She and her apartment both looked as if she’d just given up on caring about anything. Even with his monster ego, he had a hard time believing his and Mason’s recent behavior had completely killed her spirit. Time to stop dancing around the subject.
Trip tucked his hands in his jeans pockets. “Kelsey, I know I hurt you. I can’t go back and do things differently, but I’ll keep apologizing until I convince you how sorry I am.”
Kelsey waved him off, a wan smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I know you’re sorry, Trip.”
For the first time in ten days, his lungs didn’t feel compressed. If anything, he might’ve sworn they’d filled with helium and his toes were leaving the ground. “You do?”
She nodded, then added, “I don’t like what you did, or agree with how you handled things, but I believe you meant well.”
Despite the admonishment, he couldn’t help but smile. Stepping closer, he reached out to playfully tug on the ends of her hair. “So have you forgiven me?”
She hesitated again, her expression unreadable, then gestured toward the sofa. “Maybe we should sit.”
His momentary weightlessness died, feet now firmly on the ground. Something was still wrong. Really wrong.
He scanned her face, once again noting its pasty hue and anxious expression. Her averted gaze, the nibbling of her lip, the way she kept wringing her hands—all of it caused flashbacks to the day his mother first told him she had cancer.
Trip’s stomach churned. He gently placed his fingers under her chin and tipped up her head so he could study her eyes. “You’re worrying me, princess. Are you sick or something?”
Through a nervous chuckle, she said, “Or something.”
He released her and rubbed the back of his neck. His radar detected a major problem, but for the life of him, he remained clueless. “How ’bout we deal with stuff head-on? Whatever you’re fretting about, just spit it out. I bet it won’t be as bad as you think.”
“Don’t make that bet, cowboy.” Her heavy sigh hung in the air.
“I’m here like you asked, so if this isn’t about Mason, and you’re not sick, then what? Is this about Wade’s proposed development? ’Cause as far as I know they haven’t finished the impact study yet.”
Kelsey’s widened eyes made her look as if she’d completely forgotten about the deal, then a quirk of her brow seemed to dismiss the whole matter as if it were inconsequential. “It’s got nothing to do with that.”
“Kels, I’d rather not play twenty questions.” Trip narrowed his eyes and engaged in a game of chicken, which he won the second she averted her gaze.
“Sorry. You’re right.” She tipped up her chin and stared directly in his eyes, revealing the first spark of his princess he’d seen since he’d arrived. “There isn’t an easy way to say this, so here goes: I’m pregnant.”
He blinked. His facial muscles—hell, every muscle in his body—froze. Pregnant?
He blinked again. Pregnant!
Breathe. Keep breathing.
Suddenly her silent apartment came alive with sounds, like the ticking of the mantel clock in the living room, and the playful thud of Cowboy’s tiny paws against the wood floor as he pranced around Kelsey’s feet.
Had the lights flickered? The room didn’t spin so much as the fine details of the lamps and curtains and artwork blurred together. Having retreated so far inside his own head, he couldn’t distinguish Kelsey’s words, which buzzed in his ears like an active beehive.
A baby. His baby.
His baby.
How the hell could he be anybody’s father? And how the hell had this even happened? Every hair on his body stood on end as if he’d been struck by static electricity after shuffling across a carpet while wearing socks.
“Trip, are you okay?” Kelsey touched his arm.
He inadvertently flinched. A chaotic whirl of memories spun through his mind as he tried to answer his own questions until one broke free and struck him like a baseball bat to the head. He stood and without forethought uttered, “The broken condom.”
Kelsey straightened her spine, her voice distant and questioning. “What broken condom?”
“That first night.” Trip bent at the waist, gripped his knees, and sucked in some air. He then glanced up at her stunned expression. “I’d figured I ripped it while removing it, but maybe it happened earlier.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kelsey’s brows drooped. She looked more hurt than angry.