Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Then I picked up the phone and dialed Robert in Italy.
“Hey, babe,” he answered.
“You really need to stop sending stuff.”
“I don’t want to. I have no other way to show you I’m thinking of you. Besides, this could be my child, which means I’d have every right to spoil him.”
“You know my family doesn’t know yet! I’ve had to hide everything. It’s stressing me out.”
“Ah. Shit. Okay…I hadn’t been thinking of that.” He sighed. “I’ll have to find another way to spoil you, I guess.” Robert paused. “Speaking of which...”
I squinted. “What?”
“We’re gonna need a bigger place.”
“We?”
“Yes, we. Or at least me…until I can convince you to move in.”
“You live in a mansion. It’s big enough.”
“There’s not enough land, though. I’m thinking of putting my place on the market and getting something with a bigger yard and a massive pool.”
My stomach was in knots. He was moving way too fast here.
“You don’t need that much more space for one child.”
“It wouldn’t be just one. Your brother and sister can live with us, too, because I know you don’t want to leave them.”
The room felt like it was tilting around me. “You don’t know what you’re saying.” I rubbed my temple. “You don’t want to live with two teenagers. You’re practically a teenager yourself—at least the way you act.”
“Well, it’s time I grew up, isn’t it?”
I paced. “How exactly do you plan to conduct your normal shenanigans in a house full of people—people you’d need to be setting an example for, mind you?”
“I’d be done with all that. Once you move in, once I’m a father, that’s it.”
People didn’t change that easily—another thing Vera had taught me. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“I mean it,” he insisted. “I’ve got to grow up sometime, Devyn. And there’s no person worth making that change for more than you.” He exhaled. “I love you.”
I shut my eyes.
Robert had told me he loved me countless times before, and this time felt just as empty as all the others. Owen’s proclamation the other night, however? That felt real. Too real. It had caught me off guard, and I still hadn’t figured out how to process it. All I knew was it meant something. It had meant a lot. And I’d totally screwed up my reaction.
“I do think you believe everything you’re saying right now. But I feel like I know you better than you know yourself. Once this pregnancy is over and reality comes crashing down, you’re going to be overwhelmed. And you’ll run—right back to your old ways.”
“I want a life with you. I want a family. Why can’t you believe me?”
“What if this baby isn’t yours?”
Several seconds went by before he finally said, “Well, then I’ll still want you. And I’ll take care of you and the baby.”
“Why would you do that?”
He raised his voice. “Why do you always question my feelings for you, Dev? I’ve told you time and time again, you’re the one person who sees me for me, the one woman in this world I can trust. You’re the person I want to settle down with.” He paused. “What can I do to prove I’m serious?”
When I remained silent, he hit me with another question.
“What does this other guy have on me?”
“I trust him,” I said immediately.
“That fucking hurts,” he murmured.
“Well, you asked.” I shook my head. “I guess the truth does hurt.”
“Is it just that? He’s trustworthy…or do you truly care about him?”
“I care about him.”
“Are you in love with him?”
I hadn’t fully opened my heart to Owen, hadn’t let myself feel all the things naturally happening between us, because I’d been so scared. But I wasn’t going to analyze my feelings for him on the phone with Robert, that was for damn sure. And I certainly wasn’t going to admit to Robert that I loved Owen before I’d said those words to Owen himself.
“I’d prefer not to discuss my feelings for Owen with you,” I explained.
“Why? They affect me. I need to know what I’m dealing with, Devyn. I need to know whether you have genuine feelings for another man while you could be carrying my baby inside of you. Because if that’s the case, it’s fucked up.”
I pulled my hair. “Well, welcome to my life.”
“You’ve got to give me some assurance here, Dev.”
“I can’t give you anything right now, Robert. I’m sorry. I’ve never been more confused in my life, and I have nothing to give anyone at the moment.”
“How soon can we find out the paternity?”
I felt nauseous. “I have a doctor’s appointment coming up. I’m gonna broach the subject with my OB. There’s a test I recently heard about that can be done sooner, but I’m only gonna do it if it’s accurate. I don’t want to risk a false result or put the baby in any kind of harm. So I need to figure out my options.”