Page 19 of Last Minute Fiancé

After shots and going over diet and exercise, because Jones was getting older but was still very active, we were done and it was time for my next patient, a three-year-old cat named Cupcake, and I was pretty sure she was part devil.

I loved her with every ounce of my being.

She was rowdy, hissed at me if I looked at her wrong, and absolutely hated if I wasn’t petting her while we talked.

Cupcake was a female orange cat, something incredibly rare, but so beautiful. She had that orange cat tenacity, with the I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude that made me love cats.

It was hard for me to have pets at my house since I was never home, but I always had space for whoever needed to be there.

Right now my house was empty, because every foster I’d had found a new home and a loving family that could be there for them.

The senior animal that I’d been taking care of when I found out about the pregnancy was now with his new loving family, and I was making a family of my own.

I held back a groan at that, wondering when the hell that would actually start to feel real.

Addison was pregnant. Actually pregnant.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

How were we going to handle this?

We hadn’t even handled the fact that we slept together. No matter what, I knew we were going to remain friends, because that was the only option. But how much did she want me to be involved? I knew I wanted to be. Full stop. No matter what happened, I was going to be a father and I was going to be in that kid’s life. But I also wanted to be in Addison’s life without making things complicated. What would happen when she started dating other people? Oh my God. She was going to date other people and that person was going to be this kid’s father even though I was still around.

Thankfully I was in my office while having this slight meltdown and let out a long sigh.

“Stop spiraling, Luca,” I told myself, and went to my coffeemaker, grateful that I had splurged on a mini espresso machine.

It was the best thing in my life. It was the only thing that kept me sane.

“Luca?”

I whirled and sloshed hot coffee on my hand.

“Fuck,” I spat, and went to clean up the mess I just made, ignoring the burn on my hand.

“Oh my God, Luca, I’m so sorry.”

Addison closed the door behind her, looking frazzled as hell.

She was a little pale, with that grayish hue that she had since we had found out it was morning sickness. She wore linen pants and a silk top that went together into this professional sexy businesswoman vibe. Not that I would say that out loud because we were friends and I wasn’t allowed to tell her that she was hot.

I’d mentioned it before, but now it would be weird…right?

This is why sleeping with your friends was a bad idea. It left all these questions and no answers, and apparently left a baby in the middle of it.

An actual fucking baby.

I set down the coffee mug and wiped my hands on my pants.

“Did you just wipe your burned hands on your pants that I know has dog slobber on them?”

I shrugged. “Maybe? Are you okay? I have a ginger ale in the fridge if you want some.”

She smiled, and when it reached her eyes I relaxed marginally. She was absolutely gorgeous when she smiled and meant it. Again, that was something I wasn’t sure I was allowed to say anymore.

“That sounds wonderful. But we need to talk.”

I raised a brow as I reached down into my mini fridge to hand her a ginger ale. “The last time we talked, you said that you were dealing with a thousand things at work and going to see your doctor and that I shouldn’t go with you to this first one.” Something that bothered me but I knew it was because she needed to put the truth of this in her hands until reality settled in. And truthfully, reality didn’t seem real at all. “Is everything okay? Is the baby okay?”

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