“Hey there,” I said.
“I saw you dash out earlier. Are you okay?” Ryan asked.
I looked up into his beautiful eyes and found myself getting lost in them.
“Emma?”
“Sorry. Um, I…”
My knees grew weak as Ryan walked towards me. He backed me into the bathroom, then shut the door behind him. I planted my hands on the outer wall of the bathroom stall, trying to put as much room between us as I could. His heat was intoxicating. The smell of his cologne filled my nostrils and made them flare. I swallowed thickly and closed my eyes, trying to regain my composure.
My strength.
But I was careening out of control and I didn’t know what to do.
“You haven’t been answering my calls,” he said.
“I-I-I know. I know I haven’t. It’s been, um…”
Fuck. What in the world was I supposed to do?
I felt a heat pour over my face. I felt something sturdy cupping my cheek. I opened my eyes and found Ryan’s arm outstretched, his thumb sliding along my skin. Oh my gosh. How I’d missed his touch. I curled my fingers into the cold metal wall of the stall as I nuzzled into his touch. He took a step towards me, closing the distance between the two of us. If I reached my lips up, I could kiss him. Feel his wetness against mine as our bodies pressed together.
“Can we talk?” Ryan asked. “Just the two of us?”
“I’m pregnant,” I said breathlessly.
I felt Ryan’s hand still as my eyes whipped open.
There it was. Out in the open.
No going back.
My eyes panned up to his and I watched them widen. A tear leaked down the side of my cheek and I pulled my face from his hand. He was paused. Frozen. Like I’d just cast a spell over his body. I slid from in between the wall and his body, making my way for the bathroom door.
My hand fell to the doorknob before something wrapped around my arm.
I turned to look back and saw Ryan reaching for me. His eyes were desperate, but his speech was silent. I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as another tear leaked silently from my eye, and I slid from his grasp before I exited the bathroom.
Now he knew.
But I’m still not sure what it accomplished. Or how it made anything any better.
Twenty-One
Ryan
“Sign right here, Mr. Aaron.”
I picked up the pen and signed on all the lines I needed to.
“Is there anything else?” I asked. “Because if not, I have a very busy day ahead of me.”
“I would assume so if you’re preparing to take on three children.”
Oh, if Mr. Ford only knew.
I took my copy of the papers and walked out of his office. My mind was at a dead standstill. I’d just signed papers to take on my sister’s three children, and now I had one on the way. That meeting had been four days ago, and the only thing I could think about was Emma. How she was feeling and what she was experiencing. Was she sick? Sleeping okay? Did she need anything? Was she having a hard time keeping food down? Did she want me to cook anything?