Page 32 of Playboy

With a huff, I snatch both from him and clutch them to my chest. “They look great. Let’s go.”

“I feel like we should get a few more.” He plucks a box from the highest shelf. The shelf I can’t reach, yet he doesn’t even have to stretch.

Sheesh, he’s tall. Will we make a tall baby? Are babies tall? How would a tall baby even fit inside me? I stare down at my short torso, then shake my head, and when I look up, he’s grabbing yet another pregnancy test box.

“You’re probably hoping for a negative test and think that the more boxes we get, the more likely the chance?—”

He whips around, frowning. “It’s actually something a friend of mine told me. He and his wife were trying to get pregnant. Took a test, got a positive result. They were really excited, but it turns out it was a false positive, and…” He lifts one shoulder. “Anyway, I figured we’d have a more definite answer if we had a few of them.”

I pluck two more from the shelf at random, then pull the one from his hand so we have five total. “Okay, just in case we need to break a tie.”

He laughs, and instantly, a little of the tension in my muscles eases. I’m not normally this uptight. And I never care what others think of me—but here and now, I can’t help but stress about my every word, my every action. Because if I’m judging him as the potential future father of my child, then it’s safe to say he’s judging me as the potential mother of his.

I don’t have a single maternal instinct. I’m the last person who should be given a child, and before tonight, Daniel would have been the last guy I’d pick to father mine.

But holy hell, has he shocked me tonight. He’s handling all of this a hell of a lot better than I am.

“Should we get diapers?” Daniel points to a package to the left of us in the aisle.

I bite back a chuckle. “Those are for adults.”

“Why would adults need diapers?” His tone is almost sarcastic, like he thinks I’m the clueless one here. But then he picks the package up and reads the words on the box, and a second later, his entire body shudders. He tosses it back onto the shelf. “So newborn ones?”

“How about we stick to the pregnancy tests for now? Then, if it’s positive—” The words hang between us, making it hard to breathe. Other than the painful way my stomach twists, I don’t even know how to feel.

“If it’s positive,” Daniel says softly, taking my free hand and squeezing, “then we’re in this together.”

I roll my lip between my teeth and stare into his warm brown eyes. How is it that, already, I’ve developed an instinct to seek them out for comfort? “You’re annoyingly cute.”

He grins and leans forward, his mouth dangerously close to my own. “Take out the word annoyingly and try again.”

With a roll of my eyes, I spin and walk away, but I’m smiling, and I’m pretty sure that was his plan all along.

I blink at the toilet,then at the test. Dammit. Now I don’t have to pee. I glare at the test again.

If I thought picking them out was awkward, it had nothing on standing in the checkout line with Daniel Fucking Hall by my side. I told him to go outside, that I’d handle paying, and he practically growled, “When I said we were doing this together, I meant all of it.”

I drew the line at letting him wait in the bathroom with me while I peed on these sticks. I’m sure he’ll regret that position soon enough. There’s no way the media hasn’t been notified that the playboy winger of the Boston Bolts was buying a cart full of pregnancy tests tonight.

Of course the kid at the counter recognized him right away. Looks like I’ll have to enlist Sara’s help tomorrow. And that means I’ll have to actually tell Sara that I got myself into this position with our best friend’s twin. I’m not ready to tell anyone, and yet it’s a certainty that I can’t keep this secret for more than a day or two.

Only if it’s positive.

The words are a taunt.

Because if it’s negative, this will be nothing more than a funny story I’ll share with the girls. Not Millie, obviously. But the rest of them will have a good laugh at my expense.

It’s fine. This will all be fine.

“Hannah?” Daniel’s voice, followed by a gentle knock on the door, makes me jump.

“Just trying to remember how to pee.”

He laughs. “Do you need water? Or soda? You could turn on the faucet. Running water normally works for me.”

I sigh. This is absurd.Just sit down on the toilet and pee. “I’m fine.”

I pick up the test that says it will tell me five days earlier than the others and get to work. Once I’ve set the stick on the ledge next to the window, I wash my hands and pace.

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