Sadie sat down on the edge of the bed and rested her forearms on her knees. “I don’t expect it’s ever easy telling a guy you’re pregnant. And honestly, I didn’t expect you to react as calmly as you did.”
Carrick walked into his closet and returned with a cobalt-blue tie, which he draped around his neck. He started to knot the ends, his eyes on hers. “I don’t believe in beating the horse because I left the stable door open. What’s done is done. We must deal with what is, not how we wish it to be.”
“Talking of dealing with what is—” Sadie linked her fingers between her knees “—how are we going to do this, moving forward?”
Carrick looked at her and Sadie felt pinned to the floor. “What exactly are you asking me, Sadie?”
Sadie had to smile at the panic flashing in his eyes. “I’m not asking you to marry me, Carrick. I’m just looking for an indication of whether you’d like to be a part of the baby’s life. Or whether you intend to bail.”
“First, I’ve never bailed on a thing in my life.”
Carrick had bailed on his marriage, but then again, so had she. Sometimes it was okay to walk away from toxic people and situations. Unfortunately, according to Tamlyn and Beth, Carrick had been the source of that toxicity.
But since Sadie was neither marrying him nor falling in love with him, and as long as he kept any toxic behavior away from her baby, that wasn’t something she needed to worry about.
“And, gut reaction, I want the baby. I might not want a relationship—” yeah, she heard his warning, thank you very much “—but I do want to be a dad.”
Well, then. Okay.
“But we don’t need to decide on the mechanics of our relationship today. We have time. Have you told anyone else you are pregnant?”
“No, why?”
“When the news breaks, the tabloids will make a big deal about it.” Carrick’s mouth turned down and his face hardened. “The press will devour this news. It will be a big deal. First pregnancies, so I’m told, often end in miscarriage so I’d prefer only to weather one storm of press attention. I’d hate to have to go back and explain that you’ve miscarried.”
“Would the press really be that interested in this?”
“Oh, hell, yes,” Carrick muttered, and Sadie recalled the internet search she’d done on him and the many articles she’d found detailing the most sordid aspects of his marriage.
The press loved drama, especially within a high profile family like the Murphys, and there had been a lot of it five years ago.
Carrick’s suggestion to wait made sense so Sadie nodded. “I’m happy to keep it a secret. It’s nobody’s business but our own.”
“Talking about miscarriages, are you expecting any problems?” Carrick asked. “Do you have a family history of miscarriages? God, do you even have a family?”
Sadie had to laugh. “I wasn’t found under a banana tree, Murphy.”
Carrick pulled a face. “For someone I’m having a baby with, I know next to nothing about you.”
That was true. They’d shared their bodies, the most intimate of physical acts, but they knew next to nothing about each other. “I’m the third of four kids and as far as I know, my mom popped us out with no trouble at all.”
Carrick rubbed his jaw. “I think we need to change that, Sadie.”
Change what?
“If we are going to raise a child together, the least we can be is friends,” Carrick said, choosing his words with care. “We have this hectic attraction, but that’s not going to help us raise a child together. We need to get to know each other.”
Sadie stared at him, suddenly realizing that she wasn’t in this alone; she was going to have a father for her child. Despite knowing that she could, and would, raise a child by herself, she was so damn grateful that she didn’t have to.
But their chemistry complicated the situation.
Sadie waved at the bed. “What about this?”
“Sex?”
Sadie placed her hand on the bed to anchor herself. She nodded, the edges of her vision a little fuzzy. “Uh-huh.”
“Sex is sex, work is work, but there’s no rule that says we can’t be friends and not have sex, that we can’t work together and not have sex.”