Gee-Gee cocks her head. “Maybe because he’s been—what do you call it? Oh—blowing up your phone for the better part of a week and you won’t answer.”
I make it to the sofa before my weakened knees give out. I drop my face into my hands. “What should I do, Gee-Gee?”
She pats my back. “Sweet Girl, I can’t tell you that. You need to listen to your h—”
The doorbell rings. Gee-gee’s little Pomeranian hops down off the recliner, where it’s been napping, yapping its fuzzy little head off as it leads me to the entry way.
I open the door.
Jackson Tremaine stands on the other side.
I shut the door.
My heart kicks the shit out of my lungs. It must be winning, because I can’t breathe.
Gee-gee comes to the door and pushes me aside. “Let the boy in. After what he just did, the least you can do is tell him to his face if you don’t want him.”
Want him?
Do I want him?
My hand goes to my belly. I bite my lip and swallow.
Will he want us, when I refuse to take care of it?
Gee-Gee opens the door. “Come in, Jackson. Ronnie was just caught by surprise, since you seem to have beamed yourself here from LA. We were just watching your show.”
Jackson pushes what must be two dozen red roses at me. “We taped that earlier this afternoon. I hoped you’d see it.”
I hand the roses to Gee-Gee.
She grins as she takes them. “They’re beautiful. I’ll just put these in some water and leave you two to talk.”
I stand, staring at Jackson, my pulse erratic and my throat tight. I bite my bottom lip and cross my arms.
He takes up so much of the small entry that I’m tempted to step backward. But I don’t know if I want to fully let him in yet.
Jackson clears his throat. “Peaches? I’m sorry for just showing up, but I had to see you.”
I lift my chin a bit as I back up a step. “I’ve warned you not to just show up. What if I was—”
“Sick? I know. I know. I don’t care if you’re sick. You can puke on me anytime you want. Hell, I’ll even clean up after you’ve had uncontrollable rabbit squirts.” He grins.
My breath whooshes out. “Aw. And here I thought you could be serious for just one minute.”
He rubs at the back of his neck. “Okay. That was in bad taste. Sorry. I’m just…I’m nervous as fuck. I’m hardly ever nervous, but you’ve got me turned inside out and hanging upside down.”
The baby I can’t even feel yet looms in my mind. The what-ifs and how-comes and all the doubt that I’ve ever felt about this man and his intentions has manifested in front of me—right where he stands.
“Ronnie, I know I messed up. I do. I can only hope you’ll consider forgiving me. Please. I’ve missed you so fucking bad. You and I, we’re good together. Surely you know that.”
I tuck my fingernail between my teeth. A throb starts between my eyes. I push my hand over my face and into my wild curls. “I don’t know that, Jack. I don’t think you and I have the same long-term goals at this point.”
He squints, turning his head just slightly. “Wait. What? Long-term goals? Ronnie, I want to be with you. Long-term.”
I shake my head and turn away. “Well, that’s not good enough, Jack.”
My heart shrivels. He doesn’t get it. He’ll never get it. He was a confirmed bachelor. He probably never even considered having kids. This isn’t what he wanted. He really didn’t even want a woman.
Jack follows me into the living room. “I don’t understand, Peaches. You tell me what enough is, and I’ll do it.”
I plop into my spot on the sofa and pull the blanket up around me like a shield. “It’s all right, Jackson. I don’t expect anything from you that you aren’t prepared to give.”
He gets to his knees in front of me. “Damn it, Ronnie Fitz, I love you. And I think you love me too. I talked to Dave. I know you two were never physical. I know, Ronnie. I know.”
“Know what, Jack? That I lied? That I wanted to get back at you for being an asshole? That it pissed me off that you would play such an underhanded and dirty trick, and kept it going even after you and I were intimate?”
“No. That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean, I know those things too, but there’s something else you haven’t told me.”
I tuck my shaking hands under my arms. “Just go, Jack. You don’t want what I have, and you know it.”
“What do you have that I don’t want, Ronnie?” His green eyes are intense as he stares into mine.
I’m not ready to hear him say it again. I can’t hear him say we should be rid of it. It’s my baby, even if he doesn’t want it. I bite my lips.