Foolish Expectations (8 page)

“I don’t have a—”

“She will,” Nash said, cutting her off.

The doctor didn’t bat an eye at the interruption. He just looked directly at Nash and said, “No sex or anything else in your vagina for at least forty-eight hours.” Then he walked out the door.

“His bedside manner sucks,” Nash said with annoyance. “He didn’t even ask you if you had any questions.”

“I didn’t.”

“Well, maybe
I
did. I get the whole no sex thing, but what the hell kind of strange shit did he think I’d be sticking in your vagina?”

Bailey bit her cheek to keep from smiling. “He meant no tampons or douching.”

“Then why did he look at me when he said it? It’s
your
vagina.”

“Can you quit saying…that word? It sounds so vulgar coming from you.”

“Hey, he called it that first,” Nash said with a laugh. “If it was me, I’d call it a puss—”

She clamped her hand over his mouth just as the nurse opened the door. The woman sneered at them and shook her head like she was perturbed. “Be sure to stop and see the receptionist on your way out.”

To get them the hell out of there, Bailey hurried behind the curtain and quickly changed her clothes. When she came out, Nash glanced down her body and smirked. Her gaze followed his to see what the hell he was looking at. “Did I miss something? Why are you smiling?”

“You’re pregnant,” he replied, the smile spreading wider. “With
my
baby.”

“We already figured that, genius.”

“Yeah, but now it’s confirmed.” He grinned again, like it was the newsflash of the century. “You can’t try to get rid of me now by saying the baby isn’t mine. That
is
what you were planning, right?” Sure of himself, he cocked an eyebrow at her. “It won’t work. The doc pegged it down to almost the precise day we were together.”

Damn him and his perceptiveness.
She hated that the gears turning in her head showed so plainly on her face. It made her want to wipe that stupid grin off his face, so she shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s right…
if
you were the only man I’d had sex with around that time.”

His smile melted. “You lied about that, too?”

The worried look of desperation in his eyes made her feel like a jerk. She wanted to lie, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not to him. Not about the baby. She sighed heavily. “No, Nash, I wasn’t with anyone else. Just you.”

The look of relief on his face only made her feel guiltier. Damn it.

They headed down the hallway toward the checkout counter and waited for an old woman behind the desk to pull up Bailey’s file on her computer. “How much can you afford to pay today?”

Bailey practically cringed as she pulled out her checkbook.

“All of it,” Nash said, quickly fishing his wallet from his back pocket and sliding the receptionist a credit card.

“Um, sir. Since Ms. Hobbs doesn’t have medical coverage and her income is low enough, we won’t charge her for the full amount.”

“Ms. Hobbs isn’t responsible for the bill.
I
am. Just tell me what I owe and I’ll pay for it in full.”

“Well, the entire bill is over three hundred dollars.”

Nash gave the old woman a quick nod. “That’s fine.”

She smiled and took his card without so much as glancing at Bailey, who stood there with her mouth open and arms crossed. Nash signed the receipt and then steered her toward the parking lot before she could argue with him.

This was exactly what she didn’t want. She didn’t want to be a financial burden on a complete stranger…or to put her trust in another man. As she waited for Nash to unlock the passenger door, she said, “I’ll pay you back.”

“Like hell you will.” He opened the door and lifted her into the seat. “That’s
my
baby you’re carrying. I’m capable of paying for the care you and our child receive.”

She shook her head so hard she made herself dizzy. “Nash, I can’t accept—”

“Look, if you want to argue about this, we will. But I’m warning you…you’ll lose. I’m a lawyer. I do this shit for a living.” Without another word, he closed the door on her protests and strolled around to the driver’s side.

They headed for Bailey’s apartment. Nash was exceptionally quiet, and although she could tell he was carefully mulling something over in his head, he said nothing. Once inside, Bailey sat down on the couch, hoping they could talk and she could try to reason with him once more.

Granted, he was a lawyer who probably made a lot more money than she did and could financially support a child. But that’s also exactly what scared her. Nash was used to getting his way. If co-parenting didn’t work out, would he try to gain sole custody of the baby because he had the better means to care for a child? And if so, would she ever see her son or daughter again?

Having grown up without her mother in her own life, Bailey couldn’t risk it. She hated to think Nash would be so cruel, but if her past had showed her anything, it was that she wasn’t a good judge of character when it came to men. “Nash, what I said earlier about you giving up your rights… Please think about it. You can’t possibly want to be a part-time father to this child. It’d never work.”

Nash knelt down in front of her. His eyes trained on her stomach, then his warm hand quickly followed. Bailey tensed and put her hand on top of his as his gaze flickered back to hers. “Marry me, then.”

She jerked her hand back, as if his words had somehow scalded her. “W-what did you say?”

“You heard me. I want you to marry me.”

To him, he probably thought he was stepping up, acting like a man, and taking responsibility for his actions. But to her, it was more like a rude awakening littered with strange emotions that no doubt flickered across her face one by one. Shock. Fear. Intrigue. Distrust.

“Listen, I’m not going to water it down for you. It’s a crapshoot, I know. But I want to help you—”

“No.”

“Just think about it for a while. You don’t have to answer right now.”

“I gave you an answer. I said no.”

“Damn it, Bailey. Why not?”

She shook her head, not believing he even needed to ask. “Are you kidding me? Nash, you’re a nice guy, and I always thought the man who took my virginity would be the man I grew old with, but this situation isn’t anything like I’d pictured.”

“So plans change.”

“But people don’t. I can’t marry you for security. That isn’t what a marriage should be based on. I believe in the sanctity of marriage. What I don’t believe in is marrying a complete stranger on a whim because we couldn’t keep our hormones in check.”

“Then we’re perfect for each other. I don’t believe in divorce. Never have. I’ve always planned to have a family one day. Might as well be now. We’ll make it work.”

“We hardly even know each other.”

“Living together will make it easier for that to happen, though.”

“It won’t work, Nash. Trust me, you wouldn’t like living with me. I get moody sometimes.”

“You’re already moody. I’m not worried about that.”

She let out a heavy breath. “I’m being serious. It would be a marriage based on a lie…on a pregnancy. I’m sorry, but I don’t want a husband just on paper.”

“Good, because that wasn’t what I was suggesting. It would be a real marriage, Bailey. I’d be the loyal, doting husband and father, while you would be my lovely wife and mother of our child. We’d share the same bed and everything. I wouldn’t ask you to give anything up.” He gave her a smug grin and shrugged his eyebrows at her. “Especially when it comes to sex.”

She pushed him out of her way and stood up alarmingly fast. Then she walked over and opened the front door. “Get out,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“You mean besides that insulting, detached proposal you offered me?”

Nash stood up and walked closer, but didn’t dare try to touch her. That was probably a smart move because she was seething mad. But he apparently wasn’t about to let her throw him out without giving it another shot. “Bailey, I want this to work.”

 “No, what you want is for us to be paper dolls living together in a stiff cardboard-constructed home with no passion or feelings. You want polite, fake smiles during breakfast and meaningless pity fucks after dinner. Well, no thank you.”

“Sweetheart, you misunderstood. My parents’ marriage was much like that. That’s not what I want for us. If you’ll just let me—”

“There’s no
us
,” she said firmly. “I can’t marry you, anyway.”

“You mean you
won’t
marry me.”

She hesitated, then dropped her gaze. “Both,” she said. “Now I want you to go.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Wait. You’re not telling me something. What is it?”

“I asked you to leave.”

Nash shut the door and turned to face her. “What is it you’re not saying?”

“Stop it. I…I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”

“Then don’t.” He cocked his head to the side, waiting for an answer. “Come on, Bailey. Tell me why you
can’t
marry me.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “Because…I’m already married.”

The look on his face crushed her.

It had been an undeniable mix of confusion and frustration. Nash couldn’t understand how she had been married—virginity intact—to one man, now impregnated by another, yet still completely alone. Sad thing was, she didn’t understand it herself. But she’d already married one man for the wrong reasons. She wasn’t about to repeat the mistake.

“So you’re saying that this baby could possibly be…your husband’s?”

“No, it’s not his.”

“You were with someone else, then?” He rubbed at his temples. “Jesus. How many men have there been?”

God, all of this is going wrong.
“Nash, I…no, you’re the only man I’ve ever been with.”

His eyes blazed fire. “Don’t screw with me, Bailey. You said you’re married, for Christ’s sake. Don’t you dare tell me you haven’t slept with your—”

“It’s true!” she cried, embarrassment slapping her face and stinging both cheeks.

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ll play your stupid game. Then what the hell were you doing on your wedding night?”

She blinked rapidly, forcing back the building tears. “You.”

Chapter Eight

Nash wasn’t sure what to believe.

When she’d turned down his marriage proposal, Nash understood her need to choose a life partner based on love, rather than necessity. Hell, he felt the same way. But arranged marriages had been around for centuries and many were successful once the couple grew to love each other. In time, he thought they would do the same. After all, she was the mother of his unborn child. That alone made him care more for her than just some one-night stand. Not that she’d ever been that to him, anyway.

From the moment the waitress had given him Bailey’s credit card, Nash had hoped he would find her and it would be the start of something between them. Sure, he’d been pissed to find out she’d never told him her real name. And yes, it had annoyed him that she’d never bothered to show up on
his
doorstep, though she knew where he lived. Now it all made sense.

But she’s married? Fuck.

What the hell was he supposed to do about that? And where the hell was her husband, anyway? If Bailey was thinking about moving in with her father, then that meant her spouse wasn’t in the picture—at least not fully. Was he alive? Was he out of town?

So many questions ran through his mind, but he couldn’t ask her a single one. The bomb she’d dropped on Nash had stunned him into silence, and before the shock wore off enough for him to speak, Bailey had run into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Clearly, she wanted to be alone, which was fine by him, since he needed time to think as well.

Either way, he was involved now, which seemed to be the very thing she didn’t want.
Well, tough shit.
The idea of her taking off with his baby to parts unknown was ludicrous, especially when he had the means to take care of both of them. Like it or not—husband or not—Nash wasn’t going anywhere. And although she didn’t know it yet, neither was she. And he’d make damn sure of it.

After a half hour passed, he tapped on the bedroom door and pushed it open. Bailey lay on the bed and tilted her head up until her glossy eyes met his. “Nash? W-what are you doing back here?” She sniffled.

“I never left. Are you all right?”

She tensed and her lips flattened into a thin, grim line. “I-I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. But it’s okay. We don’t have to figure anything out tonight. I can plainly see the thought alone stresses you out, which is the last thing you need right now. I don’t want to do anything to put our child in danger.”

Our child.
He liked the sound of that.

Her body relaxed a little. “I just want to change and go to bed.” She got up and walked over to her dresser and pulled out some clothes, then headed into the bathroom.

He pulled the comforter back and arranged the pillows while waiting for her to come back out. When she did, he gave her a stern look.

“What?” she asked casually, as if she wasn’t standing there in a tiny pair of shorts and a tight tank top with no bra that showed her hard nipples.

He nodded to her attire. “Could’ve warned me.”

“I normally sleep in much less, but I couldn’t very well walk out here half-naked, now could I?”

He groaned under his breath and resisted the urge to shift the instant swelling in his groin area. God, he wanted to touch her, but he couldn’t…
Damn woman’s trying to kill me.

Despite her insistence that she could do it herself, Nash helped her into the bed and quickly covered her with the sheet. It was either that or risk doing something that was surely against doctor’s orders. But he wasn’t planning on leaving her all by herself, so he sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his boots.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting comfortable. I don’t plan on sleeping with these on my feet.” He pulled at his plaid shirt, unsnapping all the buttons simultaneously before sliding it off his shoulders and down his arms.