‘Goldie! What’s wrong? Do I need to call a doctor?’ he demanded, his voice turning harsh with barely curbed concern.
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘You don’t think so?’
‘I... I think I know...’ She stopped and swallowed, then a charged little tremble shook her frame. ‘Gael, I think I’m pregnant.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE LIFE-CHANGING WORDS uttered out loud locked something deep into place inside her. Goldie had no explanation for it, but she knew she wouldn’t need a pregnancy testing kit or a blood test to confirm the truth burning in her heart.
She was pregnant.
From her single night in Gael Aguilar’s bed she’d fallen pregnant.
And he...he looked as if he’d been hit by a giant wrecking ball.
She turned around, stumbled back into the living room, sank down onto the sofa. Despite the juggernaut of emotions tumbling through her she heard him approach, take up residence in front of her. A glance upwards showed him with crossed arms, the skin around his mouth pinched tight as eyes turned dark and turbulent pierced her.
‘You’re pregnant.’
The words were devoid of emotion. But they demanded confirmation.
‘You don’t just think? You’re sure?’ he grated out in an icily controlled voice.
She licked dry lips, went over the dates she’d spent the last ten minutes in the bathroom desperately calculating. When they fell a good fourteen days short—again—she nodded.
‘I’m late. I’m never late. I just thought... God, I don’t know what I thought. I know it sounds naive, but I thought having sex and...and getting ready for this job may have disturbed my cycle.’ She met his gaze, saw the frigid disbelief there and closed her eyes. ‘Trust me, I know how that sounds. But with everything that’s happened these past few weeks...’ She stopped and stared at him. ‘Are you going to stand there glaring at me all night?’ Her voice shook, and, oh, how she hated herself for it.
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‘What else is there to say? Except maybe congratulations?’
Her stomach threatened to roll again. She placed a soothing hand over it. ‘I don’t know about that. I haven’t taken it in yet.’
‘Haven’t you?’
His voice was a stiletto, cutting through the noise in her head.
She glanced up, and her heart dropped to her feet at the look on his face. ‘What are you implying, Gael? What exactly do you mean by congratulations? On the pregnancy or on something else?’
‘You need clarification?’
‘Yes!’ She surged to her feet, swayed, and sat down again. ‘Please don’t tell me you think I did this deliberately?’
Light, cold eyes stared unflinchingly back at her. ‘Perhaps not the failure of the condom, but I’m afraid the “naive” argument doesn’t fly. You’re an intelligent woman, Goldie. I don’t believe you ignored your hitherto regular cycle at all. You knew you were pregnant but chose not to say anything.’
‘Why would I do that? Why would I be so—?’
‘Calculating? I can think of a few reasons.’
Horror clenched her heart in a vice. ‘Enlighten me, then, please.’ Her hands began to tremble with the force of her chagrin and the shock that was rocking through her. She curled them into her lap and fought the prickle of tears that burned her eyes.
‘You’re already on the fast track to stardom—thanks to a few well-placed circumstances. But this pregnancy guarantees you the fastest possible route to achieve your aims.’
‘My aims?’ she whispered.
‘You want to be a successful actress, do you not?’