Page 43 of Pretty Desperate (Pine Village #6)

My heart falls a little in my chest. The last time—just a couple short hours ago—he needed to tell me something, he practically broke my heart without even realizing it. What damage could he possibly do now?

“Okay,” I whisper, steeling my spine and lightly grasping my knees. My left leg starts to bounce, betraying the cool and calm front I’m going for.

He notices and smiles before reaching out and placing his palm against my knee. Even through the material of my jeans, I can feel the searing heat of his touch.

My leg stops bouncing, his hand having a calming effect on my entire body. But then he speaks again, rendering me completely speechless and tense.

“I went to see Mrs. Krokus. I told her everything.”

I feel my eyes widen and my jaw drop. All I can do is gape at him as I try to process his words. “What?” I finally spit out, unsure I heard him correctly.

He gives me a slight grin. “I ended it, Jillian.”

My heart falls to the floor as a fresh wave of sorrow hits me hard in the chest. “Oh.”

“I told her about the lie. I couldn’t let it continue to destroy you, and that’s what was happening.

I’m the reason you are so stressed and upset, and I just couldn’t keep doing it.

Seeing you hurt, watching our lie make you sick and emotional will forever be one of my biggest regrets in life.

I never meant to hurt you, Jilly, and that’s why I came clean to Mrs. Krokus. ”

All I can do is stare at him as realization sets in. He told her it was all a lie? That means only one thing. Now that she knows the truth, the deal is off. He won’t get the building.

He won’t get his dream.

“Kam, no,” I whisper, more tears filling my eyes as guilt consumes me.

He thinks I’ve been sick and emotional for the wrong reason, and while I haven’t enjoyed lying to my family and friends, that wasn’t the reason for me acting the way I have been.

“Oh, God,” I groan, hating the situation we’re in. I bury my face in my hands.

“Hey, hey,” he says as he moves to crouch in front of me. He gently pulls my hands from covering my face, his blue eyes so full of worry. “It’s okay. It needed to be done.”

“No,” I cry. “Now you won’t get the building! Your restaurant!”

He gives me a soft, gentle smile and wraps both of my hands in his. “I’m still getting the building.”

Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.

“What? How? Why? What?”

He chuckles and brings my hands to his lips, placing tender kisses against my knuckles. “She says she knew I was lying and wanted to see how it played out.” Humor dances in his eyes.

My jaw practically unhinges. “Seriously?”

He snorts and nods. “She claims she knew but saw something between us, so she went with it. She says there was no other family interested in the building. It was something she just said to push me.”

I feel my eyes blink several times before I ask, “Push you to do what?”

The corner of his mouth curls up. “Push me to ask you out.”

“I, uh, don’t know what to say,” I confess.

“That was my reaction too. Apparently, she caught on to the fact I might have developed a little crush on you when I was taking you the taco stuff for your girls’ night. That’s when she cooked up her little scheme to give me a…push.”

“I don’t believe this,” I mutter, realizing we were played by a sweet old woman. “So, she knows it wasn’t real.”

“No, she knows it started off fake but turned very real.” He swallows hard and holds my gaze. “At least it did for me.”

My mouth is suddenly so dry, it’s hard to push words out. “It feels real to me too,” I confess, hoping those words don’t come back to haunt me.

“Thank fuck,” he mutters before pulling me into his arms and squeezing me tightly against his chest. Then, he pulls back enough to brush his lips against mine. The kiss immediately turns heated, his tongue coaxing my lips open to delve inside.

I have no idea how long we kiss, but by the time we finally pull apart, we’re both breathless and gasping for oxygen. “Is this real?” I find myself asking, desperate to hear those words again.

“Yeah, Jilly. It’s real.” He clears his throat and moves to sit beside me on the couch. This time, he pulls me up onto his lap, my legs positioned on the cushion beside him. “I do have something else I want to tell you,” he says.

“Okay, yeah, I have something to tell you too.”

“Can I go first?” he asks, earning a nod in return. “I know hearing the fact I was married before came as a shock to you. Well, I didn’t get a chance to tell you the rest of it.”

My stomach churns once more at his words, the soup and sandwich I ate not long ago suddenly growing heavy. “Okay,” I say, wiggling where I sit and wishing I were on the cushion beside him instead of directly on his lap.

“Don’t worry, Jilly,” he gently instructs, placing his warm palm on my leg to keep it from bouncing.

“So, you know I was married and Lilly wanted kids. At that time, I was so focused on building my name, my credibility, I wanted to table the discussion to have a family. I felt if I could just get to the top, where I wanted to be, it would all finally click into place.”

He pauses and exhales before meeting my gaze.

“She left because she was ready and I wasn’t.

I felt terrible, like I had failed, but to be honest, I was a little…

relieved. That probably makes me sound like a bastard, but looking back now, she’s happily married and has kids.

Just like she was meant to. And I’m not in that picture because I wasn’t supposed to be. ” He gives me a sad smile.

“We went our separate ways, and it felt right. But the older I got, I realized I was missing something. Not her, particularly—and again, I’m not trying to be an asshole, but we just weren’t right for the long haul.

Something more. I started watching all my friends get married and have kids, and I realized I would never have that.

I’m forty, and while work and building my business has always been what I wanted, I missed out on other things in life.

Someone to share all the joys with, and maybe a kid or two. ”

My chest constricts with tightness and my breathing hitches. “You want kids?” I whisper, praying I didn’t misunderstand him.

He gives a sad, sheepish grin. “I wouldn’t have minded it. But again, I’m forty. Not exactly prime age to start a family.” He’s trying to be lighthearted, but I can feel the weight of his words.

“Oh my gosh,” I whisper, tears starting to fall down my cheeks once more.

“I know you were married, and it ended because he didn’t want kids anymore.” Kameron closes his eyes and shakes his head. “If I could, I would, Jilly. I want to give you everything you want. I want to give you the world.”

A choked sob erupts from my throat as I lean against his shoulder, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. I hold on for dear life, mostly because I’m afraid he’s going to up and disappear on me.

“Don’t cry, honey. I hate it when you cry,” he murmurs, gently pulling me back and wiping the wetness from my face.

“They’re happy tears.”

His eyebrows pull together in confusion. “They are?”

I nod, knowing there’s only one thing left to say.

“I’m pregnant.”