Chapter 9
Kelly awoke early. Morning sunlight was just beginning to slip through blinds covering the large, master bedroom windows. Blinking, she made herself focus. It took a second for everything to come back to her.
She was in the Stone’s house. More specifically, she was in bed with Grant Stone. She thought about how quickly it had escalated last night. They had sex, and then after Grant had returned to cooking their dinner. He had brought it to her upstairs. Kelly found that sweet. They had eaten, and had more of their conversation, which came so easily. Then it had turned into another round of sex. Kelly closed her eyes. What would Grant say to her this morning? Would he regret it?
On top of all of that, Kelly felt a pang of shame. She had slept with another woman’s husband. It was something she had always sworn that she would never do. It did not matter if they were separated or not—they were not divorced. Grant was still legally belonged to someone else. And that made Kelly feel awful that she had crossed that line.
Turning over, she glanced at Grant. He still lay asleep beside her. The light highlighted his features, and Kelly forced herself not to think about how attractive he was. She also forced herself not to study his naked body, and think about how good he had been in bed. He had been like no other man she’d had before. It was too good of a memory not to relive, but it was also terribly wrong.
Kelly knew what she had to do. She had to get out of there, and get back to campus before Grant awoke. She could not run the risk of another awkward meeting—or worse yet, not being able to resist his amazing charms. Yes, she certainly could not let that happen again.
Gently, Kelly pushed back the blankets. She eased herself out of the bed. She had to pause for a moment as morning sickness rushed to her throat and head. She felt even more guilty. What had she done to this poor child’s parents? Their relationship was already damaged; was she making it worse?
Taking a deep breath, Kelly began to move through the room to collect her clothing. She pulled on her bra and underwear as she located them, and then tugged her shirt over her head. As quietly as possible, she slipped on her jeans. Her shoes were another matter. She stooped down to pick them up, and carried both them and her socks downstairs. She sat on the bottom step to put them on before she slipped quietly out of the front door.
She did not want to be the person who simply ran out after a night of sex. So as she sat in the car, she pulled up Grant’s text message window.
I’m sorry. Had to go. Keep me posted on things.
She did not know what else to say. She was still carrying his child—that had to account for something. He could not cut her totally off. Besides, even if he and Monica did get back together, that was the best thing. Then the baby would have its family, just like everyone had intended.
At least, that was what Kelly told herself on the drive back to campus. She was not quite ready to face the thoughts which were swirling in her head.
Kelly parked her car in the student lot near her dorm. It was early enough that there were plenty of good spots. She headed back into the quiet building, and upstairs to her room.
“Oh, hey!” Her roommate, Becca, turned from her mirror. “You’re up early!” Becca gave her a quick once over. “Or not. Are you just getting in?”
“Mmhhmm.” Kelly sat down on the edge of her bed. She was already tired, and the walk had made her more nauseous. She needed a minute, and then she would grab herself a banana or something to ease her stomach.
“Where were you? Did you stay over with the Stones last night?” Becca had been supportive of her decision, even though it seemed a bit odd to her. Actually, all of Kelly’s friends had been pretty cool about the decision. Most of them respected her for wanting to help out a childless couple.
“Well, yes, but not how you’re thinking.” Kelly looked at the other girl nervously. Becca’s eyes widened.
“Wait, what?”
“I stayed over, but only Grant was there.”
“Really?” Becca exclaimed. She abandoned her morning preparation, turning fully to face her friend. “What happened to Monica? You said that you couldn’t get in touch with either of them.”
“I couldn’t,” Kelly told her. “So that’s why I went over there yesterday. Grant caught Monica cheating. So she moved out.”
“Holy crap!” Becca pulled her desk chair closed to Kelly’s bed so that she could sit down. “So what, you guys like hung out all night? Was he confiding in you about his wife leaving him?”
“Actually…” Kelly lowered her head. Becca’s eyes widened.
“Kel, you’re kidding!”
“I’m not.” Kelly looked up guiltily. “Becca, really, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t go over there planning on sleeping with him. I just wanted to make sure that they were okay.”
“Which is great—but you slept with him?” Becca exclaimed. Kelly nodded.
“It all happened so fast. I just kept thinking how lonely he was, and how much I wanted to make things right for him…and….”
“And?” Becca pressed. Kelly sighed.
“And I wanted to, ok? I like him. Actually—I really like him.”
“But…” Becca hesitated. She looked at Kelly for a long moment. “What about—”
“I don’t know,” Kelly cut her off immediately. “Really, I don’t know. I have all these feelings for him… and I know that they’re wrong. But at the same time, I’m pregnant with his child. So we have that connection. But it’s also not my baby, so not really.” Kelly shook her head, pushing her hair out of her face with one hand. “It’s all such a mess.”
“I see that.” Becca offered sympathetically. “And I know that this was the last thing that you intended on happening when you got yourself into this deal.”
“You’re exactly right.” Kelly told her. “Exactly right. I never intended for any of this. But I’ve always through Grant was so good looking…and then he and I started talking…and he’s opened up to me…really opened up to me. It’s like we just have this connection.”
“That’s deep.” Becca was smiling at her. “That was really deep. It sounds to me like you’re really falling in love with him.”
“I guess that I am.” Admitting it only made her feel a little better. She was still talking about a married man. Becca laughed.
“Really, is this so bad? I mean, what if he and his wife break up?”
“And then what?” Kelly gave her a shocked expression. “He marries me and we raise their baby—the baby that I carried—together? Isn’t that a little weird?”
“It’s a weird situation.” Becca shrugged. “But there are worse ones. And think how cute it would be for the baby!”
“That I broke up its parents?” Kelly glanced down at her middle. One hand raised to stroke her stomach. “Really, I can’t imagine if it would grow up in a world like that.”
They were getting way ahead of themselves. Kelly had to slow herself down.
“Regardless,” she tried to rein Becca back in, “this is impossible. It will never happen.”
“It won’t?” Becca smiled. “Last night happened. It sounds like there’s something there between you.”
“Okay, so maybe there was something physical between us too. But the point is, married or not, he’s still way out of my league.”
“Why do you say that?” Becca gave her a concerned look. Kelly rolled her eyes. She was not trying knock herself, but he was him and she was, well…her. “Kelly?” Becca pressed gently.
“Becca, I’m a broke, college student who is having the man’s baby for money to pay my way through school,” Kelly told her flatly. “And he’s the richest man I have ever met. Hell, he’s one of the richest men in the country. He’s practically a celebrity. And you want him to fall for someone like me?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Becca stared at her. “Why is it really so unfathomable to you?”
“Because he is not going to want a long-term relationship with a college student. And that’s the end of the story.”
Becca shook her head. She got up, going to her closet she began to dig through drawers.
“I still think that you’re being crazy. I don’t see any reason why you can Grant can’t have something together. You can be a stepmother to your own baby.”
“Nothing creepy about that.” Kelly rolled her eyes. She kicked off her shoes, getting off of the bed. “I need to shower.”
“And I need to run. So I’ll run, you shower, and then we’ll go get breakfast. Sound good, Mama?”
“Don’t call me that,” Kelly scoffed. “But yes, that’s what we’ll do.”
She grabbed her robe and shower gear, heading off to the bathroom. Closing the door, she leaned heavily against it. She tried to picture herself with Grant, and could not. She was simply not his type.