“What do you mean you still haven’t told him?”

I squeezed another slice of lemon into my water, giving it a good stir before taking a sip. By a happy coincidence, I’d discovered that citrus helped ease my stomach a little over a month ago. Lemon water had been a lifesaver. I was finally able to keep food down, and bonus, brushing my teeth no longer gagged me anymore.

I looked at Fiona from across the table, feeling like a thousand different kinds of shit. “I know. I’m a terrible person. But I am going to tell him. I swear.” I just didn’t know when. It had been a little more than two months since I’d gone all Venus Williams on Caleb’s ass, and I still hadn’t gotten the guts to tell him the truth.

“When?” Fiona demanded to know.

“I don’t know. Soon.”

Her face grew stern. “Daphne—”

“Soon, okay?” I interrupted. “It’s just been going so well between us lately. And I know that’s all going to go away when he finally finds out.”

She reached across the table, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze. “You don’t know that.”

I gave her a droll look. “He all but said it himself,” I replied, reminding her of what he’d said the night of the Mexican restaurant.

“But finding out the truth could change his mind. A person can’t really know how they’ll handle a situation until they’re actually in it.”

I lifted a bite of salad to my mouth and chomped down. “You’re right,” I finally relented once I’d swallowed down my food.

“So you’re going to tell him?” she asked, visibly brightening in her seat.

Narrowing my eyes across the table, I answered, “Yes. I’m going to tell him. He’s still in New York for work, but I’ll tell him the truth when he gets back.”

“This is going to be good, babe. You’ll see. You’ve been so stressed, keeping this from everyone this whole time. It can’t be good for you. And it really can’t be good for the baby.”

Looking back down at my lunch, I shifted the pieces of lettuce around on my plate. “I know. And I hope you’re right.”

She cut into her grilled chicken, a self-satisfied look on her face. “I am. And the good thing is you can at least use that whole thing about wanting to be out of the first trimester as an excuse for keeping it from Lola and Soph. They’ll totally buy that.”

“As long as you don’t spill the beans that you’ve known this whole time.” I pointed my fork at her in warning.

“Scout’s honor,” she said, holding up three fingers. “I’ll pretend to be just as shocked as they are.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, and the two of us went back to our lunch without further talk of my impending discussion with Caleb.

As I walked along the crowded sidewalks back to Hart Tower, I thought about the past two months with Caleb and how amazing they’d been. With the exception of his most recent business trip, he’d spent practically every night with me, coming over as soon as he got off work. He’d been living out of an overnight bag for so long that I’d finally shifted some of my things around to make room in a drawer and my closet for his stuff. There was a toothbrush for him next to mine on my bathroom sink, and a pair of his tennis shoes by my front door for easy access when he went for a morning run, something I discovered he did every single morning, rain or shine. It was just one of a million tiny little things I’d discovered about Caleb McMannus that I hadn’t known before. The dude was serious about his fitness, leaving me in bed alone most mornings to get in a routine before starting his day.

I appreciated all his work as the woman who got to use his impeccable body on a daily basis, but if he ever tried to force me up to join him, I might just have to kill him.

It wasn’t until he’d had to go to New York to the Bandwidth location there that I got to experience firsthand how much I would miss him when he was gone. I really hoped Fiona was right, because this already sucked enough. There was no way I’d be able to hack it if he left me for good when he found out about the baby.

My phone vibrated in my purse, and I smiled as I pulled it out and spotted the name.

Caleb: Missing you like fucking crazy, sweetheart.

That made me all kinds of melty inside.

Me: Aw, that’s so sweet.

Caleb: Pretty sure my dick’s gonna get a blister if I have to jack off for one more freaking day.

I burst into laughter in the middle of the street.

Me: And then you go and ruin it. Perv.

He responded immediately.

Caleb: You love my perverted side.

Sighing at how right he was, I messaged back.

Me: I hate to admit when you’re right. So when are you getting back to Seattle?

Caleb: Just a few more days, baby. Miss me already?

I grinned at my screen as I typed.

Me: Not you. Just your perverted side.

He replied, calling me a tease, to which I responded with an emoji of an eggplant and a set of kissy lips before stuffing my phone back into my purse. I’d just cleared the revolving doors into the lobby of Hart Tower when I heard a man’s voice.

All the breath left my lungs when I spotted the person who’d just said my name. “Shit. Stefan? What are you doing here?”

He closed the five feet between us, stopping way too close for comfort. “I need to talk to you. Please, Ducky.”

Not wanting to risk being seen by Lola or Sophia with my ex-fiancé, I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the alcove behind the elevators. “God, do you have any clue how badly I want to punch you when you call me that?”

His face pinched with hurt. “You used to love it when I called you that.”

“No,” I hissed. “I used to love you, so I tolerated the stupid-as-hell nickname because it made you happy. Now that I don’t give a shit about your happiness, I can tell you the truth.” I leaned in closer. “I hate that name. Despise it. Along with a million other things about you.”

I could have sworn he was about to cry. “Don’t say that, Daph. I still love you. I want you back. Please, just give me another chance.”

Batting his hand away as he reached for me, I took a step back. “You’re delusional,” I hissed. “How many ways do I have to spell it out for you? Do I need to play you a Taylor Swift song to get it through your head?” I don’t know what possessed me, maybe it was my bean controlling my body from the inside, but I opened my mouth and spit out, “I wouldn’t take you back ever, but especially not now that I’m pregnant with another man’s child.”

What. The. Fuck! Did I just say that out loud?

“You’re….” His face paled to a worrisome shade of gray, and his eyes darted down to my left hand as if searching for an engagement ring. “Are you marrying the guy?”

I fisted my hand and moved it behind my back as insecurity washed over me. “It’s… complicated.” Jeez! Talk about uncontrollable word vomit! “It’s also none of your damn business.”

“But Daphne, don’t you see?” Stefan looked positively manic as he moved on me again. “If he doesn’t want you, we can raise this baby together. This is perfect! This little baby can be what finally brings us back together. And I’d never hold it against you that it isn’t mine.”

Oh my god. He was certifiable! Stefan’s hand came toward my stomach. I took two steps back, wishing I carried a pocket knife, or Taser, or something, because if his hand came anywhere near my belly, I was going to forcibly remove it from his body.

A throat cleared from behind us and I spun around, slumping in relief at the sight of Bob, the sweet old man who worked the security desk in the lobby.

“’Scuse me, Ms. King. Is this man bothering you?”

“Of course I’m not,” Stefan snapped. “I’m her fiancé.”

Bob’s eyes got big, so I quickly amended, “Ex-fiancé. And yes, he actually is bothering me.”

If you had told me the man who always had a bright smile and kind word for everyone who walked through that lobby could look so menacing it’d make you want to pee your pants, I probably would have laughed in your face. The man was a bunny rabbit. But I would have been wrong, because right then even I was a little frightened of the kindly senior citizen.

“Time to go. You either walk out of here on your own or be carried out on a stretcher.”

Gulp.

“Pfft. Please. Like you’d—”

Bob cut him off. “I fought in two wars, boxed professionally for twenty years, and still find an hour at the bag every single day. You don’t want to test me, boy.”

Huh. Well there you go, then. Guess Bob isn’t a bunny rabbit after all.

Stefan swallowed audibly, seeing the seriousness in the old man’s eyes. “Fine,” he started, tugging nervously at his ear. “I’ll go.” Then he turned and pointed at me. “But we aren’t finished here.”

“Oh, you’re finished,” Bob chimed in.

“No, we aren’t.”

“You’re finished, or you’ll be eating your meals through a straw for the rest of your life.”

If Bob hadn’t been happily married for almost as long as I’d been alive, I would have proposed right then and there. Stefan quickly scuttled away, leaving me alone with my knight in security blues.

“You okay, Ms. King?” he asked once Stefan was out of the building.

I smiled at my new favorite person in the world. “I’m fine, Bob. But I think I might be a little in love with you now.”

He winked, his aged face wrinkling with a brilliant smile. “Happens all the time. Has Loretta in fits,” he replied, speaking of his wife.

I placed a kiss on his cheek and thanked him for saving the day. Then I took the elevator up to KTSW, ready to put my icky run-in with Stefan behind me.