Page 19 of Craving You

“Um…” Looking down, she realized she hadn’t touched her pound cake.

“You know what, Bill?” Max began. “Why don’t you head home, and I’ll stay with Hailey while she finishes her cake. She can follow me back to the house.”

That seemed to please her cousin immensely. “That’s fine with me. Is that okay with you, Hales?”

“Absolutely. I can’t believe I haven’t even taken one bite yet!”

“Then I’ll see you at the house!”

“Thanks, Billie!”

“I hope you don’t mind that I sort of made arrangements for you,” Max said. “I didn’t want you to have to rush through your breakfast. Or snack. You’ve been traveling all morning, so you probably already had breakfast. Plus, this is kind of nice just sitting and catching up with you.”

Breaking off a piece of the cake, she popped it into her mouth before nodding.

“So, how long are you in town for? Just through the weekend, or…?”

“I haven’t really decided yet. It kind of depends on a few things,” she carefully replied.

“Well, that sounds intriguing,” he said with amusement.

Just looking at him made Hailey ache. He was so handsome and sweet and kind and sexy. She knew her news was going to change everything for them, and it would devastate her if he took it badly. In all the pre-pregnancy scenarios, she envisioned them going out on a first date—similar to what they were doing now—and then moving on to romantic dinners. Then they’d do cute, couple-y things like go to the farmers market together or pick apples, maybe walk around one of the town festivals together and he’d win her one of those silly prizes from a carnival game. All those wistful dreams could disappear and…and…

She wanted those dreams, those fantasies. But could she really keep the pregnancy to herself so she could selfishly live in denial for a little longer? Was that fair to Max? Or her? Or even their baby?

Ugh…why didn’t I think this through a little more?

“If there’s anything I can do to convince you to stay a little longer, just let me know.” And yeah, there was that flirty tone, those dimples, and the charm that had her pretty much throwing her panties at him. For all she knew, Max was a consummate flirt, but she didn’t see him doing that with anyone else that weekend—just her.

And that’s when she knew she had to be honest with him.

“I’m not so sure you’re going to feel that way after I say what I have to say,” she began, hating how his smile faltered a bit. Placing her hands in her lap, she clasped them together. Letting out a long breath, she said, “Max, I’m pregnant.”

“Um…what?”

While he was fairly certain he heard her correctly, Max needed to hear her say it again—mainly because there was suddenly a loud buzzing sound in his ears and his heart felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest.

Hailey nodded and said, “I’m pregnant.” She looked scared and sad and like she was about to be sick.

Leaning back in his chair, he tried to form a coherent thought or think of something to say, but he needed a minute.

Maybe two.

Hell, maybe twenty.

But the way she was looking at him, he knew the next words that came out of his mouth were going to determine everything.

That’s a lot of pressure on me and my mouth…

So instead of thinking, the words that came out were, “Wow! That’s great!”

“What?!”

“What?!” he repeated, realizing what he’d just said. “I mean…wow. Uh…are you okay? Do you feel alright? Have you been to the doctor?”

Max wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t even going to question if the baby was his because she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. Plus, from the short time they spent together, he could tell that Hailey Donovan was not the kind of woman who would lie about anything.

Looking over at her, she seemed to relax a bit. “I’m fine. Really. I was…um…you know…late, and I took a home test. That was positive, and I made an appointment right away to see my doctor. They couldn’t see me for another week and I ended up taking a test every day.” Pausing, she sighed. “I finally got in on Monday, but by then I knew what my doctor was going to say. That’s why I called Billie on Sunday. Waiting another day wouldn’t have made a difference. Then you texted me, and even though I didn’t want to wait to tell you, I also didn’t want to tell you over the phone or in a text, so…here I am.”

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