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I shake my head with a soft laugh. “Not at all. I try my best to be kind.”

“I can see that. It was obvious the moment I met you,” he says wistfully. “Some people are just that way. They show you who they are from the very beginning. I admire that.”

“Thank you,” I say, my jaw tightening. He’s saying nice things, which I suspect means he’s about to drop the hammer. Sure enough, Chip adds in a harder tone, “But sadly, there isn’t a place for women like you in a business like Zack’s. The entertainment industry eats girls like you for breakfast, doll, and is picking their teeth with your bones by lunchtime.”

I arch a brow. “Good thing I’m not in the entertainment business, then.”

“But you will be. If you have a baby with Zack,” he says, making me feel exposed. Zack mentioned that he’d spoken to his manager about our plan to try to get pregnant. It hadn’t bothered me at the time, but that was before I’d met Chip.

This sleaze isn’t the type of person I want knowing anything about my personal life, let alone one of the most intimate parts of it. I don’t discuss my sex life with anyone but my closest girlfriends.

“Especially if you two get knocked up outside of any kind of official relationship,” Chip continues, unfazed by the fact I haven’t responded to his previous comment or offered any encouragement to continue down this conversational avenue. “God knows, you don’t have to be married in this day and age, but the expectation is at least ‘boyfriend and girlfriend.’ Two people who barely know each other deciding to have a baby without any romantic involvement is just…kind of weird, you know?” He laughs. “I mean, no offense, I’m weird, too, so I get it, but most people won’t.”

I chew the inside of my bottom lip as I zest the lime, wanting to defend myself and my decision but unable to find the words.

Probably because a part of me agrees with this jerk.

It is kind of weird to try for a baby with someone you barely know, and I freely admit I’ve been baby crazy and not thinking rationally for the past year. Chip is an ass who’s overstepping his boundaries, but…he might also be right.

“I’m guessing most fans, especially our straitlaced, family-focused demographic, will think it’s scandalous. And a little irresponsible.” He sucks a breath through his bared teeth as he scoots his water bottle along the countertop with one finger. “Or a lot irresponsible. Those folks still believe a baby should be born within the confines of a relationship with a plan to raise the child together. Obviously, plans go to shit all the time, and people end up divorced and raising kids in broken homes, but they don’t start out broken. That’s the big difference here, and why I think most of Zack’s fans are going to decide you’re nothing but a… Well, I hate to say it, but a gold-digging piece of shit.”

My jaw drops, but before I can speak, Chip lifts his hands, his meaty fingers spread wide as if warding off unjust indignation. “Not that I would ever think that! Please, don’t take this personally, doll. It’s not personal, not a single bit of it. I’m here on business.” He winces, and his hands fall back to the marble counter. “Unfortunately for us, when you’re a high-profile entertainer like Zack, the lines between your business life and your personal life can get real blurry real quick. And unfortunately for you, our society is still far more critical of rule-breaking women than it is of rule-breaking men. Zack could probably get away with being a shitty baby daddy without a serious blow to his reputation.” He snorts. “Hell, considering the sweet golden boy thing he’s got going on right now, the news that he knocked a woman up and walked away from the relationship would probably be good for him. Give him an edge.”

Chip sighs as he leans closer. “But you and I both know that Zack is as sweet as you are. It would kill him to see you getting ripped apart in the press. He’d hate it for you, and he’d hate it for his son or daughter. Most of all, he’ll hate that he won’t be able to protect either of you from it.” He pulls a face, doing a decent impression of looking upset. “The children of celebrities aren’t off-limits to the press anymore. They haven’t been for a long time. It’s a hard world for all of us, no doubt, but for those kids, it’s fucking brutal.”

He shakes his head. “I mean, I can’t even imagine. Can you? Not being able to leave your house without people waiting outside to take your picture? Paparazzi stalking you at school, taking pictures through the chain-link fence around the playground? And in that kind of situation, the best you can hope for is that Zack’s career will crash and burn so your life can return to normal, but…” His forehead wrinkles. “Well, that’s not a position you want to be in, is it? Actively wishing bad things for someone you care about. You do care about him, correct? I’m not getting that part wrong?”


Tags: Lili Valente Romance