Page 11 of Texas-Sized Scandal

Especially his father.

“So, what do you say?” he asked.

Melinda needed a minute... Okay, she needed more like several days to process this. Temporarily engaged? That didn’t sound like something she wanted...or was it? At least she’d have time to think and Slade would provide a barrier between herself and the media. He’d also provide an excuse to avoid her family...just until she got her bearings again.

But that didn’t really seem fair. Of all the things that she’d thought she’d encounter this morning when she woke up, this wasn’t it.

“Okay. If we do this, how would it work? I mean, would we be pretending for a few months? And then I’d say I was pregnant, and you don’t want a family and we’d break it off?” she asked. She needed to know all the rules for this engagement. She had to have parameters because obviously when she just went with her instincts, things happened. Unexpected things like a baby.

She still wasn’t completely comprehending the pregnancy. She just wasn’t the kind of girl—woman, she supposed she should say—who things like this happened to. She was the sensible twin. The quiet twin. The prim and proper twin. The actually-contemplating-a-temporary-engagement twin.

Oh, my stars. How am I going to handle this?

“Why don’t we play it by ear?”

She shook her head. “No can do, buster. I need to know what’s what, so I don’t start to fall for the lie. It’s easy for you because you never wanted a wife or a child, but I kind of always wanted a kid and a husband. I just don’t want to let myself fall for something that’s not real. So, if we are going to do this, I want to know when it ends and how.”

He didn’t like that. She could tell by the brief tightening of his mouth and narrowing of his eyes, but he covered it quickly with a flashing smile. “Of course, my darling, whatever you want. We’ll sort out how it’ll work. We just need some time.”

“Yourdarling?”

“Unless you hate it,” he said. “I think some endearments might help sell the whole head-over-heels thing.”

“I don’t think we have to do that,” she said quickly. The last thing she wanted was Slade pitying her and pretending to love her. And he hadn’t mentioned anything permanent before this or called her by a pet name. “We’re both of an age where people will think we did this deliberately, not that it was an accident. I think it’s better to play it like two rational, mature people.”

He moved closer and she backed up till she felt the bed against the back of her knees. “Are you afraid of what will happen if we act like a couple in love?”

He stared at her with that intense gaze of his and she felt like he could see straight to her heart where her deepest fantasies resided. The fantasy of him turning into her white knight. That totally-improbable-but-also-sort-of-what-she’d-like fantasy. She wanted to look away, but she forced her gaze to hold his. “I’ve never been afraid of a man, Slade. I’m not going to start with you.”

“Touché, darling. You are one tough cookie. That’s why I have to constantly stay on my guard around you,” he said.

“Stop flattering me. One of the things I liked about you was that you didn’t treat me like everyone else does,” she said, then realized she was saying too much. She didn’t need to let him know that his seeing the real woman behind the preppy exterior had been part of why she’d let down her guard.

“Okay. How about this?” he said. “I’ll go and leave you to your thoughts. I’ll pick you up at seven for dinner with Nonna—unless you don’t want to come?”

“I’ll come. I’ll see you at seven,” she said.

“Text me if you make your decision. I want to talk to Nonna before anyone else knows,” he said.

One of the many things that she liked about Slade was his closeness to his grandmother. It always made her wonder why he was so dead set against a relationship, given how tight the two of them were. “I will. I just need a little time to myself to sort this out. You arrived just after I’d taken the last test.”

“I understand,” he said, squeezing her shoulder. “Why did you get so many?”

She rolled her eyes to the side. “I wanted to be sure. You know they aren’t totally accurate.”

“I do know that,” he said.

“Oh? Have you had a pregnancy scare before?” she asked.

“Not since I was twenty. After that one, I decided that I needed to be more careful,” he admitted.

“I’ve never had one before this,” she said.

He laughed but it was dry. “I guess that’s one more thing that makes me different from the rest.”

She knew he was referencing his rumored mob boss family ties and she couldn’t help but get upset for him. She might not want to be temporarily engaged, but that had nothing to do with how others thought of him.

“What makes you different, Slade Bartelli, is that you are genuine and never put on airs the way so many other men I’ve met do. You’re honest and true and you don’t let anything stand in your way. I’ve never met a man like you.”

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