She contemplated his words for a moment. The man was the father of her child, and she supposed that she should make an effort to get closer to him. Plus, it wasn't like he would be a hard person to spend time with. He wasn't a creeper who collected women's hair or ate fly larva for dinner. This was Sebastian. Gorgeous, friendly, heroic Sebastian. How bad could it be?
"I guess I can agree with those terms." She sighed.
His eyes were sparkling with mischievousness. "And until then, I'll do everything in my power to make you say yes."
"Why do you want to marry me so bad, anyway?" She studied him, half wishing she could crawl inside of his skull to see the inner workings of his brain.
"Why? That should be obvious," he said. "Because you're the mother of my child, and I want to have you close so I don't miss a single moment of this experience."
"Jeez, you just found out I was pregnant and you're already to take responsibility for everything," she said. "When I found out I was pregnant, I started puking. Though that could have been because I'd just eaten a plate of creampuffs."
He paused because of her words, then threw back his head and laughed. "See, this is why I like you. You not only admit that you eat, but you also admit to puking too."
"Women don't eat or puke?" she asked.
"Oh, they do." He shrugged. "But most of them don't tell me about it."
She winced. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry." He ruffled her hair. "I like your honesty. And now, I'd like for you to answer a question I've had for a long, long time."
The words made her go rigid. "What is it?"
Judging by the expression on his face, his question was important. Unfortunately, she had no idea what kind of pressing query he had in store for her.
"What the hell is your last name?"
She let out a laugh. "Oh. That. It's Ellison."
"Emmy Ellison." The man finally smiled. "If only I had known that the whole time."
"I don't know your last name either," she pointed out.
"It's Black," he said.
"Well, Sebastian Black, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand.
The man took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you too. Now let's have a baby together."
****
An hour later, Emmy walked side by side with Sebastian as they headed to a steak restaurant. She glanced at the man beside her, noticing the way his hair curled over his gorgeous forehead. She took a moment to picture what their baby might look like. It was easy to imagine pale, tiny fingers curling around her hand. As she experienced the first bought of excitement since she became pregnant, she smiled.
Sebastian studied her expression. "Finally, you're smiling."
"You sound relieved."
"Back in the apartment, you spent half our conversation looking as though you were about to cry," he said.
"Well, you know learning that you're pregnant isn't exactly stress-free," she said.
"I know exactly what you mean," he said drily.
Both of them fell silent. The quiet between them was strange after the conversation filled night back at his apartment. She searched her mind, trying to think of something to say. Instead of coming up with anything witty, all she could think was, blah, blah, blah. She didn't normally have to play hide-and-seek with the words in her head. Her lack of speaking ability was horrifying.
"How about we play a game," Sebastian said, rescuing her from remaining forever mute.
She wasn't much in the mood for games. "What?"
"I ask a question and you answer me yes or no," he said. "How does that sound?"
"Sounds silly."
"It's a good way to get to know each other." The man elbowed her, grinning.
Somehow his grin was infectious. She found herself smiling too in spite of herself.
"Oh, all right." She rolled her eyes. "Are you asking the questions or am I?"
He shrugged. "I'll start, since I have some things I want to ask."
"I'm sensing an ulterior motive here…" she muttered under her breath.
"Doesn't almost everyone have an ulterior motive?" He studied her expectantly.
A can was lying on the side of the road. She kicked it. "Feeling philosophical tonight, are we?"
"I'm always philosophical."
She groaned. "Fine. I guess you're right. Almost everyone has an ulterior motive."
He smirked. "I'm always right too."
"Ha-ha." Rolling her eyes, she elbowed him in the ribs.
Finally, the pregnancy-induced awkwardness faded. She thought that should have been added to the list of side effects of being pregnant: nausea, vomiting, swelling, sore nipples, awkwardness around the father of baby.