She kissed him back because for some reason, when Alex touched her, she couldn’t think.
Because suddenly a month since the time they’d been apart didn’t matter. And neither did anything else. Nothing but the kiss. The heat that flooded her body, her mind, her soul.
She wrapped her other arm around his neck and hit him in the ear with the edge of the box. He jerked his head back and looked to the side, and she followed his line of vision and froze.
Oh. Bloody perfect.
“What is this?” he asked, pulling back, his hand encircling her wrist.
“Nothing.”
He arched a brow. “Try again.”
“It is a...gift. For a friend.”
“A gift for a friend?”
“Yessss,” she said, drawing the word out to give herself time to think of more to add to her very stupid lie. “Because she asked for something that could tell the future and I thought...Magic 8 Ball or pregnancy test? And I went with pregnancy test because it gives specific yes or no answers to very specific questions.”
“Do you think you’re pregnant?”
“Right now? I think I’m absent a period. Which under normal circumstances would be like, ‘Hey, great timing, because I’m supposed to be getting married.’”
“But?”
“Under the circumstances of ‘I slept with my fiancé’s enemy a month ago’ I find it a bit worrisome, and yes, I think I might be pregnant.”
“Go and find out,” he said, moving away from her. “Now.”
“So now I’m supposed to pee on your command? What if I don’t have to go?”
“You were about to go—don’t play that way.”
His jaw was set, his skin pale. He wasn’t taking this much better than she was. “Honestly, Alex, what do you care if I am?”
“I care because I will be a part of that child’s life.”
“You will not be,” she said, the words coming out before she had a chance to think them through.
“You think I’m going to let that man near any child of mine?” he asked, rage rolling off him like a force field, pushing her back. “I know what happens to children who get near the Kouklakis family. I doubt you do.”
“Ajax is...he’s not a Kouklakis. He’s...”
“Got an alias. How foolish are you? He’s changed his name.”
“I don’t...”
“Go and take the test.”
She didn’t even have it in her to argue with him now. She nodded slowly, holding the box in numb fingers as she backed into the bathroom. Alex watched Rachel’s retreating form, his heart pounding so hard he thought it might hammer through his chest and flop onto the bed, leaving a crimson stain on that pristine white duvet of hers.
A child.