Pregnant by the Playboy Heir

otte'

e late

sses, pretending I hadn't sprinted through icy rain to get here. My

ing my soaked hoodie tigh

beat. "Funny how buses only

ur days. Mom's nursing home called-again-about unpaid bills. Bruce stil

ile and ducked b

hat make everything feel a little fake, men laughing too loud about nothing, women half-smilin

s, I can s

just f

nager dropped his voice low.

't hav

ff. "You ab

eyes and gra

ment, the front

rough the air. A couple of suits sat up straighter. Some girls by the mirror adjusted t

oked

's when

face everyone trusts too easily. He crossed Monarch's floor like he owned i

harmle

o the counter and sat d

each other

s tie, glanced up,

Almost bored. I

one swallow and tapp

red a

g wasn't right. He wasn't here for fun.

ng to sound casual, "mos

eople a

s unhe

lly met

in the floor. His eyes weren't cruel, just detached. He

our name?

ted. "Ch

this much to cust

he rude

lickered at his mou

ss forward again.

e I pour

ting somethi

N

hat? Mo

er, steady, like ticking off ti

u drink

iled for rea

n-Bruce, again. I let it r

frie

ing lik

n't sou

r glass. "You do

nd rough. Of course, even

n us-it was worse. It felt intere

e me when they want something. And when th

ed," he said

ed. "Ex

heard

y laugh. "Not much

supposed

slow and unhurried. He soaked in

rying everybody else's pr

ook one place first. Not hi

"You psychoanalyz

terestin

tightens-wa

Because the next instant, he's s

l Crest. Acro

ard, then at him.

es

't even

link. "I kn

... what

oposi

laugh. "Wow. Strai

like someone w

d I hate him a

away, but I ask a

eutral. "Five th

y slipped f

atest meds, Bruce's never-ending de

re jo

joke abou

llet and places two grand on the cou

ays quietly. "T

o this

N

n wh

use you looked at me an

ing, powerful. The kind of guy people write magazine covers about.

?" I ask,

dni

11:

e conf

'll

him off, but he

even know i

e buzzing in my pocket

ings. Becau

n that crappy bed. Bruce's broken promises. My own a

d dollars fo

tion," I s

ck, listeni

eird

slow and sharp. Doesn't soft

nnoying,"

still thinki

cash before I can change my

ds me, voice softer. "Don't

even told m

on't n

s susp

intent

ller as he passes. Smells lik

lk you out of coming

e feels empty, like everyone

e's

d, I sat in my car outside Royal Crest, watching the city lights blur

d or pretending to be. Charlotte? Didn't even ca

tupid marathon - business partners, fake laughs, my father parading me around lik

l for the first time in months. She just argued over tequil

d. Father.

ds later: Wh

ouldn't remember the last time I

the clock.

e, honestly. Girls get cold f

ion just as someone kno

rest

ned i

uckles pale. She looked colder now, more nervous

minutes ear

ounds less cocky in y

smile tugging

ty views, champagne on the table nobody bothered with. People usually react one w

in places like

etim

m went quiet. Not gentl

here, but neither of us

leave,

rp and suspicious. "Tr

N

" She almost so

ook like you n

get defensive, pride and ex

know me already

N

pped

ple keep taking

raw and exposed. No wal

u talk too much for

e too much t

time soft and smal

ow?" she aske

e strength just under all that weight. For reasons I still do

me," I sai

a long moment. Then she asked

of us pretended