Page 24 of A Deceitful Pact

“Shame, it would have been nice to see you let your hair down.” I flick the bar cloth over my shoulder and head to the other end of the bar when Grayson and Lincoln look as if they need serving.

* * *

It’s a Monday night, so the bar ain’t busy. I’m ready to close up by eleven, and as I flick the closed sign around and double-bolt the door, I can’t help wondering what Riley’s doing. This time last night, I was watching her sleep with my cock rooted deep inside her. I’m leading her into a false sense of security, letting her believe that she’s in control. I pour myself a whiskey and take a seat at the end of the bar, trying not to think about how complicated all this is getting. I’m mad at Jamie for what he expects me to do, but in reality, my deception is much worse.

It’s the actions of a desperate man, and the decent thing to do would be to own up to my intentions before things get out of control. I could call her right now and ask if we can talk. Goes without saying that she’ll be mad at me, she’d hate me and then I’d never get to fuck her again. I’d never get to hear the sweet, little purrs she makes when she sleeps and I sure won’t get to see how damn fine she’s gonna look while she’s growing my baby. Pulling out of this ain’t an option. I wanna be the man who gives Riley Hale all the things she never knew she wanted.

I ain’t giving up my game, I’m gonna step it up instead.

RILEY

“Alright, alright, I'm coming!” I drag myself out of bed and head toward the door when the loud knocking refuses to stop. It’s barely light, I’m barely awake and I’m barely fucking dressed. I pull my robe from the bathroom door on my way past it, then shrug it on before I open the door.

“Sawyer.” I stare in shock when I see him standing on the doorstep, wearing a huge smile and holding a brown paper bag.

“Mornin’, darlin’.” He does his usual and barges straight past me to let himself inside. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and yawn as I close the door behind him.

“Do you have any idea how early it is?” My voice comes out groggy.

“It ain’t early, it’s seven-thirty and you can’t be mad ‘cause I brought breakfast.” He shakes a bag of pastries in front of my face, and I snatch it from his hand as I move toward the coffee machine. I’m not gonna even ask him why he’s here until I’ve had my caffeine fix.

“Jeeezz, you really ain’t a mornin’ person, are ya?” He laughs as he starts unpacking the contents of his bag onto my kitchen table.

“I just need a coffee,” I explain, still blurry-eyed and waiting for my head to catch up so I can find the energy to be mad at him for this intrusion.

“Which you're gonna need to switch to decaffeinated.” He pauses his search through my cupboards to point a finger at me, then continues to open doors until he finds a glass. I watch him hold it under the faucet and fill it before placing it down on the counter beside me. Then, opening one of the boxes he unpacked from the bag, he pops a pill from the packet and presents it to me in the center of his palm.

“What the fuck is that?” I stare at it and rub my eyes again.

“It’s a prenatal vitamin, all the cool kids are takin’ ‘em,” he sniggers before gesturing his eyes back down and urging me to take it.

“Sawyer, I don’t think I need prenatal vitamins just yet.” I massage my temple.

“Not true, the pharmacist says you should be taking them for at least three months before conception, maybe you should double the dose?” He picks up the box and starts reading the back of it.

“Sawyer, when did you go to the pharmacist?” I take the box from his hands to get his full attention, suddenly starting to feel a lot more awake.

“I went to the outta hours one in the city.” He shrugs as if it’s not a bother.

“You drove two hours to get me breakfast and prenatal vitamins?” I check I’m hearing him right.

“Don’t be silly, I got the pastries from Jean’s, and I didn’t just get the vitamins, I got these too.” He presents me with three rectangular boxes.

“Pregnancy tests?” I almost choke. “Sawyer, we’ve had sex twice, and I just came off my pill. We won’t need to take one of these for ages.”

“Wrong again…I like you when you're sleepy.” He ruffles up my hair like I’m a child, and I swat his hand away and snarl. “These, my fertile little feral, are ovulation tests. You pee on ‘em like a pregnancy test and it’ll tell ya if you’re, ya know…ovulating. Not that it’s gonna make much of a difference, I intend to fuck you every day, anyway, but at least with these you’ll know what days to call in sick.”

“Call in sick?” I repeat his words back at him again hoping he might realize how crazy he’s sounding “Who said about us fucking every day, and I can’t just call in sick when I’m ovulating. Sawyer…we really need to–”

“Baby, don’t get yourself all worked up, calm mind, calm body. Stress is the cock block of conception.” He hands me the glass of water and pops the pill between my lips, and I knock it back with the water before slamming the glass back down.

“Sawyer, I don’t know when you became an expert on all this, but you're taking this far too seriously.” I shake my head, wondering if I’m still asleep and all of this is just a crazy dream.

“Why would I not take this seriously? It’s important.” He’s starting to look a little hurt when he stares back at me.

“I know it’s important, but all these things aremyresponsibility, and we can’t just expect this to happen the first month we try. The contraceptive pill could take months to come out of my system.” I’ve done some research myself, and I know we could be in for a long wait.

“Girls miss pills and get pregnant all the time. Don’t underestimate the power of my swimmers.” Sawyer grabs hold of my waist and pulls me against him. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I hadn’t already knocked you up.” He looks down at me confidently.

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