Page 24 of The Playboy's Most Unexpected Baby

“You’re right. I’m not.”

“Is he? Did he not want to have a normal wedding?”

Olivia sighed. She should have seen this coming. There was no good way to conceal their true reason for getting married. Izzy was too smart to just accept the story and not ask any questions.

“Charlie and I decided together that we wanted to handle things quickly,” she said. “I know that’s hard to understand. I wish I could give you a better explanation, but all I can say is that it’s what we decided to do. Maybe someday I’ll be able to explain more thoroughly.”

“What do you mean,maybe someday? Like you think I’m too young to hear whatever it is?” Izzy folded her arms. “Is this a sex thing, Olivia? Because I’m seventeen, not twelve. I’ve had sex before.”

“You have?”

“Well, no, but I’ve done some stuff. Anyway, it’s not like I don’t know about it, and I didn’t think you were one of those not-before-marriage types.”

“I’m not one of those types.”

“Is Charlie?”

“I really wouldn’t know, Izzy.”

“Hang on. You’re married to the guy and you don’t know if he’s slept with anyone else before you?” Izzy’s lips pursed. “Didn’t you always tell me that was an important question to ask every boyfriend?”

Olivia winced at her mistake — Izzy was right, of course, and if this had been a real marriage there was no way she would have gone into it unsure about something like that. “You’re right, she said. “I just — I don’t want to talk about Charlie like that. Those things are personal.”

“That makes sense,” Izzy conceded.

Olivia felt horrible. She had always been honest with Izzy, and she knew that Izzy had always been honest with her. They had a great relationship, and it felt very wrong to be lying to her sister right now.

For a moment, she considered just telling the truth.

But she couldn’t do it. What if something went wrong? What if she failed to get the money somehow?

Izzy was only seventeen years old, and her dreams were so big and so pure. She wanted to go off to college in California. That was something that would be possible if Olivia were to sell this house and get the share of the profits that Charlie had promised her. It would be enough to send Izzy anywhere she wanted to go. If she didn’t manage it, though, Izzy would probably have to start thinking about state schools, probably right here in Massachusetts. And that was if they could even manage that. She would have to apply for scholarships, which it was certainly possible she would get, but it was far from guaranteed. She would probably have to take out a loan to pay for her schooling, and it would take years to pay that back.

Olivia couldn’t tell her right now that there was a possibility none of that would be necessary. She couldn’t get her sister’s hopes up. Not right now. Not until she was absolutely sure that she was right to do so.

“I know you’re old enough to understand things,” she told Izzy. “There are just things that I’m not quite ready to talk about. Please trust me when I tell you that a day will come when I will be ready to explain everything, and you’ll know exactly why I did this. But that day isn’t today.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Izzy said. “It sounds shady to me, Olivia. Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“Because I think you would be freaking the hell out if I came home tomorrow and told you that I was suddenly married.”

“Well, yeah, I would. You’re seventeen. If you randomly got married, I would assume you were pregnant.”

“Wait. Are you pregnant?”

“No, Izzy.”

“You can tell me. In fact, if that’s what it is, youshouldtell me, because I’m going to be an aunt.”

“I’m not pregnant.”

“You’re not just saying that because you don’t want to be a bad influence?”

Olivia laughed. “If I was pregnant, you would know in a few months anyway, so there would be no point in lying to you about it now,” she said. “And if that happens, you can give me a hard time and say I told you so. But I promise you, I’m not pregnant.”

“Okay,” Izzy sighed. “I get it. You’re not going to answer any questions.”

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