Page 76 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

Finally, one alarm went off, then another a few seconds later. I zipped back to the bathroom and took the tests out of the drawer where I’d hidden them, my heart racing.

The first was positive. Then the second. Thirty seconds later the third said the same. Then the fourth.

Then the fifth. Unanimous agreement. And at that moment I knew it—I was pregnant.

I had one more thing I was going to have to lie through my teeth about. And no one to go through it with.

Chapter 33

CASSIDY

There wasn’t a chance in hell I could be anywhere near Josh after I’d learned what I had. I mean, there was no way I could tell him that I was pregnant. Not then, at least. I’d need some time to process the news and figure out what I wanted to do.

A baby. I stood in my childhood room, the walls still covered in the riot grrrl posters and other décor I’d left up when I’d gone to college. I’d told Mom and Dad that they could turn it into a normal guest room whenever they wanted, but they’d been insistent that they keep it feeling like home for me, a place I could always come back to.

I was in front of the mirror, the same one I’d stood at every day before going to school when I was a kid. Never in a million years did I ever imagine I’d be in front of it again knowing that I was pregnant, wondering what the hell I was going to do with myself.

I’d have to lie to Josh eventually. Maybe after the holidays, my head would be in a better place to share the news. So, that was one more lie to keep straight. Lying to his family and mine about the marriage, then lying to Josh about the baby. My life of deception was beginning to remind me of one of those Russian dolls where you take the top off and reveal smaller and smaller ones inside.

How many more lies would I be telling before this whole thing was through?

There was a weight on me that I had to get off. Something had to give, but I didn’t know what it was. Right at the moment I felt the most hopeless, however, my phone vibrated with an incoming text. I didn’t know who I wanted it to be. Up until ten minutes ago, Josh had been my rock through this whole thing, but now he was one more person to deceive.

But it wasn’t Josh—it was Katie. She asked if I was still at the house, what I was up to. And then I had an idea.

“Yeah, you want to grab something to eat? I’m feeling a little stir-crazy.”

“For sure! Meet me at the diner on Grand St.?”

I knew the place—she and I had spent tons of nights there together as kids, staying up and drinking coffee while she told me about all the boys she’d been juggling. It sounded great.

I said my goodbyes to Mom and Dad and was soon on my way. During the drive over, I thought about what I’d decided after seeing Katie’s name on my phone, whether or not it was a good idea. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But it had to be done, otherwise I knew I’d mentally explode.

I pulled up to the diner and through the windows spotted Katie at our usual booth. She had on a red knit cap, her hair hanging down to her shoulders. Moments later I was in the booth across from her, Katie’s face lighting up as I settled in.

“Hey!” Bright and chipper as ever. “So, I went ahead and ordered some of the tater tot nachos—so bad but so good. And after this I was going to finish up shopping for Dad, thinking some duck boots from Hartford’s Sporting Goods, and…”

Her cheerful expression turned to one of concern. Looked like I’d hit my limit of being able to keep things inside.

“OK,” she went on, “something’s up. And don’t even try to tell me that there’s not. Is it you and Josh? Are you guys fighting or something? Oh no—don’t tell me that he’s having doubts or something about the wedding. Or maybe you are? Anyway, there’s definitely something going on, and I want to know what it is before those tater tots touch the table.”

I had no idea where to even begin. “There’s a lot of somethings going on, actually.” Was I really going to do it? It was all at once the worst idea imaginable and the only one that made sense. If I didn’t turn the pressure valve on my brain, it was going to explode.

“Then pick one something and start with it. Because if you were planning on not saying anything, let me tell you that you’ve already gone too far. You know me—I’m going to pick at you until you give up the goods. So you might as well start now.”

---