She turned around fully, expression soft. Her fingers slid over my jaw and pushed into my hair, and I groaned at the feel of her nails against my scalp. Her touch dragged my eyelids down, making my whole body feel heavy. She massaged my temple, my crown, the nape of my neck. Her hand softened and slid to the side of my throat a moment before she shifted to brush her lips against mine.
Her kiss was soft and sweet, and it almost gave me the courage to strip that armor off and hand her a knife. How could this be fake when it felt so real? How could she possibly not want exactly what I wanted when she touched me like the feel of my skin beneath her palm was the only medicine she ever needed?
Pulling away, Iris met my gaze. “We should get up.”
I exhaled and nodded. “We should.”
Her eyes sparkled as a teasing grin tugged at her lips, but she slipped out of my grasp before I could pull her on top of me. Laughing, Iris shuffled to the bathroom and left me on the bed alone, embers of desire heating my blood.
But she was right. We needed to go find our hosts and make an appearance for dinner. We’d be heading out the next morning, so there wasn’t much time to close this deal.
As I stretched my spine and let my feet fall to the floor, a deep sigh slipped through my lips. The last thing I wanted to do was go schmooze with a client right now-and that was possibly the scariest thing of all.
This woman had turned my life upside down. Business didn’t hold my attention. All I cared about was her.
Iris’s POV
The twenty-four hours that followed were excruciating. I put on my best happy face, drawing on the practice I’d had over the last two and a half months of attending dozens of events at Jared’s side. I made pleasant conversation and made sure that my expression was either neutral or happy, because anything else drew a frown to Jared’s brow.
He held me close all through the night, and barely left my side the next day. He asked me if I was feeling all right so many times I finally had to ask him if he was stuck on repeat. He gave me a flat look and pressed a hard kiss to my forehead in what felt like an act of affectionate defiance.
The biggest surprise happened an hour before our departure from the island, when Roseanne pulled me aside. I was desperate to get out of there, to get away from everyone, to find out if there actually was a baby growing inside me. It made me itchy and impatient, but I did my best to put on a pleasant expression.
She saw right through it. She gave me a little half-smile and squeezed my arm. “I’m so glad we got to spend this time together. And I know a lot of Wil’s worries about working with Jared have been put to rest because of it.”
My shoulders relaxed, and I nodded. I got the sense that Wilbur placed a lot of importance on his wife’s opinion and that I’d passed some test this weekend without realizing it. “I’m glad to hear it,” I told her.
“We’ll be back in the city in the spring, and I’d like you to get in touch.” She pulled out a business card and handed it to me. “The timing might not be…ideal,” she said, only hesitating on the word for a brief moment. I knew she was talking about my maybe-not-so-hypothetical pregnancy, but neither of us acknowledged it. “If you’re interested in working as my stylist, I think we’d be able to come to a suitable arrangement. I’m not sure how much the folks at Branson are paying you for your consultancy work, but if you’re interested…”
I ran my finger along the edge of the thick card, nodding. “Thank you. I’ll think about it.”
Her smile brightened. “Great! I’ll be in touch. Take care of yourself-and that man of yours.”
My own smile felt a little brittle, but Roseanne didn’t seem to mind. She led me back out to the lobby, and we climbed into the golf carts and headed to the jetty. The trip back up north was uneventful, but I found myself feeling stifled by the luxury. There were so many staff members around, so many people waiting to serve us hand and foot.
I felt like an ungrateful brat, but all I wanted to do was be alone.
“I can have dinner arranged at the house,” Jared said when we were finally in the car driving away from the airport, the weather outside blustery and snowy. “What do you feel like eating?”
I swallowed. “Actually, I was hoping to head back to my own place tonight.”
He froze, then seemed to force himself to relax. “Of course. Whatever you prefer.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you,” I hurried to add. “I just feel a bit… I just need some time on my own for a night.”
Jared studied me for a moment, then let his fingers drift over my cheek. He pulled my chin over and pressed a kiss to my lips before pulling away. “You don’t need to justify it to me,” he said softly. “I’m the selfish one for wanting you to myself.”
Tension drained out of me. I gave him a tremulous smile, more relieved than I expected to find that he wasn’t upset. “Thank you.”
His broad hand swallowed mine as he threaded his fingers between my own. When he brought my hand up to his lips to press a kiss on the back of my palm, I let out one more sigh and let go of most of my stress. This man was so kind and tender and perceptive. Being around him made me dizzy-made me forget how to think through my problems logically.
But I needed to sort through everything that had happened. I needed to find out if I was carrying his child.
He left me with a lingering kiss and watched me enter my building, not leaving until the elevator dinged open and I waved through the lobby doors at him. When I made it up to my place, with most of my stuff still in boxes and the unfamiliar apartment greeting me with a hollow echo, it didn’t feel like home, but at least I could be alone.
I dropped my bag by the door and sank into the couch, leaning back on the seat as I closed my eyes. I stayed like that for a few long breaths, then I got a snack from the kitchen, changed my clothes, and headed right back out the door. I bought a value pack of three pregnancy tests, the weight of the box feeling heavier than it ought to in my purse on the way back to my place. I didn’t waste any time unwrapping the first one and putting it to use.
My heart rattled. I didn’t want a baby. I didn’t want the complication of a child. Not when things were finally looking up, when I felt like my future was bright for the first time in many, many years. I was so close to paying off my loan. I might have an amazing opportunity to work for Roseanne. I had a man who treated me like a queen.
How would he react if…
I stared at the test, blinking rapidly. It didn’t even take the required three minutes for two solid lines to appear in the window. Panting, I ripped open the second test, then the third.
But I couldn’t deny the truth.
I was pregnant with Jared Branson’s child…
And I had no idea what I was going to do about it.
I slept fitfully. Jared texted me to wish me a good night before he went to bed, but that did nothing to ease my mind. Around three o’clock in the morning, when I’d twisted myself in my sheets for the umpteenth time, I finally decided to get up and fix myself a cup of tea in the hope of getting drowsy.
I curled on my couch, ignoring the unpacked boxes around me, and sipped my steaming chamomile tea while I scrolled mindlessly on my phone. When I flicked to a messaging app, I was surprised to see Penny online. I sent her a message: Can you not sleep either?
Three or four seconds later, she’d read the message and was typing a response: I’m in Paris! Something wrong? Want to chat?
A strange feeling went through me. It wasn’t jealousy, exactly. My friend could go to Europe anytime she chose. But it was a very stark reminder that she’d found her Prince Charming and married him. When she’d been unexpectedly pregnant early in her relationship with Marcus, things had worked out just fine.
I felt the chasm between us crack just a little bit wider, because what were the chances of that happening to me? Jared didn’t even want to talk about dating for real, let alone tying our lives together forever through a child.
So yeah, maybe there was a bit of envy that pinched at my heart. But it was mostly despair.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.