Imperfect Match (Elixir Bachelor Billionaires #1)

“Daisy—”

This time, she puts a hand over my mouth.

“You are enough. You’re so damn more than enough, Charles. You are a dream husband, exactly like a prince. But unfortunately, I’m not a Cinderella. I’m a normal girl who wants a simple life.”

“Then come back home with me. We’ll make our own simple life with everything you want.”

“Not everything,” she whispers, deflating my excitement.

“Everything except that. I promise you won’t regret this, Daisy. You’ll miss nothing in life. I’ll make sure of it. We can have a pet.” My mind runs wild with the possibilities, all with the single aim of getting her home. I’ve been trained to think on my toes, and even though I denied it before, this feels like the biggest deal of my life. “A dog, maybe two. Even a few cats, and some cool plants.”

Yes, pets and plants, I can tolerate.

I wait for her to join my excitement and say yes to all that, but instead it’s like she’s waiting for me to join her on the other side, the non-excitement zone.

Everything with this girl has been a challenge. Why did I think today would be different?

“I love you, dammit.”

Instead of being shell-shocked or surprised, she once again closes her eyes. She didn’t avoid looking at me this much even on the days I was my grumpiest self at the office.

“You heard me say I love you? I don’t expect you to say it back, but some acknowledgment would be good, Daisy.” My words are flat, devoid of the nervousness that’s building up every second inside me.

Tears spill from her eyes, cracking a piece of my heart in their wake.

Fuck it.

“Say yes, Daisy, and we’ll figure out the rest.” I grab her shoulders and pull her closer, trying to knock some sense into her. The life I’m showing her isn’t bad; some might even say it’s fabulous. But she’s too blinded by some childhood fantasy of having her own family.

Blood relations mean shit. Doesn’t she know that?

“I can’t.” Her lip wobbles.

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I’m pregnant!”

It takes a second for me to register the meaning behind her words.

P-pregnant…

She’s…pregnant!

My hands drop from her shoulders, and my thoughts spiral into a chaotic whirlwind. I take a shaky step back.

Daisy’s lips move, but I fail to register the meaning, even if I hear them alright.

“I—I’m sorry. I just found out, but you don’t have to worry about it. I’m going to leave Cherrywood. I know how you feel about this.”

Her arms wrap around her stomach protectively, tightening the grip of the invisible cold hand around my chest.

“I hope there are no hard feelings, Charles. I’m already looking for jobs outside the state. If you prefer, the baby won’t even have your name. You don’t have to be involved in anything.”

She continues to say many things, but I can’t make any fucking sense of them.

She’s pregnant with my kid. There’s a tiny heartbeat inside her right now that is a part of me, and in nine months, it will turn into a person.

My child.