on her own. She was an educated woman with her own successful business. She wasn’t a billionaire, but she wasn’t a pauper, either.
Zephyr could be part of the baby’s life without marrying her as well. But he couldn’t be a full-time dad if they didn’t live together. Even in the best shared custody arrangements, both parents were forced to take a less pervasive role in their child’s life.
And Zephyr wasn’t going to be content with the role of part-time dad. Just because she refused to marry him did not mean he would not one day marry. He didn’t just want to be a father; he wanted a family. That had been obvious when they’d visited the aquarium together.
He wanted what he saw all around him, and she could not blame him.
Which led to the other question that chased the first one over and over again: could she bear to stand aside while he married another woman and built a whole family with her? Could she stand her own child only having half-time with his or her daddy while others that came later got him each and every day?
Unlike Zephyr, her time at the Seattle Aquarium was doing nothing to help her think of answers to those hard questions.
Zephyr let himself into his empty apartment, annoyed when he realized the cleaning service had left the lights on in the living room again. His power bill was not the issue; indiscriminate wasteful use of the planet’s resources was.
It had been almost a week since Piper was supposed to have called him. She hadn’t been in to work, at least according to her assistant, Brandi. He’d gone by Piper’s apartment, but she hadn’t answered the door. Her phone had to be off and he’d finally stopped calling, but each day that went by echoed feelings he thought he would never again have to experience.
The fear of being abandoned was a live thing inside of him, but he hid it, even from Neo. He couldn’t stand the feeling of helplessness that grew with every hour she did not call. Had he lost his friend? Was she going to try to keep him from his child if she was indeed pregnant?
One thing he knew was that he might feel helpless, but he wasn’t. If she carried his child, she was not going to keep it away from him like his brother and sister had been. He would be a part of this child’s life, even if marrying its mother wasn’t an option.
He would fight for custody. She could be the weekend parent, if she didn’t want to marry him. She was still building her business, she’d said so herself. He could free more of his time to parent their child hands-on and any decent judge would see that.
Disgusted with the direction of his thoughts, he yanked off his already loosened tie as he strode into the living room. He stopped dead at the sight that greeted him.
Piper was curled on his sofa, under a quilt he had brought back from Greece many years ago. As if she could sense his presence, her eyelids fluttered and then opened.
She gazed up at him drowsily. “Hi.”
“You said you would call.”
“I couldn’t. I had to think.”
“So, you left me hanging for almost a week?”
She flinched at the ice in his voice, but he could not help that. “I decided it wasn’t something we should discuss on the phone but, um…maybe I should have called and told you that.”
“Yes, you should have. I have been worried. I went by your apartment. You did not answer the door.”
“I wasn’t there. I went to my favorite place to think after trying yours and getting nowhere.”
“Where is that?” he demanded.
“The beach.”
“You could not have let me know you went out of town?”
“If I had called you, you would have talked me into seeing you.”
“Maybe because that was what we both needed.” Frustrated anger laced his voice. “At the very least, you could have let me know that you were waiting here today.”
“I should have,” she acknowledged as she sat up and brushed her hair back off her face. The beach might be her favorite place to think, but it had brought her no peace and despite just waking from a nap, she looked like she hadn’t been getting enough sleep. “I was just so tired and thought you would come up after work. I didn’t realize you would work until bedtime.”
“It is hardly that.”
“Close enough.”
“Damn it! Do not try to sidestep the issue. If I had known you were here, I would have left my office immediately.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly to prevent his volume from increasing. “I was worried. Do you understand that?” Did she care? “I called your cell over and over again.”
She looked down so he could not see her eyes, and target the guilt he would see there. “I turned it off.”
“I figured that out.”
She nodded. She stood up and came to him, then tilted her head back so their gazes met. Emotions he did not understand swirled in her blue depths.
“Tell me,” he demanded, his tone softer than he intended.
How could he help feeling compassion? She looked like hell.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call. It was inconsiderate and selfish of me. I should have called, no matter how hard it would have been. I kept thinking and thinking, but I couldn’t make sense of anything no matter which way I looked at it. When I finally got here today, it was past four. I really thought I’d take a short nap and you would be here. And then we could talk.”
“Instead I worked late, trying to keep my mind off the fact you did not keep your promise to call.” Almost a week ago, but he had already said that and she had acknowledged it.
She nodded. “This situation is scary, Zephyr.”
“I agree, but I would think that two friends facing down fear together would work better than each trying deal with it on his or her own.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” She looked away again. “I just…I knew you’d want to get married and I didn’t know what I wanted to do about that.”
“So, you are pregnant.”
She met his gaze, hers suspiciously glossy. “Yes, we’re either very unlucky or wildly fortunate, depending on how you want to look at it.”
“How do you look at it?” he demanded.
“Wildly fortunate? How else? I’m thrilled to be having your baby even if this whole situation scares me to death.” She looked ready to shake apart.
Damn it. He would have noticed how fragile she was earlier if he hadn’t been working through his own turmoil. He did not want to tell her the plans he’d been making when he first arrived, but would she give him a choice?
Hoping to convince her of their best option yet, he pulled her into his arms, keeping their gazes connected even as their bodies pressed together in comfort. “What are you so frightened
