Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 61160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“She asked me to give this to you.” She stepped forward, handing me an envelope.
I waited for her to walk away so I could read it alone, but she continued staring at me.
“Is there something that I can help you with, Miss Harrison?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words fell from her lips. Pulling a phone from her pocket, she snapped my picture and rushed out of the office.
Unsealing the envelope, I read the first few lines and didn’t dare to read anything else.
Terms & Conditions for My Sperm Donor
1. Don’t bother me at work unless it’s WORK-related.
2. Submit a co-parenting plan that we can negotiate.
3. Sign the attached schedule of pre-birth events, confirming that you will NOT attend. (My two best friends are hosting a private baby shower for me. You may attend via video chat.)
She’s out of her fucking mind.
Cutting It Close
Chloe
Seattle, Washington
7 weeks pregnant
“Welcome to the Single at Thirty Podcast!” Kristin’s voice blared through my headphones. “Today, we’re discussing how to put together the best vibrator collection. Yes, you need more than one in your special drawer. Anyway, this episode is totally inspired by a conversation I recently had with my publishing bestie, who, well—let’s just say her hormones are so out of control lately that she had to call me on her lunch break to vent about them.”
I held back a laugh as the show launched into a sponsor reel.
I was currently standing in the basement of our building, hours before sunrise, which I’d learned was the perfect time to avoid the morning news crews that felt the need to set up outside every day.
“Before we get into today’s topic, I need to explain the difference between good and great self-love.” Kristin’s smooth voice returned. “These are two completely different things and while they both—” My left earbud flew out of my ear, and the right one flew away shortly after.
What the—
I spun around, catching Tyler standing right behind me.
My nipples hardened under my blouse as I looked him over, and my heart skipped a beat. Beautiful as ever, his eyes gleamed under the room’s soft lighting, and despite being dressed down in a black T-shirt and blue jeans, he looked as if he was stepping off a photoshoot.
Why does he always look so perfect?
“Yes, Mr. Carrington?” I asked. “Something you need?”
“How long are you planning to avoid me?”
“Until I give birth. Probably a little while after that, too.”
“That would only be possible if I were the dead-beat dad type.”
“So, you’re just the cheating on your long-term fiancé type?”
“I beg your pardon?” He narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I offered one hell of a deal in that envelope I gave you,” I said. “You can write back and tell me what you don’t like.”
I started to walk away, but he firmly gripped my waist and pushed me against the wall.
“When are you due?”
“Mr. Carrington–”
“Tyler,” He corrects me, tightening his grip. “When are you due, Chloe?”
“January 13th.”
“Have you already secured a private doctor?”
“Look at my salary. What do you think?”
“What about funds for private school?”
“I can barely afford to buy new paperbacks,” I said. “And I get most of them for free.”
His lips curved into a smile, but he didn’t let it stay. “Even with the promotion?”
“Yes. Even with the promotion.”
“Have you told your parents?”
“I haven’t talked to them since I was seventeen.” I paused, holding back on telling him that they were long gone. “Is that all you need to know?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Why are you avoiding me?”
“I literally just told you that.”
“No, I asked how long you were planning to do so,” he said, nearly brushing his lips against mine. “‘Why’ is an entirely different question and I want a different answer.”
“I have several reasons.”
“Give me your best ones.”
“One, all I see when I look at you is a night I wish I could erase,” I said. “Two, you are the most—”
“I take back what I said.” He interrupted me. “I don’t want to hear any of your reasons. They’re all just piss poor excuses.”
“Because you can’t handle them? Is that—” I stopped talking as he slid a hand under my skirt and pushed my panties to the side in one smooth motion.
“I’m trying to level with you, Chloe.” His voice was low. “But that’ll be impossible if you keep lying to me.”
“I don’t think you’re the right person to complain about lying.”
He slid a finger deep inside me, making me suck in a slow breath. “You don’t regret sleeping with me at all. In fact, I bet you thought about it as much as I did, and whenever you see me, you wish you could get that night back again so we could finish rounds seven through ten in the morning.”
“That’s not true…”
“Oh, but it is.” He leaned forward and bit my bottom lip, trapping it between his teeth as he slid another finger inside me. “And I think you’re more concerned with the press outside and who you think I was before we met than you are about being pregnant by me.”