Page 83 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

Chapter 36

CASSIDY

The party was nothing but noise around me. And it was the last place I wanted to be. I felt trapped, stuck, like my world had closed in around me. The worst thing was there was nowhere to go. Back home? Couldn’t do it. Not even the house where I grew up was a safe haven.

I watched the partygoers, all dressed in causal but obviously expensive Christmas wear. A live band played Christmas tunes, and I spotted Mom and Dad out of the corner of my eye trying their best to fit in. Josh was somewhere, but after the way he reacted to the news, he was the last person I wanted to see.

“Hey.” Katie placed her hand on my shoulder, her expression grave. “You doing all right?”

“About as well as you could hope for a pregnant woman whose baby daddy more or less ran off screaming at the news.”

She shook her head, drink in hand. “Fucking prick. But you know what? It’s actually kind of funny.”

“That’s not the word I’d use to describe it.”

“Not that kind of funny, obviously. But Josh Taylor, cocky-as-fuck Josh Taylor, billionaire rich kid who supposedly went off to the military to straighten his ass out, it was all a lie.”

“A lie?” The word had special meaning to me recently, of course.

“Yeah. Because you told him what you told him, and what did he do? He ran off like some immature little kid. You got a good look at the type of man he is underneath, you know.”

She was right about that. It made me think of the conversation I’d had with him the other night when he’d stuck up for me, about how hard it is to change who you really are deep down. Guess he was more right then he knew.

Maybe he wouldn’t even want to stick around for the kid. Maybe all he was comfortable with was the lie.

“It’s too much for me to even think about now. All I want is for the night to be over and the holidays to be done.”

“This would be the perfect chance, though.”

“The perfect chance for what?”

“To come clean about all of this. You don’t have to make a big production—tell our parents, tell Josh’s dad, and then that’ll be that.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“Because it is so simple. I’m not saying you need to stand on a table and announce it. But get it out that this is a lie, and you’re ready to start making things right.”

I said nothing, considering her words.

“Cass, this isn’t only about you now. You’ve got a baby coming, and that’s what’s important. Every minute you spend letting this lie stand is a minute that we can’t celebrate what’s really happening, what the truth is.”

“I don’t feel like there’s going to be much celebrating.”

“Are you kidding? Do you know how long Mom and Dad have been wanting grandkids? And I bet Josh’s dad is the same way. Once they know about the kid, they’ll probably forget about all the other BS.”

I was still unsure. Could I really do it? It’d certainly be the controlled demolition that Katie had been talking about.

I scanned the party for Josh. Thinking about him brought nothing but anger to mind, but damned if I still didn’t want to see him. Not to mention I was sure it was starting to look strange that the newly engaged couple was on opposite sides of the party. No doubt people were already beginning to talk. More stress on top of already existing stress.

My attention was back on Katie, who waited for my answer. “I need to take a few minutes and think about this.”

Katie placed her hand on my arm in a supportive gesture. “Yeah. Do what you need to do. You want to talk more, I’m here for you.”

My heart warmed at her words. Katie should’ve been furious at me for lying. But she wasn’t. “I love you, Katie.”

She returned my words with a smile. “And you know I love you too, as dumb as you can be sometimes.” One tight hug later and I was on my own again, unsipped glass of champagne in hand.

I moved through the party, saying my hellos and taking in the congratulations that the guests offered me. After a time I stopped in front of the tree in the entrance hall, looking up at the great, green thing and feeling so small in front of it. It was almost absurd—there should’ve been nothing on my mind but Christmas cheer and excitement for the new year. But I’d had to go and get myself wrapped up in this mess. I was paying the price, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew that Katie was right.

“Hey.” A familiar voice spoke behind me. I didn’t even need to turn to know who it was.

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