Page 31 of Bad Teacher

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Get married? He spoke with the enthusiasm of a man who just heard his death sentence.

Disappointment swirled like a ghost around her body. She stood up. Her whole life she had done what was expected of her, what society in her parents’ eyes deemed right. Not anymore—and not from a man who acted like he was doing her a favor. “No, thanks.”

“No?” He leaned closer.

She stepped back, unwilling to let his scent or soulful eyes reel her in. Time to be tough. “Times have changed, Theo. If you want to be involved in this baby’s life, great. But I won’t marry you just because you have a savior complex.” Did he want to marry her because he hadn’t saved his late wife? She swallowed the throbbing lump in her throat. She knew he felt guilty for Celine’s death, but it had nothing to do with her pregnancy.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s okay if the one I’m saving is my baby.”

Heat filled her cheeks and anger stabbed at her. How dare he, after she’d trusted him? To use her past against her? “Saving him from me?”

He held up his hand in denial. “No. That didn’t come out right. Listen, we have a mad attraction to each other. We get along. I think we’d make a really good team raising a child together.”

She sighed. A wave of sadness washed through her. The most romantic proposal she could ever get. “I appreciate your faith in us as a team. I share it too, which is why I’m not rushing into getting married.” And you don’t have to try and do the right thing, she added inwardly.

He took her hand in his and kissed her wrist. “Just consider it.”

Little ripples of awareness shot up her arm. Seemed her body hadn’t gotten the memo about Theo yet. She jerked her hand away. “You’re reacting out of shock.”

“I’m reacting out of rationality. We could work well together, Violet. Marcelle likes you a lot, and she could use a female role model in her life. And I’ll give you financial stability, so you don’t have to worry about anything at all. I’ll pay your medical bills. And I’ll be a good stepfather to your kids.”

“Enough. I’m sorry.” She shook her head violently. “I know you mean well, but I needed the whole day to process this news and it isn’t enough. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t possibly imagine a scenario involving marriage when that would change so many people’s lives.”

“This baby will change their lives no matter what, whether we’re married or not.”

He had a point there. How would Amanda react? A shiver of apprehension ran through her. She couldn’t expose her kids to even more novelty—they really liked Theo, but having him as a permanent fixture in their daily life was a different story.

Besides, he doesn’t love me. Despite how well they got along, he hadn’t once mentioned any deep feelings—because he probably still loved his late wife. His wife who had been perfect at everything. I never thought I’d be jealous of someone who’s not even breathing anymore.

“There are other problems at hand, Theo. I need to schedule a procedure to remove my IUD as soon as I come back to Tulip. There’s a chance of miscarriage when that happens.” She had researched it online and called her doctor’s office, which had been closed, but she left a message to make an appointment for Monday.

“I’ll go with you.”

“That I’ll allow. But for the rest of the night, let’s not talk about this anymore. I can’t make any plans until I know the baby is safe,” she said, to at least buy some time and strategize how to convince him they didn’t need to get married to have a solid co-parenting relationship.

He erased the gap between them and picked her hand and lifted it to his mouth. “We’ll figure it out, ma chère.”

“We will. Because everything is so crazy, let’s cool it for a little bit. Tonight, I’ll be sleeping with my kids as planned anyway.”

He nodded. “Sure. I understand.”

She bit her lower lip. Last night had been wonderful, but from now on, sleeping together would not be in the cards. She needed to regain control, and that wouldn’t happened if she let her hormones reign. Pregnancy hormones at that. Get ready for a lot of cold showers, Violet. You’ll need them.

* * *

“Wow. Pregnant?”Lara repeated, in the lobby of the hotel.

Violet glanced around them to make sure no one heard them. Brit and Damian had asked to take some pictures with Amanda and Trevor. They mentioned something about the professional photographer still taking some shots of the family in the hotel area.

While that happened, Violet had confided in Lara.

Theo’s flight had left two hours earlier, and they didn’t talk much during breakfast.

“Quiet. I don’t want Brit to know yet, or anyone for that matter. I’ll tell Nikki when I’m back in Tulip.”

Lara nodded. “What are you going to do?”

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