Page 20 of Craving You

Now she was back to looking tense. He knew she was probably waiting for him to tell her she was on her own and walk out.

“This is…”

“I know it’s a lot,” she quickly interrupted. “And I didn’t mean to just blurt it out here in the middle of the coffee shop. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. I should have waited or given you a heads-up or something. I should go. We can…I’ll tell Billie that we don’t have to have dinner together tonight. I’ll go stay with Ashlynn or Chloe or get a room at one of the local hotels. It wasn’t fair of me to just show up and now you can’t even relax in your own home. God…I’m the worst. I’m sorry.”

She went to stand, and Max was instantly on his feet, clumsily coming around to her side of the table to help her up. She stood and they were so close he could feel the heat coming off of her skin. Unable to help himself, he reached up and gently caressed her cheek.

“Stop apologizing,” he said softly. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m incredibly thankful that you cared enough to come here and talk to me in person. I know this is all new and there is a lot for us to talk about, but…I want to talk about it.”

There were tears in her eyes as she let out a shuddery breath. “I’m not here to pressure you into anything, I swear. This was just about doing the right thing.”

His fingers kept gently gliding over skin because he couldn’t get enough of the feel of her. For the last month, he’d thought about her, dreamed of her, wished he could see her. Now she was here, and they were going to have a baby. It was complicated as hell, but he wasn’t really upset about it—shocked, yes, but not in a bad way.

Resting his forehead against hers, he whispered, “Thank you.”

“Max…”

“We’re not going to decide everything right here in the middle of the coffee shop. That’s not even possible. Let’s go to the house, and…start figuring things out. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Stepping back, he cleared their table before taking her hand and walking toward the exit. “See you this weekend, Jade!” he called out and waved, grinning at the shocked look on her face when she noticed the way they were holding hands.

Everyone was going to have to get used to it, he reasoned to himself.

“I drive the black SUV right over there.”

“I remember,” she told him with a shy smile.

“Oh, right.” They’d almost had sex in it after the wedding, but they had managed to refrain until they got to the hotel. “Anyway, just follow me to the house. It’s only ten minutes from here. Just like everything else,” he added. “You’ll see.” And then, just because he wanted to, he gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll see you at the house.”

He helped her into her car before jogging over to his and it wasn’t until he was sitting behind the steering wheel that the enormity of it all hit him.

Hailey was pregnant.

She was Billie’s cousin.

Billie was married to his brother.

They were all having dinner together tonight and he had no idea how they were going to react to the news, especially since they just found out they were having a baby too!

“Clearly there’s something in the water here in Sweetbriar, because there are far too many pregnant Donovan women right now.”

Yeah, he had no idea how they were going to tell Marcus and Billie about this.

Hell, he had no idea how they were going to do anything.

The only thing he did know was that he was one hundred percent in. He was going to let Hailey take the lead, but he was going to be involved in this baby’s life.

He wanted to be involved in Hailey’s too, but he had a feeling those were going to be two separate situations, and they were each going to have to be handled differently. There was an undeniable attraction there already, but it wasn’t enough for them to base an entire future on, was it?

“Because that would be too simple,” he muttered.

Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw Hailey pull up behind him, and he knew it was time to get going. But that didn’t mean his mind still wasn’t racing.

Max, I’m pregnant.

I’m not here to pressure you into anything, I swear. This was just about doing the right thing.

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