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)
Silence.
“Miss March, would you mind laying back so I can record the babies’ heartbeats for my records?”
Chloe lay back on the custom leather table, slowly lifting her dress.
I looked over at her, noticing a small bump.
Dr. Tevis spread a cool gel above Chloe’s navel. Then she picked up a white wand and motioned for me to step closer. “Don’t you want to move it around until you hear the heartbeats, Mr. Carrington?”
She said it as more of a statement than a question, handing the wand to me.
I pressed the edge of it against Chloe’s skin, and her eyes met mine.
“Slowly press down a bit and move it like so,” Dr. Tevis commanded, and I obliged—keeping my eyes on Chloe’s.
“I hate you…” her eyes said.
“I hate you, too,” mine responded.
Lup-dup, lup-dup, lup-dup, lup-dup…
The soft sound of galloping filled the room, and I held the wand in place.
Tears welled in Chloe’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
“Awwww!” Dr. Tevis smiled. “The baby’s heartbeat sounds like horses doesn’t it? That’s about one hundred forty beats a minute. Keep moving the wand so we can listen for the second baby.”
I moved the wand down and to the left, then the right, and the same sound—just a little faster—filled the room.
“That one is beating at about one hundred sixty.” Dr. Tevis clapped. “Perfect!”
Chloe’s eyes watered again, and I handed her my pocket square.
Dr. Tevis took the wand and wrote a few notes on her clipboard.
“You’ll need to come by to get your blood drawn for the panorama test in about three weeks, Miss March,” she said. “Will you want to know the babies’ sex with those results?”
I finally spoke to Chloe. “Do you?”
“No,” she said. “My friends are going to reveal it at a private gender reveal party.”
“Okay. I’ll make a note that I’ll need to seal them into an envelope at that time. I’ll go grab one last test before you go.” She smiled and left the room.
“When is this private party?” I asked.
“You’re not invited.” She sat up, pushing her dress over her bump.
“Come again?”
“You’re not invited,” she said. “I’ll send you a video.”
“I’m not invited to my own children’s gender reveal party?” I glared at her. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“I can repeat it if you like.”
“We have an agreement, Chloe. Hence, why you’re in this private suite getting the best of care.”
“And once you start holding up your end of it and refrain from thinking you run my life outside the office, or that you can jump out of your ex-fiancee’s panties and into mine, I’ll reconsider my decision.”
What? “What did you just say?”
“I didn’t stutter,” she said, getting off the table. “You have yet to apologize for what you did, and even then, I doubt that’ll be enough. Thanks for bringing up all the media stuff.”
She headed for the door, but I grabbed her hand from behind and spun her around, pressing her flush against the wall.
Placing my hands above her head and trapping her with my hips, I looked deep into her eyes.
“You really think that little of me?” I asked. “You honestly think I would fuck you like that and beg you for more if I was engaged to someone else? If I was even remotely interested in someone else?”
Her eyes widened.
“I wouldn’t waste my time chasing you, waiting for you to come to your damn senses and see that I don’t give a fuck about the life I left behind or the fact that you consider me to be your ‘Baby-daddy-whom-you-loathe-yet-secretly-want-to-fuck.”
“That’s not your name in my phone.”
“Then stop wasting time and change it.”
She sucked in a breath, whispering. “There are other people on this floor…”
“Then I suggest you let me finish talking and don’t argue.” I kept my eyes on hers. “The bases are already covered, the press is already muzzled and shut out, and the only people who matter in this situation are standing right here in this room.”
“Victoria Nauss—”
“Is a fucking liar,” I said. “I kissed her once, months before I met you, and I never touched her after that. She’s just soaking up all the attention, and my family is pulling the strings of this shit-show. I can show you the script, if you like.”
She stared at me for several seconds, looking confused.
“It’s not what you think,” I said. “I can’t explain it in a few minutes, but I need you to trust me. I left that life for a reason, and every lie they spin makes me realize I made the right decision.”
She swallowed, looking into my eyes. “I would like an appointment for that explanation.”
“Fine. Can you start coming into work tomorrow?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I need you to do more than that. I can’t get any fucking work done if Hazel is the only one in the picture.”
“I want a different title and a salary change, then.”