Imperfect Match (Elixir Bachelor Billionaires #1)

Tears race down my cheeks, dropping onto my hands. My pounding heart is filled to the brim with feelings and emotions of unlived dreams. But maybe this is my chance.

How can you be so cruel, Mrs. Hawthorne?

Your husband, a man who always aims to do what’s right, doesn’t want kids. What do you think will happen when he finds out? Do you expect him to say, “Okay, now you’re pregnant, so let’s live like a happy family”?

When did your dreams become bigger than his fears?

You were never so selfish, Daisy.

Okay, enough! You can’t accuse me of something I haven’t even done.

I push away my inner critic, currently scaling the ladder of morality, and grab my phone.

Me: I need to invoke our childhood secrecy pact. You have to do something for me without asking questions.

The reply comes immediately.

Willow: Shoot.

Me: Are you home?

Willow: I’m at the inn, but I can be home in twenty minutes.

Right now, I’m grateful for that summer evening when, sitting on my parents’ porch, Violet proposed a secrecy pact. Once in our lives, each of us gets to ask the other three to do something, and no questions will be asked. We finished with a pinky swear and blew over our linked hands, sending our pact to the fairies for authorization.

Me: Okay, I’ll see you in 20. Can you also bring a pregnancy test?

The phone trembles in my hand as I see her typing and deleting. I almost feel sorry for Willow. She must have so many questions, especially after witnessing my drunken antics last night at the party.

Willow: Got it. But you know I’ll have to tell Vi and El about it, right? The pact only works when all of us are involved.

Me: I know. You do that.

Twenty minutes later, Steve drops me off at Willow’s place. Three untouched pregnancy tests sit ominously on the table. No one speaks for several moments, and in the quiet room, the hum of the fridge booms like a distant drum.

“So are we just going to stare at them or do something?” Vi, sitting cross-legged on the floor, breaks the silence.

“Why do we have three?” I turn to Willow instead.

“I thought you might want to be completely sure.”

“But I don’t know if I can pee three times.” I grab the water bottle I brought along. It’s already half-empty.

“You don’t have to pee multiple times, Daze.” Elodie gently places her hand over my shoulder. “Once will be enough.” She hands me a disposable plastic cup and takes away the bottle. “But do you not want to talk about it first?”

“That’s not how the pact works,” Vi immediately jumps in, and for once, I appreciate her general sense of overenthusiasm. “Plus, what kind of question is that? Daze is definitely pregnant. Duh.”

“And would you rather not take the test with Charles? I’m sure he’d prefer knowing about it before us, especially if the tests come out positive.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I whisper while my friends stare at me, their gazes filled with unasked questions. “I need to do this on my own.” My hands tremble as I pick up the tests from the table.

Moments later, I place the three sticks on the edge of the basin, waiting for the chemicals to do their work and predict my future. When I walk out of the bathroom, I’m met with the anxious faces of my friends.

“And?” Willow runs her hands over her arms.

“There are still a few minutes.” I show them the timer on my phone. “But I’m too nervous. Can one of you please check it for me?”

“You got it.” Violet takes my phone and heads toward the bathroom, walking past me.