“What?” she asked in disbelief.
“It’s a thing between us. I say ‘You love me,’ and he says ‘Never going to happen.’ I mean, I’m not a rocket scientist but—”
“Obviously.”
“What?” I said, echoing her question from a second ago.
“Don’t you think maybe that’s a game between the two of you?”
Crap. Did Jameson love me? Like love me love me? Oh no…
“Willow?” she asked after the silence had dragged on for a bit.
“He’s going to hate me when I tell him.”
“He might be angry, but he’ll get over it.”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see. “I don’t know. This is pretty big. He’s going to hate me, fire me, try to take the baby—”
“Okay, let’s put the brakes on the hormonal train there, girl. I have known all the Malloys long enough to know, Jameson would never hurt you.”
“She’s got that right, though I might spank you,” an angry voice growled from the doorway to my office—the door I’d closed now open. Jameson looked thunderous yet a little bemused. I wondered how much he’d heard.
“Penny, I’ve got to go,” I said.
“Sounds like. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” I disconnected and looked up at the man I loved, the man who looked like he could strangle me right now. “Jamie—”
He held up a hand. “I saw the light under the door, and I was wondering why you were still here on a Friday night. And… Why the hell would you think I’d hurt you?”
Right then, I realized he hadn’t heard the part about him being the father of my child. Also, I knew I had no choice but to tell him the truth—the whole truth and not the partial truth right now.
“Jamie…” I shook my head. “Jameson. I didn’t… There’s not another man in my life.”
He stared at me, and I could see my point wasn’t sinking in. Time to jab harder.
“There’s. No. Other. Man,” I enunciated. His head tilted, his brows starting to knit. Oh for fuck’s sake. “You’re the only man I’ve ever slept with,” I practically yelled.
His lips parted, the color blanching from his face. “I… You… We…” His hand waved at me, generally in the direction of my belly and our child.
“Yes,” I said simply.
He sucked in a breath, shook his head once then turned and walked right out of my office. I dropped my head into my hands.
That went fucking spectacularly well.
About as spectacularly well as a train wreck.
And I’d told him he was going to be a father, and he’d left. Just left. What the hell?
Blinking back tears, I started gathering my things to leave for the day. I needed to get out of here and get someplace where I could just shut down, sink into a hot bath and pretend to have a nice big glass of wine. Juice would have to do. Then I’d curl up in my most comfortable jammies and do what I’d done way too many nights the past few months—figure out where to go from here.
Chapter Six
~ Jameson ~
“I’m going to be a dad,” I said for about the twentieth time in as many minutes.
I’d run into Bennett on the way out of the building and dropped my bombshell on him. Like a damn phone tree, he’d gotten all of my brothers together, and we were now sitting at the bar drinking heavily.
Well, I was drinking heavily.
They were giving me shit.
“So,” Chase said, staring at me over his beer bottle. “She told you the baby is yours, and you walked out on her?”
“I didn’t walk out on her,” I spat. “I walked away. I needed to clear my head. Needed to think.”
“You’re a jackass,” Bennett told me.
“You’re a cocksucker,” I slurred.
“Okay.” Luke reached over and pulled the whiskey out of my hand. “You’re done.”
“Totally done,” I agreed, nodding emphatically. “Life is over. I’m officially a deadbeat dad.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Tatum asked, his tone incredulous.
“She’s not going to marry me,” I said. “She was trying to hide this from me. She doesn’t want me. If she did, she wouldn’t have lied about it.”
My brothers all exchanged looks around the table, and I knew I’d made my point. I leaned back smugly and sighed.
Willow was out there, walking around with our little nugget growing in her belly, and she didn’t want me involved. All those years of push and pull between us, and she’d finally pushed hard enough.
“You’re not going to marry her?” Tatum asked softly.
“She wouldn’t accept,” I hissed. “She’d think I was just like her dad. She does think I’m just like her dad. A guy with morals but no heart.” I shook my head. “She doesn’t want me.”
She might have said she loved me. That part was starting to filter through now. When I’d heard her say the baby was mine, the rest of the conversation kind of drowned itself out of my head.
It didn’t matter, though. It might have, if she hadn’t gotten knocked up. But now, she’d never believe I love her, too. She’d think any attempt at a proposal was just me ‘doing the right thing.’ As if I’d ever even known what that meant.
If I knew how to do the right thing, we’d already be married. Or at the very least living together in sin.
Fuck, I loved to sin with that woman.
“Jameson!” Chase yelled, punching my arm. “You still with us, man?”
I realized he’d been trying to get my attention for a while as I’d been lost in thought.
“Nah, man,” I said. “I’m a million miles away.”
“You need to go to her. Now. Right now,” Chase insisted.
“Maybe not right now,” Luke interjected, his tone holding a warning.
“No. No, Chase is right,” I said, jumping to my feet and swaying so hard that arms shot out from everywhere to hold me
