Page 34 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

HE FIXATED ON her stomach a lot. Too much for someone who was supposed to be keeping a secret.

“You keep looking at me like that, the whole world is going to know.”

Even sitting side-by-side, facing the front of the plane, she could tell he was staring again.

Breck was the kind of guy who took everything in stride. He was never overwhelmed or intimidated, he was a planner. And this most definitely hadn’t been the plan.

“No one here knows who we are. It’s a commercial flight.”

Shifting her head in the leather headrest, she got closer, but didn’t actually meet his eye. “When was the last time you flew commercial?”

“Bastian owns an airline.”

“I know he does, that’s why I asked.”

“If you’d let me call—”

“I want to be home, okay?” That’s what she said the moment they hit the sidewalk in LA. They’d gone straight to the airport. “I don’t want to wait. You could’ve stayed in LA if you wanted.”

“I can’t see myself leaving your side any time soon.”

“We’re glued together?” That wouldn’t be subtle either. “Won’t that be fun?”

They were flying commercial, yes. In first class, not slumming it in economy. It may be unusual, but it wasn’t any hardship. Luxury, when within reach, found a way.

The preened flight attendant approached wearing a broad plastic grin. “Can I get you anything? Food? Something to drink?”

Returning the expression, she didn’t envy the woman her job. “No, thank you.”

“You can bring her—”

“I don’t want anything, thank you,” she said, cutting Breck off. After the woman continued up the aisle, she flashed him a glare. “Have I ever needed you to speak for me in the past?”

“I’m speaking for my child.”

“Start that and you’ll be far, far away from this pregnancy. I’ll change the locks, hire security to maintain a perimeter.”

Okay, maybe she wouldn’t go that far, but she was making a point.

Like it bounced off, he became more discerning. “We need a bigger apartment.”

Maybe the perimeter thing wasn’t such a bad idea after all. “Oh, we do? Do we ?”

“Unless you want to move into B House.” Ha, what a comedian. “We’d never have to worry about childcare.”

She laughed. “Or see our child again.”

“I’ll talk to Mom, she won’t overstep.”

Alice would, but it would be welcome. The woman had so much child rearing experience she could run her own university. Keeping the news quiet at that juncture was about rebounding from shock, not because she thought the Breckenridges would react negatively.

How quickly things changed. At that time the previous week, the idea they’d even considered having a child was a secret. That she’d been considering it, Breck wasn’t supposed to be attached to the notion at all.

“We shouldn’t be talking about this. You’re supposed to be the sperm donor.”

There was that deadpan look again. “Coy.”

“I know. Okay? I know. You want to be involved.”

“I am involved. We will raise this child together. You’re out of excuses. We’ve put things to bed with your father.”

“Not yet. We can’t afford to get complacent. That’s usually exactly when he sneaks past and gets his way.”

“We cannot live our lives in fear.”

Uh, which was exactly her point all along.

“Once he’s in prison—”

“Chances are you’ll have given birth by then.

He’s under bail restrictions in Chicago at the moment.

Soon they’ll bring additional charges and he’ll be unable to reach us.

” In an ideal world. He gathered her hand into his, using his other to tempt her jaw around until they were looking into each other. “What’s really holding you back?”

“You don’t have a job.” The tilt of his head emptied her lungs. “I don’t know. I want this; I know I want this.”

“And some part of you thinks you don’t deserve it?”

Was that it? Once again he proved he might truly know her better than she knew herself. That conclusion wasn’t even—look at her life, her history, her genetics. Was it right to…? But it was done. Their child existed.

Her own fingers trailed to her belly. “Can we just go home, get some sleep, and try to make sense of this tomorrow?”

When maybe sense might be in order again. She’d woken up wanting to become a mother, ready to find out if it was a possibility for her future. Instead, she’d learned motherhood was already upon her.

Breck was right, they needed a bigger apartment.