Page 39 of Inevitable
Yeah, she’d shown no aversion to my messed-up leg, but that didn’t mean the physical attraction was mutual.
Emma needed me to support her and comfort her right now after her kidnapping, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
Somehow, I was going to have to learn to keep my cock from bouncing to attention every damn time I saw her.
I’d seen plenty of beautiful women in the last fourteen years, andthathad never happened.
I finally answered Emma, “So, talk. I want you to talk to me, Emma. That’s why I’m here as your advisor.”
We had about two hours before we’d be landing in Traverse City. We had plenty of time to drink our coffee and talk about whatever was bothering her.
She shook her head slowly as she met my gaze. “I don’t want to talk to my advisor and I don’t want to talk about the kidnapping. I want to talk to you, Colin.”
I shrugged. “Talk about whatever you want.”
My gut clenched as I saw the look of trepidation on her face before she said, “I’m just trying to figure out how to say this.”
She looked nervous, and I hated it. “Just tell me whatever you have to say. I’m not here to judge you.”
“I have a daughter, Colin. Her name is Wren,” she blurted out. “She’s a huge part of my life that I want to talk about.”
Okay, that was a little surprising, but it really wasn’t a big deal that she had a child. I hadn’t been with another woman for obvious reasons, but Emma hadn’t had a reason not to be with other men.
I knew she wasn’t with anyone now, but… “Were you married to her father?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Fuck!I was going to have to pry information out of her to get her to start talking about her kid, and that was unusual for Emma.
“How old is she?” I asked.
“She’s thirteen,” Emma answered hesitantly. “Colin, she’s not justmydaughter. She’syourdaughter, too. Wren was conceived during our fling in Virginia Beach. It never should have happened, but it did. I’m sorry. I had no way to contact you to let you know.”
I was so fucking stunned that I couldn’t utter a single word.
My mind automatically rejected the thought of having a kid.
It wasn’t possible, right?
Emma and I had been careful.
We’d had one broken condom incident, but Emma had told me she was safe from pregnancy concerns.
I finally pulled my head out of my ass enough to see that tears were streaming from Emma’s beautiful blue eyes.
“I don’t want or expect anything from you,” she said tearfully. “Wren and I have been fine with just the two of us. I just thought you had a right to know now that I’ve been able to see you again.”
Holy Fuck!
Itwastrue.
“How?” I rasped. “I know we had the broken condom incident, but you told me that you couldn’t get pregnant.”
“I know,” she said regretfully. “I shouldn’t have gotten pregnant. I was supposedly infertile because of my PCOS, Colin. That’s the reason my ex dumped me for another woman with a healthier reproductive system. We tried for years. The only other possible option was artificial insemination for me. My ex-husband didn’t want to go that route because it was expensive and there was no guarantee it would result in a child. He decided to just find a woman who could give him the kids he wanted. I wasn’t on birth control yet when we met, but I had no reason to think I needed it for protection. Wren was my miracle baby. My gynecologist was surprised, but she said it wasn’t totally impossible for me to conceive naturally, but it was extremely unlikely.”
It took me a moment to let that information sink into my brain.
It wasn’t like I blamed her for getting pregnant.
