Page 54 of One Night with the Biker

“Are you pregnant?” she asked suspiciously.

I nodded.

“Who’s the daddy?”

I popped one eye open. She was resting on her haunches, waiting for my answer, her worry palpable. She probably knew Reese’s old lady. Whatever the reason I sought him out, I didn’t want to make trouble for him. “None of your business.”

When she jumped to her feet, I opened both my eyes and straightened. “It’s Reese’s,” she said flatly. “You wouldn’t be here otherwise. This is my safe space, away from the Devil’s Pit. A rule of mine is no one comes here besides Keir and me except Reese. It’s a sacred law that’s never been broken. Until now.” She glared at me. “Now, I know why.”

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t explain why Reese broke her rule on my account when he didn’t want anything to do with me. That man was so fucking confusing.

Laying my head on the coffee table, I ignored the vomit next to me. I couldn’t clean it and Jinx wouldn’t. I heard cabinet doors opening and closing, ice clinking into a glass, and the fizz of a soda.

Jinx knelt again and helped me to my feet, then guided me to the sofa. Once I sat, she handed me a sleeve of crackers.

“Take little nibbles,” she warned, turning on her heel and walking out of sight. She came back, carrying paper towels and dragging a mop that left a damp trail. She cleaned the vomit in silence, while I ate a cracker.

I feared eating too much. I didn’t want to vomit again.

Once the mess was cleared away, she wiped her hands on her jeans and sat next to me. “How many weeks along are you?”

“About ten.”

“Your ultrasound didn’t confirm it?”

“I haven’t seen a doctor yet,” I confessed. “I didn’t know if I wanted the baby. Before I made a decision, I wanted Reese to know.” Not wanting to see her judgment, I lowered my lashes. “Before you say it, I know it was just an excuse to see him.”

“I think you made the right decision, Ainsley. The honorable one.”

A longing for my mom and the urge to cry hit me so hard. I wanted someone to talk to and celebrate my pregnancy. If Reese didn’t want his baby or me, I wouldn’t waste my energy trying to change his mind. Besides, if I had to do that, it wouldn’t work anyway. He had to want to be a part of our lives. Not because of pressure from me, but because it was the right thing to do.

“I don’t know how I’m going to tell my brother. The reason I slept with Reese was stupid and childish. It was a mistake.” I swiped at an escaping tear. “No, that wasn’t the mistake. Not confessing who my brother was, was the mistake.”

Jinx laid a hand on my arm. Her touch was comforting and prompted me to look at her. “When we’re in the moment, we believe we’re doing what needs to be done. Don’t beat yourself up over what you can’t change.” She dropped her hand and settled it in her lap. “Do you want the baby?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, admitting that truth for the first time.

She hugged me tightly. “Then congratulations, babe. Enjoy this time because it goes by so quickly.”

Resting my head on her shoulder, I hugged her back. “You’ve been pregnant before?”

She pulled away and leaned against the sofa. “Almost every year for five straight years. The last pregnancy went full term, but my son was stillborn. I just gave up trying. I’m thirty-one. In four years, I’ll be considered even more high-risk.”

“I’m so sorry, Jinx. If this is too hard on you and you prefer I leave, I’ll understand.”

“My pregnancy losseswerehard, especially the last one because everything seemed fine. But the world didn’t stop spinning at my pain. Life went on. I can’t shit on someone else’s joy.” She hugged me again, this time quick and tight. “If I were staying, I’d be here for you.”

“I think Louisiana…” My voice trailed off. I couldn’t fix my mouth to say he loved her. If he had, he wouldn’t have betrayed their wedding vows. I sipped from the glass of soda, sighed in pleasure at the ginger ale, then grabbed the crackers. “I didn’t know you’d be there today. Nor did I know the real reason Nova rode with me. He’d began pulling away from her, which prompted her stunt today.”

“It doesn’t matter. Keir knows cheating is a hard no for me.” Tears rushed to her eyes again. “He gave me a bullshit excuse that I stupidly believed. Repeatedly. Whenever I questioned his whereabouts, he always gave me a valid reason. How can I ever trust him again?”

I didn’t have an answer.

“I’ve been with him since I was twenty and we’ve been married for ten years. I don’t know why he’d ruin us. It doesn’t matter. I’m done. I’m contacting an attorney the first thing tomorrow.”

“I’m probably not equipped to advise you for several reasons, Jinx—”

“Denali. Jinx is Reese’s nickname for me that everyone picked up.”

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