that was enough of that.

Melody grabbed her purse, left a note for her grandmother telling her where she was headed, and knowing there would probably be questions later, she headed out so she could walk to Fox’s place. His house wasn’t too far away, and she needed the air. As she made her way to the front of his home, she couldn’t help but remember the first time she had been there. He’d been so caring with her, so sweet, even as he’d let her ride him into oblivion. It had been hard, fast, and hot. He’d said it was the best sex of his life, and she knew it was the same for her. She’d never had anything like it, and knew she probably never would again. No man could ever live up to Fox, and that should have scared her, but for some reason, it didn’t.

But she had too much on her mind to worry about that strange thought.

Fox opened the door before she even had a chance to knock and gestured her inside. He looked far too good in worn jeans and a Henley. The fact that he wore no shoes so she could see his feet should have grossed her out, but she was a ballet dancer and had seen way worse feet. And if she were honest, Fox’s feet were hot.

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