She shook her head. He found he couldn’t read her expression. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel. What was wrong with him? He knew how to deal with women. He shouldn’t be fumbling for words.
He’d overcome her defenses before, and there was no reason he shouldn’t be able to do it again. He was nothing if not persistent.
She unbuckled when they reached her condo. He jotted down a number on a piece of paper and handed it to her.
“This is my personal cell phone. Only about five people have the number. Use it anytime you want,” he said.
She nodded and folded the note in half.
“Natalie…”
“Thank you for a lovely day,” she said, the smooth mask still intact. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She climbed out of the car before he could say anything else.
* * *
Natalie walked into her condo, shut the door, and leaned against it. This wasn’t happening. She didn’t want to even think about the possibility of getting pregnant.
Matto came to her and mewled. She sank down and scratched his head absently.
How did everything go so quickly from scorching intimacy to a desperate need to be alone?
It wasn’t Alex’s fault that the condom broke, and she didn’t blame him.
Blood will out.
God, she didn’t want to have a baby. Not because she would be an unwed mother, which would already pose more problems than she knew what to do with, but because she didn’t know if she could handle being a mother at all. If she was going to bring a child into the world, it would be for love and after careful deliberation, not because of a defective piece of latex.
What kind of baby would she have?
But if there are any…problems, we’ll get through them together.
Of course it would be a problem if she got pregnant. A big one. She rose to her feet and paced back and forth in the living room. She hadn’t been lying when she told him the timing was wrong. Her period wasn’t regular, but she really dou—
Her cell phone went off, and she picked it up. It was Kerri.
“How come you never log onto Skype?”
Natalie took a deep breath. She didn’t want to start weeping all over her friend. Most likely Kerri was calling from her office. “I’m not at work right now.”
“Neither am I, but I’m logged in.”
Natalie began to tremble. It was almost like an invitation to pour all her problems to Kerri. “You home?”
“Yeah. But I can’t fall asleep.”
“Oh God,” Natalie said and sat back on the floor.
“You all right?”
That did it. Natalie told her everything, including the defective condom.
“Wow,” Kerri said when Natalie was done. “You should sue the company even if you don’t get pregnant,” she added, her tone deliberately light. “For pain and suffering. I mean, you have to go through the mental anguish of wondering.”
Natalie let out a tremulous laugh. “You know I can’t do that.” She smoothed her hair. “Just imagine what it would do to Brian. This is a condom company.”
“Well, maybe if he loses the election.”
“Right.”