I held the cell to my ear and listened, barely breathing.

It rang once, twice, three times, then clicked off. No voicemail. He’d hung up on me. Noah Cox had hung up on me. He’d officially cut me off, and I couldn’t blame him. I’d ignored him to protect my own heart, and this was the result.

I couldn’t reach him to tell him that I was pregnant with his baby.

I hung up and stowed the cell back in my pocket, then scanned my office at the fertility clinic. The cute pictures on the walls, the potted plant, and the appointment book open on my desk. I’d already finished for the day, but I was one hundred percent lingering behind at work because of what I had to do next.

God, this would be strange. It would be awkward. Humiliating even.

The fact was, I didn’t have the money I needed to start a new life for my baby and I didn’t want to bring Luna down by living with her after the baby had come. Which meant I had to borrow the money.

I shuddered and rose from my desk. “Come on, Erika,” I muttered, and slipped off my white coat. “You can do this.”

A knock rat-tatted at my door, and it swung inward. Luna peeked around the edge. “Talking to yourself again?”

“I picked that habit up from you,” I replied, my stomach doing a little flip. I hadn’t exactly told Luna where I was headed this evening. Just that I had an important dinner date. No doubt, she’d try stop me if she found out, and I couldn’t handle the guilt trip right now. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh oh,” Luna said. “Shouldn’t I be here?”

I managed a laugh. “No, it’s not like that. I just wondered—”

“Oh, come on, Erika,” she said. “You and I both know you can’t hide anything from me. So, what is it? You’re meeting with Noah tonight? You’ve got a date?” Luna stepped into my office and walked to the cushy chair in front of my desk. She took a seat and placed her hands under her chin, waiting, expectantly.

“No,” I replied, sighing. “Noah hasn’t taken any of my calls. It looks like I blew it.”

“You blew it? Sure, that makes sense.” Her tone was heavily sarcastic. “It’s not like he played with your heart over the past seventeen, eighteen years.”

“Anyway, I’m not going out with him. I have…plans with someone else. Look, I’ll talk to you about them later, OK? I just—this is something I have to do on my own.”

Another knock came, and we both spun toward the door, frowning.

Marc stood in the frame, wearing a suit, as usual, and with his arms folded across his chest. “Erika,” he said.

I opened my mouth, but Luna leaped out of her seat and rounded on him, her tiny fists clenched. “You have a lot of nerve coming here, Gray,” Luna spat, “after the way you spoke to Erika on the phone. What the hell do you want?”

“I couldn’t have put it better myself,” I said and leaned back in my chair.

Marc’s mouth opened and closed. Finally, his lips pulled into a thin line. He spoke through them. “I came to apologize,” he said, but it was still too sharp, “for the things I said on the phone yesterday. I understand that this is your baby and your choice. I was just concerned about your future and what this would mean for you.”

“My future is my business,” I replied, evenly. “Marc, I don’t know what’s gotten into you. You were never like this. You were never arrogant or mean. What changed?”

His gaze faltered, slipping from my face and moving over to Luna’s. “I—uh, you really think we should discuss this right now?”

“Yes,” I said. “Luna’s family to me. She’s been there for me through all of this.” All of this included the feelings I’d developed for Noah and how they’d changed me. Changed everything, really.

“You don’t understand why I was like that,” Marc started. “Why I said what I said.”

“No, I don’t.”

“It’s because I know what kind of person Noah is. There was a time in high school when... Fuck it, I’m just going to say it. When Noah had a little pregnancy scare of his own. He made a mistake, and he nearly paid the price for it. Thankfully, the chick wasn’t actually pregnant, but I saw the way he reacted. He was ready to run.” Marc folded his arms, unfolded them, folded them again. “I don’t want that for you, Erika. I want you to have a full life, a good family, a—”

“You’re not my dad. You’re my brother.” I raised an eyebrow at him. I wasn’t buying the story. I couldn’t take anything from Marc verbatim at the moment. I’d seen a side of him that I’d assumed didn’t exist—a lying side—and I was cautious now.

“I was more a dad to you than Dad was. I was always there for you, Erika, even when our parents weren’t. You can understand why I care so much.”

“That’s because of a flaw in their parenting. I never needed you to be there for me to this extent, and I certainly don’t now. So please, just do me a huge favor and back off. Let me handle my own business.”

Marc sucked on his teeth. He grunted. “All right, fine. I will. But I warned you about Noah, OK? I warned you.”

“Thanks for the warning, bro, but I can take it from here,” I said, then shut down my PC and rose from my seat. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a dinner date.”

I ushered both my surprise visitors out of my office and into the lobby, fear building in my gut. Butterflies ran rampant, and I pressed a hand to my belly, calming myself. It would be OK. It has to be OK.

I would make it that way.