Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1)(58)

Sitting beside her, I pulled her into my arms, “How did you mess up? What are you talking about?”

Shit, if she confessed that she’d had sex with Mason, I was going to lose it.

“I was…” She paused to sniff and wipe at her tears. “After seeing his Jeep here last night, I was going to come talk to you and warn you away from him anyway this morning. But I was going to wait until after he left. Then…then I woke up and was looking in my medicine cabinet for some aspirin when I spotted my tampons and realized…oh, God.”

She buried her face into my shoulder and sobbed anew. I smoothed her hair out of her face and gently asked, “You realized what?”

“I’m late.”

My fingers froze in her golden locks. “What?” Just as quickly, I asked, “Who?” Please, God, not Mason. “Alec?”

She sat up in order to glare at me. “Yes, Alec! I’m not that big of a slut. God.”

Thank the Lord.

I covered my mouth. “Oh, my God, Eva. Are you sure? Does Aunt Mads know? Are you—”

“Of course I’m not sure! I just told you, I saw my tampon box, realized I was late, and I freaked. I came running straight to you and forgot about the gigolo until he strutted out of your bedroom. I’m sorry I attacked him again, okay? I know you’re still pissed after the last time, and I swore I was going to ignore him altogether from here on out, so you’d forgive me. But then I saw him, and it just seemed…easier to strike out than confess.”

“Okay, okay.” I lifted my hands to stop her rambling. “Just…keep calm and think of Chris and Liam.”

“Okay,” Eva repeated. “Okay.” She panted a few times as if she was already prepared to go into labor. When an expression of shock lit her face, she straightened and gaped at me. “Hey. That actually worked.”

With a grin, I tossed my hair. “I know, right.”

No hetero female on the planet could panic with a mental image of the Hemsworth brother combo running through her head.

We laughed together, and suddenly I knew everything would be okay.

“I guess the first thing we need to do,” I said when it was time to get serious again, “is find out one way or another. So, let’s get to the pharmacy and buy you a test, little mama.”

Eva’s face blanched and she covered her stomach with both hands. “Oh, God. Don’t call me that. I’m so not ready for that.”





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN




Well, I was going to be an aunt. Or was it a second cousin?

Oh, who cared how the relationship worked; Eva was pregnant any way you looked at it. The world was coming to an end.

I spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon with her, soothing her frazzled nerves. I managed to make her laugh a few times, but mostly I handed her tissue after tissue. We talked about her future, about what she wanted to do with her situation, and how she was going to tell her parents and Alec.

I think she was more worried about telling Alec than Aunt Mads and Uncle Shaw.

“He’s not the one, ReeRee. I can tell you that right now. He and I aren’t going to last. He’s never once looked at me the way Mason looks at you, and you two are apparently just friends.”

I straightened my shoulders. “How does Mason look at me?”

Eva shook her head and sighed wearily. “If you don’t know, I’m certainly not going to tell you. I still think you should stay away from him. You have less future with him than I do with Alec. Jeez-us. But Alec is going to flip when he hears this.”

I was too busy thinking about Mason to answer. But really, how the heck did he look at me?

“Shit!” I sprang off my couch, remembering the last time he’d looked at me, before I’d shut the door in his face. “Sarah’s party. I totally forgot. It started five minutes ago. I’m sorry, E. I have to go.”

I rushed to my room and grabbed my gift. Eva was struggling to her feet, looking panicked as I reentered the living room. “But—”

I held up a hand. “Chris and Liam. Chris and Liam,” I reminded her. “It’ll be fine. I’ll return in a few hours and we can continue where we left off. Okay?”

Eva bit her lip but nodded. “Don’t forget about me.”

“Never.” Glad our relationship was somewhat restored since the afternoon I’d caught her macking on Mason in the library, I gave her a quick, impulsive hug. “I love you, E. Everything will be fine. Trust me.” Then I was out the door.

Dang it, how could I forget about Sarah? I had to be the worst babysitter ever.

Five minutes later, I skidded my car to a sloppy halt in front of the Arnosta house. Jittery adrenaline roared through my veins.

I jumped into the birthday festivities with both feet.

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Breathless, I blew through the front door without knocking. “I lost track of time while I was writing a paper for school. I know…” I paused to grin and pose in a jaunty kind of position, because the tension in the air almost choked me as soon as I entered. “I’m a total geek that way.”

Then I turned toward the three young girls I didn’t recognize. They hovered in a pack together on the opposite side of the room from Sarah. “Hi, I’m Reese,” I told them, striding forward to shake their hands. “I’m Sarah’s evening sitter.”