Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
A little over three weeks had passed since their weekend at The Meridian, and since Skye wasn’t one of those women who had a regular menstrual cycle, except for when she’d been on the pill, it made detecting a missed period difficult. The last thing she wanted to do was jump the gun and take a test and end up with a false positive. After consulting with a few online fertility clinics, she’d learned that the best chance for accurate results was three weeks after sex and/or ovulation.
So, here she was, excited and nervous and trying not to overthink the increasing changes she’d been feeling in her body the past few days, so she wouldn’t be disappointed if the test was negative. She wanted to be pregnant so badly, but the increasing tenderness in her breasts could have been normal pre-menstrual symptoms.
But it was the random waves of nausea she’d been experiencing, along with headaches and fatigue that Lauren had pointed out, that finally convinced Skye to take a home pregnancy test. So, before leaving work for the day, a Friday, she’d texted Tripp to let him know she was going to stop at the drugstore and pick up a few tests on the way home, and he promised her he’d be there as soon as he finished up the tonsillectomy he had scheduled for that afternoon.
That low level sense of discomfort swirled in her stomach—nerves, excitement or pregnancy hormones, she really had no idea—and she headed into the kitchen to grab a can of ginger ale that she could sip on while she waited for Tripp to arrive.
Since their weekend at The Meridian, he’d respected her no sex rule outside of trying to make a baby, but he’d somehow integrated himself into her life in a way that felt like he belonged there. Not just nightly FaceTiming, but quick lunches when their schedules aligned during the day, and stopping by in the evenings just to bring her dinner and hang out and watch a show.
She could honestly say that she wasn’t mad about having that friendship in her life, even if at times it felt like so much more. In fact, she’d grown used to picking up her phone and texting Tripp throughout the day, and anticipated seeing him one way or another at night, even if she found it increasingly difficult to keep her hands to herself when everything in her ached to feel him deep inside her again.
But she was determined not to blur the lines between them. She loved spending time with him, and had to fight off an increasing sense of loneliness when they parted ways, telling herself that her apartment wouldn’t be quiet forever, not when she had a baby filling the space with cries of hunger, happy gurgles, and when he or she was older, sweet laughter. Which made her think of Tripp, and how he deserved to experience those milestone moments, too . . . or maybe it was she that wanted to experience those moments with him.
Sighing, she rubbed her fingers along her forehead, her emotions a jumble of confusion when it came to her feelings for the man who’d made himself a part of her life. Wanting him there, yet . . . scared of letting her guard down and letting him in completely and trusting him with her heart a second time. Not that she believed Tripp would hurt her or manipulate her in the way Jack had but she just couldn’t get over that final hump. Her fear of commitment and relying on anyone, so completely.
A brisk knock at her door jarred Skye out of her thoughts and reminded her of why Tripp was here. To find out if they’d conceived a baby.
But when she opened the door and saw him standing on the other side, it wasn’t excitement or anticipation she saw on his face for what might lay ahead, but the kind of worry and concern that sent her stomach spiraling into another wave of nausea.
* * *
Tripp pulled out of the hospital parking lot after his late afternoon emergency tonsillectomy on a sweet six-year-old little girl, and headed to Skye’s where she was waiting for him to arrive before taking a pregnancy test. He was more excited than nervous to find out if he’d gotten the job done, because despite her determination to keep them as just friends, a baby would change everything and bond them more intimately.
As he drove toward Skye’s place in Brooklyn, he glanced in his rear view mirror and frowned at the black sedan following way too fucking close behind him. A car he identified as the same one he’d seen tailing him two other times this past week—each time, the sedan trailed him from his office to right before he reached Skye’s building. At that point, the vehicle would turn down a side street and disappear.