Not-So Temporarily Married(13)

Landon apparently didn’t have the same problem. “Then what?” he snapped. “My wife will be pregnant with my child, that’s what.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed out, just as the pilot’s voice came overhead again, asking us to buckle up for landing.

I made my way out of the bedroom and dropped into one of the bucket seats. I was vaguely aware of Landon’s fingers brushing against my belly while he buckled me in. Then he got settled into the seat next to me, and I just sat there staring at him and wondering what the hell he could possibly be thinking. How would it all work out if I was pregnant with his baby?

“What would we do in a couple years, after I become a citizen, and we don’t need to be married anymore if we have a baby together?”

“What do you mean, ‘don’t need to be married anymore?’” he growled.

“We got married, temporarily, so I could stay here,” I hissed out in a low voice, even though nobody could hear us since it was just us and the pilot on board.

“I never said anything about this marriage being temporary, Blondie.”

“Wait? What? Of course you did,” I sputtered as the plane touched down on the tarmac.

“Not even once,” he quipped.

I thought back to our conversation in my office a little more than a week ago, and damn if he wasn’t right. I’d called it temporary, and he’d kissed the heck out of me. And then when we’d first gotten to the wedding chapel and I’d been overwhelmed by the flowers and gown, he’d looked so angry when I’d said it was too much because our marriage wasn’t going to be permanent. But he’d never—not even once, just like he’d said—agreed with me. Or even disagreed with me. He’d completely ignored any mention of how long we’d stay married, while I’d blithely assumed it was all short-term. The lack of condoms and the depth of his reaction to my freak-out about possibly being pregnant certainly seemed to indicate he didn’t think this was temporary.

“We’re really married?” His thumb slid over my rings. “Like for real, for real? As in, you want to stay married to me longer than a couple years? Beyond me getting my citizenship?”

“I have no intention of ever letting you go, Zoe. You’re mine. Period. End of story.”

“Except it’s not ‘period, end of story’ since I had no idea!” I shrieked. “Don’t you think you could have clued me in a little sooner about the exact nature of our marriage?”

“I told you that you’re mine, baby, and you agreed. You even told me so yourself that first night on the beach with your pink, little pussy bared for me. Soaking wet for me.”

“Pardon me, Sir,” the pilot coughed, interrupting our exchange. “Just wanted to let you know, you’re welcome to deplane whenever you’re ready.”

My face went up in flames when I realized the door was standing open for us and that the pilot had overheard what Landon had said to me.

“We’ll finish this discussion in the car,” I hissed, unbuckling my belt and storming off the plane.

“There’s nothing left to finish,” Landon muttered, following behind me.

“Oh, yeah?” I snapped, once we were in the safety of his car where nobody could listen in. “What about the fact that I might be pregnant?”

His fingers clenched so tightly on the steering wheel that his knuckles turned white. “If we’re lucky enough for you to be pregnant, I’ll treat it like the blessing it is. A little part of you and me growing inside you.”

“Landon,” I sighed, reaching out to lay my palm over the hand that was nearest to me. “I’ve never been in a situation like this, obviously. And I’m not exactly certain how to think. Or feel. Or react.”

I laid my other palm over my belly, thinking about what he’d said. There really could be a little life growing inside me, half mine and half Landon’s. “But I do know one thing—even if there’s a morning after pill I can take this late, I don’t want to. I couldn’t. I’m sorry I brought it up as a possibility.”

“Thank fuck,” he breathed out.

“This doesn’t mean I’m not confused, Landon. I went into this marriage thinking it was temporary, and a baby is very permanent.”

“So is our marriage,” he growled.

“Don’t you think I should have a say in that as well?”

“Of course.” He made a sharp right turn, pulling into the parking lot of a local drug store. “But be honest with yourself, Blondie. Now that we’ve spent a week together as man and wife, can you honestly say you want to walk away from this? From us?”