Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(35)

“About the paternity.”

“Isn’t that all that matters at this point?”

“Hell, no!” he cried. “I won’t let you make me accountable for an unwanted child entering this world. We’re ending this pregnancy. Now.” He knew it wasn’t his decision. He wasn’t even sure he was fully committed to what he’d just said. He’d never seriously considered what he’d do in a situation like this. But he couldn’t stop himself from pretending he could take charge and do something about it.

“What?”

Slightly gratified by her panic, he pushed the bluff a little farther. “Get your jacket. We’ll go to LA right now, find a clinic and take care of this. Then we can each go our separate ways.”

More tears streaked down her cheeks. “You want me to get an abortion.”

“You’re smarter than you look.”

Her hands covered her stomach in a protective motion. “It’s too late. I’m in my second trimester.”

He gaped at her. “What’d you say?”

“I’m twenty-two weeks. A pregnancy only lasts forty. That’s over halfway.”

“Of course!” Shoving a hand through his hair, he whirled away from her and began to pace. “That’s why you waited so long to tell me. So I’d have no way out.”

“That isn’t true!”

“How else would you explain it?” he yelled, turning to face her again.

“I c-can’t explain anything. You won’t let me. You’re too convinced I’m trying to—to screw you somehow. But I swear, I just figured out who you were two weeks ago. I was invited to a Super Bowl party and...and there you were. On TV.”

“I’ve been in the Super Bowl before. How is it that you’re the only person in America who missed it?”

“I don’t give a damn about sports. I think it’s stupid to pay millions of dollars to grown men who throw their bodies at each other! Why not do something that could really make a difference in life?”

Her retort infuriated him. He had to hit something, had to find an outlet for the frustration and disillusionment welling up inside him. After all the years he’d felt rejected and unwanted because someone had gotten his mother pregnant when she wasn’t ready for a child, here he was, repeating the same damn cycle. “You didn’t seem to mind what I did for a living when you seduced me!” he said as he slugged the wall.

She flinched and covered her head, as if he might strike her next. When he didn’t advance, merely shook the pain from his hand, she blinked at the hole he’d put in the Sheetrock. “You need to leave,” she said. “Now. Before I call the police.”

“I haven’t done anything that would warrant getting arrested! You’re the one who scammed me! You set me up, got pregnant on purpose, and now you’re here to...what? Collect a fat check? Is that what’s coming next?” It was easier to focus on the support she’d require than all the rest of it. But he had plenty of money. He just didn’t want to be responsible for creating a child under these circumstances. He’d told himself he’d never be that guy—and yet, because he’d met Ellie five months ago, here he was! There wasn’t a worse way he could’ve let himself down.

She was beginning to tremble. “You’re wrong. I’m not after your money. Listen, you—you’re not the man I thought you were.”

He agreed. That was what was killing him!

“I shouldn’t have come here,” she went on. “This whole thing, it was a mistake.”

“Damn right it was a mistake. You went after the wrong guy.” He closed the distance between them and bent his head to get in her face, even though he could tell she was terrified of him. “What did you think I’d do? Take it lying down? Let you ruin my life without so much as a whimper?”

“Ruin your life? I don’t think a—a child has to ruin your life!”

She didn’t understand, would never understand. If he ever had a kid, he didn’t want to be a part-time dad; he wanted to be the father he’d never had. “Tell the truth!” he shouted. “You’ve been lying the whole time.”

She was now crying so hard she had to gulp for breath. “Yes. That’s it. I—I was lying. I’m still lying. You’re fine. Nothing’s going to get in the way of you living your life. You can leave. There’s no baby.”

Her sudden reversal shocked him. He felt as if she’d knocked the wind from him. As long as she’d been trying to plead her case, trying to convince him, he could fight her, vent his disappointment in the situation and himself. But what was he supposed to do now that she was no longer resisting? She’d taken back everything she’d said, given him the opportunity to leave as if this encounter had never taken place—and he was tempted. He wanted to forget the whole thing, pretend he didn’t know. But he could never do that, which meant he had no way out.

“Hey!”

They both turned to see that a man acting in some official capacity—Hudson guessed he was the motel manager—had opened the door and was poking his head in. “I’ve been getting complaints about the noise. Everything okay?”

Hudson nearly sent the guy away, but Ellie spoke before he could.

“No.” She sidled toward the manager as if he was her salvation. “Everything isn’t okay. I need you to call the police.”