Obsession (A Bad Boy's Secret Baby)(20)

Or I would have been if I didn't feel like throwing up. I thought it was nerves, but I felt nauseous all day. Was my body trying to sabotage me?

“OK, Google.” I said to my phone, which lit to let me know that it was listening.

Maybe I had a cold? That would make sense, I did work with children. I thought about this past fall when Jonathan sneezed directly into my face. I loved the filthy little monsters, but they weren’t the best at personal space and boundaries, and one of them always tended to be ill.

I rattled off my symptoms as I uncorked a bottle of Pepto and took a long swig. Mal and I had been planning this date for a month now and I was determined not to reschedule. We had such a short window of time before Brendan and Mariela came back. Mal told me that he had every detail of tonight planned out, not that he would tell me—

'Early signs of pregnancy include,' read the bold black letters on my phone's screen

I choked on the text and spat the pink bismuth liquid against the mirror. My nose painfully tingled from the medicine that was caught in my sinus cavity.

You've got to be fucking kidding me. I felt frantic.

No, that's crazy. I couldn't be pregnant, Mal wore a condom! He also was the only person I had had sex with... in far too long. That didn't do great things for my self-esteem. I hadn't even slept with my last boyfriend and that was almost a year ago.

I thought about my symptoms and realized that I hadn't had my period yet. Another wave of nausea cramped my stomach, it was nearly seven in the evening. Morning sickness was, well, a morning thing, wasn't it? I checked my phone. 'Some women get it all day, sometimes even all throughout the pregnancy'.

Joy.

I sat on the closed toilet and texted my friend Lisa, Mariela's coworker at the hospital, and asked her to discretely make me an appointment. I would pick up some of the at-home pregnancy tests tomorrow morning and see for myself, but just in case they came up positive I had to know for sure as soon as possible. Worry set in. What if it was true?

What if I was pregnant?

Over this past month, Mal and I talked constantly and everything was going great. Our relationship, if you could call it that yet, was so new. Should I tell him? My stomach sank as the dark thoughts filtered in. What if he runs away? Mal seemed serious about wanting to stay, but this was a big deal. The biggest of all the deals!

I loved children and always wanted my own someday, but I had no idea how he felt. We hadn't talked about kids yet, we were just getting to know each other again.

“Oh no...” I sighed, burying my face in my hands. This could ruin everything. Why was this so hard! It felt like everything and everyone was trying to keep us apart.

There was a rapping at the door.

I snapped my head up. Was he here already? I took another swig of the pink liquid, hastily cleaned the mirror off and left the bathroom. I stopped, leaned back in and rechecked my hair and makeup, then rushed for the front door.

Not even the sense of dread could stem my excitement at seeing Mal in person again. Was it crazy that he still had such a hold on me? Every time I thought about Mal's long lashes and intense brown eyes it made my head swim.

“Hey, Ness.” Mal was leaning against the threshold frame with an easy smile when I opened the door. He had his leather riding jacket in one hand, draped over his shoulder. Mal's dark cocoa-colored eyes held mine, the stare made my knees want to buckle.

He wore nice jeans that were loose enough to move easily, but were also form-fitting. They hugged his muscled legs and seemed to enhance the bulge of his cock. He also had on a black button-down shirt that was pulled taut against his hard pecks and had the sleeves rolled up to showcase his corded forearms.

“Hi.” My mouth went dry and my lips parted as if remembering how to smile again. I struggled desperately to keep my eyes from flashing down and feasting on the outline of his cock.

Would it be like this every time I saw him?

“I got you something.” Mal's full lips peaked at the corner, revealing a hint of teasing teeth. Teeth that I had felt drag across my inner thigh not too long ago. When he pulled his hand out from behind his back, it held flowers.

“They're gorgeous.” I marveled at the variety. There were purple crocuses, blue hyacinths, pink and white roses and red tulips, which were my favorite. Where had he— Then I noticed that they were wrapped in dirt stained paper towels. I laughed. “Did you tear these out of someones yard?”

“Not all of them. I did buy the roses.” His mischievous smile filled me with a buttery warmth. “But I thought you'd like these too. You ready to go?”

The urge to kiss him coursed through me with an electrostatic jolt. I felt all of this the last time I saw him at Bounce too. Even though I was so angry and hurt at his sudden disappearance, I still yearned for his touch.