Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
He was about to pick up his bourbon glass when Jade grabbed it out of his hand. “Cut it out and grow up. If you’re this thrown by the news, how will you handle the reality?” she asked, her hand cupping her pregnant belly.
Also, an accidental pregnancy. And how had Jade’s baby daddy handled the news? Knox—clearly a better man than Harrison currently was—had chased Jade to Asher’s home in the Bahamas, where she’d fled in a panic. Because he’d been in love with Jade and hadn’t been willing to lose her or their child.
Harrison wasn’t in love with Winter, but he wasn’t over her, either. After their summer fling, he’d wanted more even after they’d gone their separate ways, which wasn’t his normal M.O. In the past, he always walked away without looking back.
Kids might not have been on his radar, but if he had to go through the experience with anyone, it would be Winter. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and muttered a curse, knowing he needed to get his shit together.
He’d wallowed in self-pity long enough. “You’re all right.”
He gestured for Raven, who walked over.
“What can I get you?” she asked.
“Coffee, black. And—”
As if reading his mind, Raven reached out and picked up the glass she’d only recently put down and walked off, hips swaying again, except this time, Zach’s gaze remained on her sultry exit.
Harrison knew better than to call him on it. Another time, maybe. Right now, he was in the hot seat, and his family had a point. It was time to get his head out of his ass.
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Asher said. “When did you find out?”
“This morning. I went to check on Winter since she’d left the party last night because she wasn’t feeling well. She told me. And I…” God, he didn’t want to admit to all of this.
“Please don’t say you asked if the baby was definitely yours,” Zach said into the silence.
Harrison rolled his eyes. “No, that’s something you might do. But I did fuck up.”
With distance, some alcohol, and the memories of how his siblings had gone through similar situations, he realized he’d let his panic override being a decent human being.
“What did you do?” Asher asked.
“I was in shock, and at first, I didn’t say anything.”
“Understandable,” Zach, the only single one, said.
“Then?” Nick asked.
Harrison swallowed hard. “When I was quiet for so long, she told me I didn’t have to worry about a thing. She already knew how I felt about having kids, and she was prepared to handle it herself.” His gut twisted at the memory.
“Wait.” Asher held up a hand. “You two discussed having children? I thought this was a casual relationship?”
“It was, but Winter interviewed me, remember? She’s good at her job, and she dug deep. She asked about how I saw my future, if I wanted a family.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw.
“And you said?”
Harrison winced. “Something along the lines of, ‘Oh, hell, no.’ Then I mentioned growing up in a large, noisy family and said that was why I preferred my single life of peace and quiet.”
He pressed his palms against his dry eyes while a chorus of groans echoed around the table. He blinked the room back into focus as Jade rose to her feet.
She walked over and smacked him in the head. “Idiot,” she muttered.
“Hey! Winter was a reporter. That’s my standard canned answer. If I said anything different, I’d have women lining up to have my babies.”
“Swelled head, much?” his sister asked before walking back to her chair and sitting down.
“I know how bad that sounds, but it’s the truth.” It was just hard to believe how much he’d enjoyed that lifestyle when he’d arrived in LA and again after he’d broken up with Sharon.
The women throwing themselves at him at A-List parties, hitting on him in bars and restaurants, rubbing their fake tits against his arm. And when he’d been chosen as Hollywood’s Hottest Playboy? They’d lined up outside his apartment. No joke, when his family visited him, they couldn’t even go out for dinner because he’d have been swarmed by females and photographers.
“Okay. Let’s focus,” Asher said. “I’m going to have to deal with my fiancée, who happens to be Winter’s sister, so I want to understand. Tell me you reassured Winter you’d be a stand-up guy?”
“The way Knox did for me?” a very pissed-off Jade chimed in.
Harrison’s mouth grew even drier than it had been. “I told her that regardless of my feelings, I wouldn’t shirk my responsibilities. That I was raised better.”
Asher groaned.
“I know, okay? I didn’t handle things well.” He’d let Asher and the rest of his siblings down. He’d also disappointed himself. He could only imagine what his father, Michael, and stepmom, Serenity, would say.
But worst of all, he’d hurt Winter so much that by the end of the conversation, she’d refused to look at him. Even before turning away, she’d already felt the need to protect the life inside her from him, placing her hand on her stomach and refusing to be anyone’s burden. Something he’d all but told her that’s what she and their baby were to him.