Love is Only a Whisper (Whisper Series) (17 page)

“Another lie.”

“How dare you!”

He slammed the glass on the counter. “I dare because when I told you I felt in my gut that you were pregnant you told me there was no way that you were. Wrong time of the month.” He mimicked. “Those were your exact words.”

“It’s not uncommon for a woman to have bleeding or spotting during early pregnancy and assume it’s a period.”

“You know this, how?”

“I called a local ob-gyn office I found in the phone book. The slight bleeding didn’t last long. It never happened before, so I became concerned.”

“It never crossed your mind to call me?”

“Why would I?”

“Damn, Nicole. I’m a part of this scenario.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Pardon me?”

Nicole pointed at him. “Stop crowding me, Ashton. I needed
to think before I said anything to you.”

“Of course you did,” he said snidely. “You’re packed and ready to skip town. Did you think I was so blind by you that I didn’t see the suitcases on the floor in the bedroom?”

She refused to add to his rant.

Ashton continued, “Let me guess. You weren’t going to tell me, were you? I talked to you every damn day and night since I left here, and you never mentioned to me, not once, that you were pregnant. You would’ve left with my baby inside of you to parts unknown with me being no wiser.”

“You’re overacting. I would’ve eventually contacted you.”

“Thank you for small favors.” His tone was filled with chagrin.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“How late are you?” The outline of a vein pulsed in his
temple.

“I don’t—”

“Dammit, don’t lie to me.”

“Almost eight weeks.”

“So you knew when I left here you were pregnant?”

“No, I didn’t. Stop trying to make me a devious person because I’m not.” She inhaled deeply. “As usual, you won’t listen. I admit I’m not ready to be a mother. And you’re certainly not ready to be a father but, I’m keeping my baby.”

“How in the hell can you say that?” He shook his head, his expression scathing. “You don’t know a thing about me.”

“I know you’ve never been with a woman longer than a couple days.
If you’d made it to a month, it would’ve been a miracle.”

“That has nothing to do with what we are discussing. You’re exaggerating. I’ll not be judged on my past.”

“Look, Ashton, I don’t need—”

“You don’t need what?” The edge to his voice was colder.

“I don’t need you to be a part of the baby’s life.”

“What you’re really saying is that you don’t want me to be.”

“You’re putting words into my mouth.”

“I don’t need to do that. But, I will fight if you try to deny me what is mine.”

“A child isn’t a possession.”

“I’m a possessive man, sweetheart. Get used to it. You’re mine and that baby resting in your womb belongs to me. That’s something that can’t be changed!”

“Stop yelling. I won’t tolerate it.”

“You won’t tolerate? Who the hell do you think I am? A man you can throw to the side? If you think that, lady, you better think again. You already made your damn decision without talking to me. You tell me now that you’re keeping the baby but what was your first plan, to abort my baby?”

Nicole gasped. Feeling sick to her stomach, she projected a cool exterior but inside she was crumbling. What happened to the Ashton who sat on the bench with her and watched the ocean waves roll ashore? He had reverted back to the cold impenetrable man who took you down with a look and a direct swiftness, leaving nothing standing.

She fought to keep from retreating inside the shell that was
erecting around her. He was angry. She got it. But she would be damned if he
was going to accuse her of planning to abort her own baby.

Nicole held her hands protectively over her abdomen. “That thought
never
entered my mind. Not once. This baby is a part of me and yo—” She realized with each word her voice had risen. Nicole pursed her lips to hold back a scream.

Unwittingly, tears formed and she struggled to keep them
from falling. “I slept with you. It wasn’t something I planned. I accept
responsibility. Furthermore, I found out
today
I was pregnant. I’ve been
trying to digest the news and decide what my plan of action would be.”

“You don’t need a plan of action. I’ll take care of
everything.”

She frowned. “This isn’t about you. This is my problem.”

“You see our child as a problem?”

“Stop putting words in my mouth,” she shouted, again.

“Don’t do it.”

“What?”

“Make out like you’re in this by yourself. I won’t be shut
me out of my child’s life.

If you think you can, you better
think twice.”

“Don’t try to threaten me or try to manipulate me.”

“The minute I came through the door you should’ve told me you were pregnant.”

“Well, I should’ve done a lot of things, but I didn’t. If
you remember we were busy.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that if I hadn’t gone into the bathroom you wouldn’t have told me anything.”

“I’m not on trial here. Okay, maybe I should’ve told you when you first got here but I didn’t. I haven’t told anyone yet. I haven’t said a word to Brent—”

“Brent?” His dark blue eyes penned hers with fury. It
would’ve made the strongest man stumble. Anger suffused his face. He looked
ready to burst a blood vessel. “You were going to talk to my brother about
something that is none of his damn business!” His booming voice echoed through
the room.

He ran a hand through his hair, finally resting it on his neck. Disbelief was written over every part of his face. “What the hell do you take me for, a weak-minded fool who would let his woman turn to another man? A man she claims to be in love with? I’ll not stand by and let you make a fool of me. If you believe I will you better think again because it’s not happening.”

Nothing she could say would make him understand when it came to Brent. This had to stop. She’d been determined to control the conversation but when she mentioned Brent’s all his common sense and rational thinking went out of the window. He was like a powder keg that would explode any minute.

“You’re twisting everything around. There’s no need to get
upset. Brent is my—”

“I don’t give a damn what Brent is. You’ll not and I repeat,
will not discuss our relationship with him. You carry my baby not his. I won’t
have it!”

“Excuse me?” she sputtered in shock. “You won’t have it—”

“Nicole,” he said in biting tones. “In the past, every time you had a problem you ran to Brent. When you were in your senior year in high school and having trouble with a geometry class, it was Brent you turned to for help. When you went away to college and would call Brent every damn day and night because you missed him. It was always been Brent to the rescue. It’ll no longer be him.”

“What were you doing, listening in on his phone calls?” she sneered.

“I didn’t need to. Brent took pride in relaying every
detail. It made him feel important.”

She glared at him. “I won’t let you belittle him.”

Ashton uttered harshly. “I don’t give a damn. Brent is a married man. I’ll not have my wife talk personal issues with another man, brother or not. If you have a problem you come to me. Our marriage will have only two adults in it not three.”

“Marriage? Wife?” She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “What are you talking about?” She must’ve been mistaken about what he’d just said. He couldn’t just have asked her to marry to him. Hell, he didn’t ask but commanded. “We are not getting married. Besides this is something that would need to be discussed,” she said.

“Isn’t that what we have been doing, talking?”

“No. All you’ve been doing is shouting and issuing commands.” Nicole looked at him as if he was a stranger. This wasn’t the man she knew. He
didn’t make rash statements or decisions. “I can’t marry you, Ashton. Look,
we’ve had sex. That’s not a basis for marriage. Hell, we don’t even know each
other.

He raised a brow at her. “We’ve known each other for seven
years. Length of time doesn’t matter. Y
ou’re carrying my baby
. That is
the only thing that is important.”

“I’m not marrying you because I’m pregnant,” she stated,
again.

“My child will carry my name, ” he said stubbornly.

wasn’t surprised. Ashton was a traditionalist.

“The baby can still carry your name. We don’t need to be married.”

“I won’t compromise on this. My child will not be a bastard.”

This is the 21st Century. No one thinks like that anyone.”

“I won’t back down on this.”

She breathed deeply, wondering how in the hell could they
move from this topic and talk sensibility without anger. Nicole tried to speak
calmly. “Okay, let’s say, hypothetically, that we get married, how long do you
think it would last? You have a temper and I certainly do. We would end up
divorced or killing each other.”

“That won’t happen,” he said with confidence. There was a seriousness in his tone, causing her to create space between them. She needed to regroup. But Ashton wouldn’t allow it and closed the distance.

“I have made up my mind and nothing, or no one, will deter me. Once we’re married, there’ll be no divorce. Our first priority is the baby. When it comes to us everything will fall into place.” Ashton took a long, deep breath. “We need to be civil to each other. I apologize for losing my temper.”

Nicole lifted a brow. “My goodness. I need to write down
that the
great Ashton Campbell Sinclair III
actually apologized.”

“Don’t get it twisted.”

She liked the fact she could irk him.

A somber look shrouded his face. “I’m sorry I accused you of wanting to abort our baby. I was an ass. It was uncalled for.”

“I agree. You’re an ass and you should be sorry. To think I would do something like that is…” She shook her head, sad at the thought. “The concept of abortion never entered my mind.”

“Will you forgive me?”

“I’ll think about it. We both said things in anger. Is this
the beginning of how a relationship would be between us?”

“No.” he said and wrapped his arms around her.

One minute he
was angry but now he acted as if no harsh words were ever spoken. The man was
an enigma.

“Let’s start again. I don’t want our baby hearing his
parents arguing. It’s not healthy.”

“I think it’s a little too late for that.” Nicole gently rubbed her stomach, thinking about the life growing inside. “You make me angrier that anyone I know.”

He leaned back and frowned. “I know. We have to work on that,” he uttered.

She was going to be a mother. The prospect scared her. It was happening a whole lot sooner in her life than she imagined, but all the same the baby was welcome and wanted. She looked at the man she loved. Now wasn’t the time to tell him that she was in love with him. He wouldn’t believe her.

“I agree. But I need time to adjust to the changes. Ashton,
you
need time also.”

He frowned. “No, I don’t.”

She snorted. “You’ve been a bachelor all your life. Now to have a child thrust upon you will take some getting used to. I know we did this backwards but we need to hold off on marriage.”

“No.”

Exasperated, Nicole rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.
“You’re being stubborn and pigheaded.”

He stared hard at her. “I’m not budging on this.” We have our child to think about. Nothing matters more. I want us to marry soon…very soon.”

“Ashton, it may take longer for us to get comfortable with
each other.”

“I’m already comfortable.”

“Let’s wait.”

“At least you didn’t say no.”

She tried to reason with him. “What if we can’t stand to be
together for long periods of times? Besides doing mergers and acquisitions for
the Sinclair Group and running Sinclair Software and Engineering, I don’t know all
your likes and dislikes and you don’t know mine. The only thing I do know for
sure is that you love your family. But you can be aloof. You’re known to
destroy competitors, which sometimes leave the playing field wide open because
they hate going up against you alone. For sure, you love women. I have seen
enough of them filter through your life since I’ve known you.”

He grunted. “You’re exaggerating, again.”

“No, I’m not. It’s a known fact you’ve visited, but didn’t stay long, many beds of actresses, socialites, and models. I even heard there were a few of royals thrown in the bunch. When you attend a social or charity event, women devour you with their eyes and whisper your name on their lips. I don’t want my child to be subjected to that.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers. I don’t have any control over what they print. I could sue every paper in the land but it would only bring attention. You’ll never have reason to doubt my fidelity. Not ever. I’ll always be faithful to you. I’ll protect the both of you with my life. I need for you to believe it. What’s really holding you back?

She was silent for a moment. “I’m scared.”

His hooded eyes darkened. “Of me?

“Of the unknown. I never planned on a baby and now you want
marriage. It’s too much.”

Pain was itched across his face. But she didn’t know what to
say or do to erase it. Time stood still but truth was the factor tonight.

“I know the baby and I aren’t what you envisioned for your life, but I promise you’ll never regret it. I don’t make spontaneous or rash decisions. I know that marriage between us will work. I need for you to give it a chance. I’ll take good care of you.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me, Ashton. I can do that
myself.”

“Why can’t you trust me, Nicole?”

“How do you know you’ll remain faithful? What if you come to realize I’m not what you want?”

“That would never happen.” He stared directly into her eyes.
“You’re everything I want in a woman. Never doubt that.”

“Ashton…”

“I’ll not change my mind. I want to be involved with the pregnancy. Go to all the doctor appointments and see my child growth on that belly monitor thing.”