Page 4 of Kissing Games
‘I’m pregnant.’
Yes, yes, yes. Oh god, yes.He didn’t question how it could have happened.Finally. Light filled his chest and tears pricked his eyes. He blinked the blurriness away.
Caroline crossed her arms over her stomach protectively. ‘She’s not yours.’
‘She? What?’
‘She’s not yours.’
‘But, but…’ Charlie stammered. ‘You weren’t sleeping with him.’
Caroline looked at her hands. She tugged off her gloves impatiently and touched her wedding and engagement rings as if for reassurance.
‘It has to be mine, Caro,’ he whispered.
She shook her head. ‘I conceived in the Maldives. We had the twenty-week scan yesterday. She’s Gareth’s.’
Invisible hands closed around his neck, choking him.
She pocketed her phone and sighed. ‘I didn’t know how to tell you, but I think it’s for the best. This …’ She gestured between them. ‘Was never going to work.’
He was being squeezed into nothingness.
‘Caro—’
‘I’m sorry, Charlie. I am,’ she replied, her voice wobbling. ‘I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but we don’t really know each other. We’ve always wanted different things.’
‘I wanted a baby,’ he managed, his voice hoarse. ‘I wanted this with you.’
She didn’t reply but her eyes filled with tears.
How could he fix this? His heart was breaking into a million pieces but he still believed their love could glue them back together.
Caroline dabbed carefully at the corners of her eyes with a napkin. ‘I’m sorry, Charlie, but I’ve got to go.’
She stood and he followed, reaching for her again. She shook her head and stepped back, her gaze everywhere but on him. ‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated before turning and walking away.
Charlie couldn’t remember leavingthe cafe. He walked on autopilot, his body taking care of basic functions whilst his mind shut down. Even when Caroline dumped him and got married it didn’t hurt in the same way. He knew the marriage was meaningless. This was so different he didn’t know how to process it.
The sound of his phone cut into the emptiness and he pulled it out.
Rory.The Earl of Kinloch and his best mate.
They’d met in the army and joined the SAS at the same time. Rory had left the forces after his father died, a year before Charlie, to take on a dilapidated castle in Scotland and an estate on a financial precipice. Since then, his new girlfriend, Zoe, was helping him turn it around. As Charlie hadn’t spoken to Rory in a couple of months, he had no idea what was currently going on.
‘Mate, you there?’ Rory rumbled down the line.
Charlie grunted in response. The fact that neither of them were great conversationalists was perfect for a time like this. Charlie didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.
‘I need your help,’ Rory continued. ‘Brad fucking Bauer is shooting a film at the castle and I need you to keep an eye on him.’
At the words ‘Brad Bauer’, Charlie was jolted enough out of his fug to respond. ‘What?’
Brad was the Hollywood superstar who madeDeath Party,a film about the Afghan conflict. Charlie and Rory’s unit found it so offensive they’d put Brad’s picture in the centre of their regiment dartboard.
‘Yeah, he’s makingBraveheart 2. It’s a load of bollocks but we need the money. The problem is, I’m out of my depth and don’t trust him further than I could kick him. He’s got this weird thing for Zoe and I can’t be everywhere at once. I need a second pair of eyes. Someone I can trust. Can you come up?’
Charlie sighed. ‘I don’t know, man, I’m really stacked right now.’
