Page 22 of Hot Response
“Shit,” he huffed. “You don’t cry. Not even when you went to look at the bakery after everything. Evie, talk to me. What’s going on, cupcake?” If he was asking, he had somehow missed the stick right there sitting on the bathroom vanity. I shouldn’thave been surprised. He’d walked right in, his attention solely focused on me. The realization of that made him a glassy blur as tears filled my eyes.
“Evelyn,” he growled with a slight edge to his voice. He picked me up and sat me on his lap as he took my place on the closed toilet. “What’s up? Is this about the shop? Did you change your mind about the colors you chose?” I shook my head and sniffled. “Is it about the chairs? You really liked them.”
“I do,” I whispered quietly. With a deep cleansing breath, I found the courage to look up at him. “I need to tell you something.” His brows narrowed.
I swear I felt like he looked like a warrior holding me, ready to go to battle for me, ready to burn the world down to fight whatever was wrong.
“Okay.” His voice was a vibrated murmur that kissed my skin. He wasn’t tense beneath me, ready to bolt. If anything, I realized, his hands gripped my thighs, holding me closer to his body. Ready to shield me from whatever bomb I was about to drop on his lap.
My hands reached for the test stick, and Ronie’s eyes widened, but I could have sworn some of the tension in his body disappeared. Almost like seeing the test had been a relief to whatever was going through his head. My hands shook as I handed it to him, setting it in the middle of his huge palm. Completely captivated by the way his eyes strained on mine before he tore his gaze down to look at it.
Ron didn’t move.
Didn’t say a word or react.
He simply stared at it.
“I’m pregnant.” I felt like Captain Obvious as I broke the silence. “I wasn’t feeling too hot two days ago. I thought it was the yogurt I ate. Maybe it’d turned, but then I realized I hadn’t had my period since…”
“Before the accident,” he filled in the blank, and I nodded.
“I was going to tell you, but then, with the re-opening, I figured I’d find out first, maybe I was worrying for nothing.”
“Worrying?” That made his eyes pop off the test and lock onto mine. “You’re worried?”
“It’s fast,” I blurted out, suddenly feeling a little squirmy. “We just started this, and the bakery and?—“
“Shh,” he hushed, resting his forehead on mine. “It’s going to be okay,” he said so calmly I wanted to believe him.
“How do you know?” My voice was a raspy whisper.
“Because it’s you and me,” he stated as if that made sense. And in a way, it did.
“You’re not freaking out,” I observed and watched as his lips quirked up and up until his face had the biggest smile I had ever seen on it.
“Evie, baby, I don’t know if you noticed, but I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“I’m not going anywhere. This news—” His eyes dropped back to the test he had set back on the counter, and when he looked at me, his eyes were glassy and shone with so much love and kindness it took my breath away. “This news is the best news I could have ever received.”
“But we just got together,” I tried to argue.
“So?” He shrugged. “This is where we were headed anyhow.” He said so nonchalantly, it was obvious this was something he had given some thought to.
“We were?” I gaped. He chuckled, then it died, and he frowned.
“Do you not want kids? Or this… right now?” he asked without judgment in his voice.
“I do,” I answered right way and from my heart. It was insane! Crazy to the max. So much was unknown. We knew one another but were still learning about each other.
“What were you worried about?” he asked softly, his hand caressing my face.
“Honestly?” I asked, and he nodded, his eyes locked with mine. “I was worried about your reaction and?—“
“And?” he encouraged me to continue.
I licked my lip, feeling hot and cold all at the same time. “What if you and I don’t work?—“
