Page 54 of Leo

Michael reached over and placed a comforting hand over hers. “The first thing is you’re going to calm down and the second is go next door to the pharmacy and get yourself a pregnancy test.”

“And then?”

“Go on from there.”

Chapter 12

“I should take another one.”

“You already did three. A fourth is not going to change the result,” Michael pointed out patiently. She had heeded his advice and went straight to the pharmacy. After buying a bunch of pregnancy kits, she headed to her home with Michael in tow.

She had called Ingrid and asked her to come over and cover for her at the pastry shop. The woman had agreed readily, making Sherrian realize that her friend was not taking retirement in her stride.

She paced around her living room, feeling the tension radiate through her body. The three tests she had taken were lined up on the coffee table, all showing the same clear result. Positive. She glanced at Michael who sat calmly on the couch, his presence a steady anchor in the storm of her emotions.

“They all might be flukes.” She was trying to find a way out of this quagmire. She was pregnant. And she was not ready. Far from it.

“Sherrian.”

“You’re right.” She dropped down on the sofa next to him. “The fact that I do not want to be pregnant is beside the point. I am.”

“Yes.”

“And I don’t know what to do.”

He stared at her frowningly. “You are keeping it, right?”

Leaning her head back against the cushions, she closed her eyes. “Whenever I pictured me having a baby, it is always somewhere down in my late thirties. I would have realized my dream of having the spectacular bakery, everything in place.

And it would be established enough so that I could take some time off to be able to raise my child. Now I am unmarried, and my life is in complete chaos. I am just not ready.”

Turning to face her, he took her hands in his and forced her to meet his gaze. “Consider very carefully what you are doing. And whose seed you are carrying. Leo Coleman is a multi-billionaire and unless I miss my guess, the man is likely to need an heir to inherit his vast fortune.”

“No pressure!” She muttered.

“I am not trying to be a downer, darling, I thought you were really into this guy.”

“I am.” Dragging her hands free, she rose and stared at the offending test kits. “It is just that we don’t really know each other. The sex is fantastic, but what if that is the only thing keeping us together.” Her hand flew to her mouth as if something occurred to her.

“What is it?”

“What if I turn him off with the news? I am going to be big and unattractive. My boobs are going to grow huge as well as my backside. My ankles are going to get swollen…” She sank down on the sofa and simply sat there staring across the room. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“The bathroom…”

“No. Not that sick.” She thumped a hand against her chest. “Sick with worry. God, what a damn mess.”

“Who says it has to be? The guy asked you to marry him, remember?”

“And I am not marrying him because I am knocked up.”

“Didn’t he ask you before…”

“I am just not ready,” she said stubbornly.

“Sherrian,” his firm tone had her looking at him. “If you mess this up because of that bastard who treated you like dirt, I will never forgive you.”

“It’s not that,” she insisted, praying that she was being truthful.

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