I hear him blowing out a breath. “Give me one minute, baby girl.”
There’s a short, muted conversation between him and some guy before he returns to the call.
“I’m sorry. Did I spoil your date?” I ask.
“No. It was already spoiled. He didn’t like Top Gun.”
I gasp, feigning horror. “Not even the new one?”
“Nope. Can you believe it?”
“You sure can pick ’em.” I laugh softly, thankful for my cousin and the way he’s always there for me no matter what.
“So tell me everything, baby girl.”
I take a deep breath and tell him everything about that night four weeks ago when Nathan broke my heart. I pour out my hopes and fears, and by the end of our conversation, I have a plan. I’m going to sign the divorce papers I haven’t had the courage to look at since the day he gave them to me. My wish was that he’d somehow realize it was a huge mistake and change his mind.
But he’s not going to, and me signing the papers will be proof that this isn’t a scheme to get money from him. Then I’m going to march into his office and tell him I’m having his baby. He can choose to be involved or not. Either way, it doesn’t matter to me.
Easy as pie. Right?
Chapter
Fifty-One
MELANIE
Iignore the muttering and side-eye glances as I walk toward Nathan’s office, stopping in front of his secretary’s desk. I clear my throat, and she looks up at me, a sympathetic half smile on her face. I roll back my shoulders, trying to fake a confidence I don’t feel. This all seemed much easier when it was only a plan in my head. The execution of it, however, is proving to be far more terrifying than I could have anticipated. I look Helen in the eyes. “I need to see him.”
“He’s not available right now.”
I stay rooted to the spot. “I know he’s in there.”
“He’s busy.”
I wring my hands in front of me. “Please, Helen. It’s important.”
She smiles gently, and the pity in her eyes makes me want to cry. I ball my hands into fists, my fingernails biting into my palms as I try to stop myself from losing it in the reception area of Nathan’s office.
“He has a meeting in ten minutes,” she says with a tilt of her head.
“I only need five, but I need to speak with him.” I guess she recognizes the desperation in my voice because she offers me another sympathetic glance and tells me she’ll see what she can do before disappearing into his office.
Less than two minutes later, Helen ushers me inside. Nathan doesn’t even bother to look up when I walk into the room, keeping his head bent over the papers on his desk. Narcissistic jerkwad.
My legs tremble with each step, and I take a seat opposite him while trying my best to forget the last time I was here and the things he said to me. What I almost said to him.
He still doesn’t look at me.
I sigh. “I was told you didn’t have much time.”
His head snaps up, a scowl furrowing his brow. “What the hell do you want? If you’re here to discuss the terms—”
“I’m not here about the divorce.”
His eyes narrow, studying my face. “So what is it?”
Dear Lord, strike one of us down right now and save me from having to do this. I let out a shaky breath and fold my hands in my lap, squeezing them together to stop them from shaking.
“Melanie!”
I flinch at his tone, and I’m half-tempted to stand and walk out on his grumpy ass. He doesn’t deserve to know. Doesn’t deserve to share this with me, assuming by some miracle he wants to. But our child deserves a chance to know their father, even if that father is currently behaving like the world’s biggest asshole. “Before I tell you this, I need you to know that it’s not some move or a ploy to scam you. This is my life, and I’ll be happy enough to walk out of here and never see you again, but …” I suck in a deep breath. “I also believe that you have a right to know.”
That scowl on his face deepens. “To know what?”
“That I’m pregnant.”
His mouth opens like he wants to say something, but he’s silent. The great Nathan James, lost for words. I bet that’s a first. He sinks back in his chair and runs a hand through his thick hair. “How?”
I roll my eyes. “You need a biology lesson?”
His lip curls in a sneer. “You were on birth control.”
“Yeah, when we were together. But the night you came to Tyler’s …” My voice drops to a whisper as the memory of that night slams into me. The hurt of him leaving feels every bit as raw now, even after four weeks.
“So you just stopped taking your pill?” He shakes his head like he doesn’t believe me.
“Well I had no reason to remember to take it, and I had a few other things on my mind,” I snap. “Forgive me if I wasn’t prepared for you to come to Tyler’s apartment just to get your rocks off with a goodbye-fuck before you threw divorce papers in my face.”
