The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)(60)

Jesse pulled her back into his arms. “Shh. I’m sorry. I don’t hate him.”

“Me, either,” Leo said.

“Well, good, but he’s probably going to hate me for this.”

“No, he won’t,” Leo said. “Not unless we’ve all horribly misjudged him, including Tilly.” Leo sat back and pulled his phone out.

“Who are you calling?”

“Cherise. To see if Nate has an opening to talk this afternoon before we have to go get Laurel from school.”

“He’s coming over for dinner tomorrow night. Do we have to tell him today?”

“Yes,” the men said.





Nate was waiting on his next client when Cherise hit him up on the intercom. “Leo just called and asked if you could slide him in this morning. It’ll bump your lunch a little, but I’ll run get you something. They won’t mind if you eat while you’re working on him.”

“Okay, thanks.” He would always make time for any of them.

Then he had a thought. This morning was their first appointment with the doctor.

I hope everything went okay.

If it hadn’t, surely Eva would have texted him. But nothing since her chipper good morning text exchange. Not that that was unusual. She knew he was busy with clients and they usually had a lunchtime text exchange until after both of them were home from work.

Maybe Leo didn’t go to the appointment with them.

Perhaps he’d misunderstood. It was going to be Jesse’s baby. Maybe they decided he should be the one to go with her.

Well, it wasn’t his business. If they wanted to tell him, they would. He didn’t want to pry. They had welcomed him into their dynamic, and he was happy to be there. They were supposed to have dinner together tomorrow night at Eva’s and break the news to Laurel that he and Eva were going to get married.

He had finally gotten Eva an engagement ring and was going to “propose” to her in front of Laurel. That way, they wouldn’t have to explain the ring to her later.

Even more, he was looking forward to spending time with Eva and Laurel and yes, with Leo and Jesse. He hadn’t had brothers growing up. Just Cherise.

It was nice to actually have men he felt a sibling bond toward. Sure he had male friends, but this was different.

This was family.

He did manage a quick bathroom run and was scarfing down the lunch that Cherise had grabbed for him when Eva, Jesse, and Leo appeared in his office doorway.

“Hey…” He studied their faces. “What’s wrong?” Eva looked like she’d been crying.

“We need to talk, Nate,” Leo said, pulling the door shut behind them.

“You’re not here for an appointment?”

“No.”

Cold fear congealed in a hard, jagged ball in his gut. He focused on Eva. Standing, he walked over to her, taking her hands in his and waiting until she looked up at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, hoping he’d kept his tone as calm as he meant to.

She didn’t answer at first even as she stared up into his eyes.

“Do you want me to tell him?” Leo asked. But Leo’s tone sounded gentle, not harsh.

She shook her head, blinking back tears. “Nate…”

He led her over to the table and had her sit when she couldn’t continue. “Eva, sweetie, tell me what’s wrong. You’re scaring me.” He pulled her hands against his chest and realized how cold they felt, even though it was hot outside. “Are you okay? Is there a problem?”

He was aware of the men standing behind him, but he kept his focus on her. She swallowed hard and took another deep breath.

“I’m…pregnant,” she whispered.

He frowned. Maybe he’d goofed up the timeline and missed hearing about an appointment somewhere. He’d been so damn busy the past couple of weeks that it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility. “That’s…great, right? Congratulations! I told you, I’m okay with this—”

“No,” she said, stopping him. “It’s not Jesse’s. It’s yours.”

His mouth snapped shut.

He processed.

And processed.

And…

“What?” he whispered, certain he’d misheard her.

“I haven’t been with anyone except you. And the timing is right from…the night we talked. They did a routine urine test before my appointment and found out I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

She nodded.

“Mine?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Why are you apologizing?”

She started crying again. “I feel like such an idiot. I’m so sorry. This isn’t what was supposed to happen.”

He made her sit back and cradled her face in his hands, kissing her. Once he knew he had her attention, he said, “Sweetie, this is okay. I’m still not going anywhere.”

“But…it’s yours.”

“Yeah. You made that clear.” He had a thought. “Unless you mean you’re not going to ke—”

“No! That’s not what I meant. But you and I hadn’t talked about this. Well, I mean, we talked about talking about it later, after…but not—”