Lib Novel Page 26
“Um, in normal circumstances, sure.”
Normal circumstances? As in, when two people hadn’t shared what felt like an entire relationship in one night, from meet-cute to breakup?
“How areyou? Have you put a man on the moon yet?”
Matt chuckled. “That’s not what we do.” He pushed forward, buoyed by her strengthened voice. “Is that the next item on your bucket list? Going to the moon?”
“No. I’d settle for a day at the beach, honestly. I’ve been really busy.”
He nodded into his empty room. Fingering the rim of his wine glass, he ventured further. “Me, too. I’ve still been thinking about you, though.”
Thinking, missing, wishing.
“I’ve been thinking about you,” she whispered back.
Matt’s brows creased. Sweet words should land softly, not like a blow. Her quiet confession rocked him. He really fucking missed howseenshe’d made him feel. How free. How fucking happy.
Which got him thinking…really, L.A. was only a three-hour drive from Victory. He did not have time for anything meaningful, not with OrbitAll opening so soon, and Pia definitely deserved meaningful, but maybe he should come up with a—
“I’m pregnant, Matt.”
He heard the words, but didn’t. Not over the buzzing in his brain that started to roar louder than a waterfall. In the growing silence, an iceberg formed in his stomach, then broke into fragments and scattered into his veins. He couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, so he just breathed.
His back hurt suddenly. His jaw, too. He shifted against the couch cushions as breathing became harder.
“I’m in shock, too. I just found out. I’d apologize, but really, we did nothing wrong. I’m on birth control. We should have been covered.”
Should. The word was like a spark to a dead engine.
Mattshouldbe downing wine and returning emails. He should be thinking about the board meeting tomorrow and where to start looking for a COO.
He shouldnotbe absolutely fucking panicking because nothing in his life had ever prepared him to become a father. Matt held a lot of titles, felt competent in many areas. None of them involved caring for a child.
His heart rate accelerated. He couldn’t do the dad thing. How could he? Parenting was the only job in the world his family found too hard. His own parents had given up. He had no role model or rule book, no business school course he could lean on.
And he wasn’tpaternal. He owned ten Givenchy suits and only one pair of running shoes. He had staff for everything laborious in life, and he knew from experience how hiring staff to step in as parents turned out.
“Okay, now you’re freaking me out. Say something, please. Anything.”
Matt cleared his throat until his voice returned. “What do you plan to do?”
This time, Pia stayed silent. Finally, she said, “I plan to be the best mom I can be. That’s pretty much all I’ve got at this point. It’s been all of fifteen minutes since I found out.”
Her voice was sharp and dull at the same time. He knew Pia needed to know whathewas going to do. But for the first time in Matt’s life, he had no plan. No ideas. Only this fear spreading through his body like an oil spill.
He had to get off this call. He needed to process. Tothink. “Thank you for telling me, Pia, but I need to go. I’ll be in touch.”
“Sure,” she scoffed. “Just like you’ve been in touch the past five weeks.”
“You were just as silent,” he reminded her.
“I’m the girl,” she snapped. “You’re supposed to make the first move. You madeeverymove the night we were together.”
Not every move. They probably wouldn’t be in this position if it hadn’t been for her move on the terrace.
“I don’t think it works like that anymore, Pia. If it helps, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. On every flight, in every airport. I wanted to see you again.”
“It doesn’t help! Nothing helps! So much for figuring out what I want to do with my life. Turns out, the decision was made for me. I’m going to get puffy and covered in stretch marks, and that’s only if my parents don’t kill me first. I am fucking freaking out, Matt.”