To the morning several weeks ago.
The morning after … Oh, hell.
The floor shifted beneath Ty’s feet and his toes gripped the cold tile in the hope of maintaining his balance.
“That’s not why I was leaving that morning,” Ellie moaned, sounding miserable, oblivious to the crazy thoughts rushing through his head. “I just didn’t know what we’d say to each other or how you’d feel. Or—”
“Ellie,” he interrupted, his hand against the wall to balance himself. Sweat popped up on his brow, on the back of his neck. “Are you sure you just have a nervous stomach?”
Please say yes.
Misery on her pale face, she shrugged. “I’ve had a nervous stomach on and off most of my life. It just hadn’t bothered me in years until …”
His heart slammed against his rib cage in thunderous bursts. His mind raced ahead, drawing what he hoped were inaccurate conclusions. “Not until the past couple of weeks?”
Face pink, she nodded again. “Yes. I was anxious about coming here with you, Ty. I’m really sorry I woke you up to this. I kept lying there thinking my nausea would pass, but it just kept getting worse. I couldn’t hold it back any longer.”
His heart beating faster and faster, his insides shaking, his knees threatening to buckle, he sank down to the floor next to her, placed his hand on her thigh. “Ellie, have you had a menstrual cycle since the night we first made love?”
Her lips didn’t move, but they didn’t have to. The widening of her eyes and blanching of her skin answered for her.
She hadn’t.
Dear Lord, Ellie might be pregnant with his baby.
Eleanor shook. Her entire body shook.
Pregnant.
Was that even a possibility?
Well, of course it was a possibility. She and Ty had had sex. About a month ago.
She had missed her menstrual cycle.
She’d been so lost in thoughts about the night she’d spent with Ty, about this upcoming trip, that she’d never even noticed that she’d skipped a period. Could she be any more naive?
“I’m probably only late due to stress.” Surely that was the only reason she hadn’t gotten her period.
“Are you usually regular?” He sounded so calm, so logical. If not for the tremble of his hand where he touched her thigh, she might think him completely unaffected.
She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes. Usually I’m like clockwork.”
“Have your breasts been more sensitive?”
She so did not want to be having this conversation.
Not while crouched on the bathroom floor. Naked. With Ty. Naked. With her having just thrown up.
Under the best of circumstances she didn’t want to be having this conversation, but definitely she didn’t under the current ones.
A new wave of mortification hit her and she wrapped her arms around her body, trying to cover herself, wishing she could just crawl back into the fantastic dream she’d been having prior to waking and making her mad dash to the bathroom.
“Ellie,” Ty whispered, wrapping his arms fully around her and holding her tightly to him. “Oh, Ellie, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
“I … I don’t know. It—it never occurred to me that I might be.” She kept her eyes tightly squeezed shut, hating that hot tears stung her eyelids, hating that she’d stuttered. “It’s possible.” She sucked in a breath, praying she didn’t hiccup or sob. “I’m sorry, Ty.”
She felt his fingers clasp her chin, felt him lifting her face, but she didn’t open her eyes, couldn’t bear to see what was in his eyes.
“Look at me.”
She prised her eyelids apart, not surprised that the moment she did so the waterworks started down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry, darlin’.” He wiped at her tears. His hands were soft, gentle, attempting to comfort, but just the thought of what might be had her insides crumbling.
“If you are pregnant, you didn’t get that way alone,” he continued. “I’m as much to blame as anyone. More so.”
To blame. Because this wasn’t something good. Wasn’t something planned for. She might be having a baby and rather than it being a joyous discovery, she sat naked on a bathroom floor, being coddled by a man who couldn’t possibly want to be here but was. He was being sweet and wonderful rather than angry.
Which made her feel all the more guilty that she hadn’t been suave and sophisticated like the women he was used to, like no doubt her own sister was.
“We weren’t exactly thinking straight that night,” she whispered, offering him an out.
“All I was thinking that night was that I wanted you, Ellie, but that doesn’t excuse me making love to you without a condom. All I can say is that I’ve never done that before. I’ve never wanted someone so much that I lost control that way.”
She bet he didn’t want her now. Not after seeing her like this. She probably repulsed him.
But rather than pull away, he just held her to him for long moments, kissing the top of her head and gently rocking her in his arms while she cried.
Which probably only added to how bad she looked.
When he stood, he got another damp washcloth, knelt and gently cleaned away her tears. “You feel like standing up?”
She took a deep breath and nodded, although really she wasn’t sure of anything. Her legs felt weak and her head spun, but they couldn’t stay like this forever.
He took her hand and helped her to her feet. “Let’s get a shower, get dressed, then we’ll go into town and buy a pregnancy test. No use worrying about this until we know exactly what we’re worrying about. Maybe it really is just your nerves.”
He didn’t sound hopeful, but perhaps …
Really, if it was just her nerves, that would be best all the way around. Yet the idea that Ty’s baby might be growing inside her … She placed her hand on her belly. Was there a baby there? Her and Ty’s baby?
Why did she hope not?
But, even more confusing, why did the thought not seem so horrible either?
When he’d suggested taking a shower, she’d thought he’d meant alone. Honestly, she wanted to be alone, to have a few minutes to herself to think, digest the morning’s events. But he must have been afraid to leave her, because he turned the walk-in shower on, tested the temperature then pulled her in with him.
He
