Page 55 of Single Chance

“If it’s an ultrasound…” Chloe nodded as I opened my eyes. “Those are pretty amazing.”

I swallowed hard, keeping my fears about what we’d discover to myself. If it was bad news, I wouldn’t want to be alone.

“I guess I better ask him,” I said. “And apologize to you and Holden for pulling two of us out of work.”

“No need to apologize.” She frowned. “Holden will have to know soon.”

I nodded. “You can share with him as long as?—”

“He’ll keep it to himself.”

“Thanks, Chloe.”

“Of course. You, me, and Presley are doing girls’ night soon. With mocktails.”

“Yes, please.”

“I suppose we should get down to work. Oh, God, and I just asked you to work closely with Chance.”

A laugh bubbled out of me. “And I couldn’t say anything.”

She sobered. “Is it a problem for you?”

“It’s fine. Comical, really. But he’s been super patient with my lack of marketing background.”

She studied me for a few seconds. “You two work well together?”

“We do.”

Now she sat back, looking thoughtful.

“Professionally. We’re not…” I shook my head. “We’re just not, personally. I mean it, Chloe.”

“Chance is solid.” She lowered her voice. “And not hard to look at.”

“That’s what got me into trouble in the first place.” I laughed, then went serious. “I can’t do it. It would be too easy to fall into something just because it’s easy. I have no business being in a relationship right now, not that he’s asked me to be. I don’t want to drift into something because it’s convenient and I’m tired. Like, life tired, you know? And he’s there to make it easier.”

“That’s smart.”

“With this baby on the way, I need to make smart, strong, clear-minded decisions. Not be lured in by a good-looking guy who’s in a different stage of his life.”

She nodded. “I think you’ve got your head on straighter than you might think, but it’s good to be cautious.” She checked the time on her phone. “I have an appointment in forty minutes, so we should get to business.”

“Yes to business,” I said, relieved in multiple ways. Keeping the truth from Chloe had been weighing on me. “Becauseapparently I need to ask the father of my baby to the ultrasound as soon as we’re done here.”

I had no idea which answer I wanted more, a yes or a no.

Chapter Eighteen

Rowan

Ano would’ve been less awkward.

True to form, though, Chance was only too willing to come to the ultrasound with me later that week, so now we were trapped in a small room together with me naked from the waist down, with only a thin sheet over my parts. Parts that he’d seen exactly once, and by seen, I meant had contact with. Because the lights had been off on New Year’s Eve, and I sadly—I meanfortunately—had no memory of how his body looked naked.

“Your doctor seems to know you well,” Chance said from the chair next to the exam table I was on.

“Inside and out,” I told him dryly. “Dr. Shah’s been my doctor since I was thirteen.”

---