“Now who is lying?” he stated. “You didn’t drink anything but seltzer water.”
She rubbed the back of her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t wait another minute. She needed him to know and she’d run out of excuses.
“I am okay,” she said at last. “I’ve, um, been trying to figure out how to tell you this and there is no way to ease into it.”
“Are you really sick?” he asked worriedly. “I mean, cancer or something? I have a lot of resources... We will get you the best help there is.”
He took her hand in his and led her out of the bathroom to the couch in the living room. The Christmas tree and the multicolored lights twinkled, giving the room a warm and cozy feel.
He pulled her down on the couch next to him then into the curve of his side so he could hold her. “No wonder you didn’t want to say anything. It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here by your side.”
Oh. God. He was making it worse. For a brief second, she wondered if she could just pretend that she was seriously ill but rejected that immediately. That lie was too big, too cruel, and Sean deserved better.
“Thank you.”
She shifted on the couch and turned so she was facing him. “I’m not ill. I’m...pregnant.”
His brow furrowed and he sort of stared at her like she had spoken a foreign language. Then she saw him get it and his face turned hard and he got to his feet, pacing away from the couch. He turned and looked at her.
“How long have you known?” he said shortly.
“Since the night I found out you weren’t Jack.”
He nodded. “Fair play. I mean I lied to you so you sort of owed me.”
“I didn’t owe you,” she said hoarsely. “I didn’t know you. There’s a difference.”
“I’m trying to see it, Paisley.”
She knew that he was. He just stood there on the other side of the living room in his tuxedo, watching her, and the lights of their tree didn’t seem so comforting now.
Fourteen
Pregnant?
Fuck.
A father.
He had no actual idea how to be a father. His own had left when Sean was a toddler and he had no memory of the man. He hadn’t even tried to come back into Sean’s life when he got famous. And his mother...well, she hadn’t exactly been parent of the year. In fact, she never wanted to be a parent. She’d admitted as much. She would have left too, but someone had to stay for him.
He’d been a burden to her.
He looked at Paisley. There was so much to unpack but he thought of his child.His child.His mind was still racing. He wouldn’t let that child feel abandoned, or like a burden.
“This difference...does it somehow involve our baby?” he asked, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He was trying to see her side, and to be fair, if he wasn’t angry he might be able to. But right now he saw the lie she’d told him and it was different than what he’d done.
“Yes,” she said, getting up and coming over to him. “It has everything to do with the baby. I didn’t know Sean O’Neill. I had no clue how much of the man I knew as Jack was actually part of you.”
Damn. He knew she was making sense but he was hurt. “I told you I hadn’t been lying to you.”
“My dad has told me the same thing.”
“I’m not your goddamn dad! I haven’t deceived anyone or taken their savings and caused them to lose their homes. I’m an actor and you’ve seen what my life is like in public. I chose to get to know a woman I was attracted to as a man and not a celebrity. Try to see how that is different.”
He stepped away from her, realizing that his anger was making him loom over her, and he never wanted to intimidate her that way. Forcing himself to take several deep breaths, he turned and walked toward the door. He should leave until he had this savage part of himself under control.
“I get it. You’re right,” she said. She hadn’t followed him.