“There must be an emergency if you’re calling me.” I went to the window, flicked back the curtains then paced to the other side of the room. “What’s up?”

Denton cleared his voice, obviously uncomfortable. “How are you, Tiffany?”

“I’m fine. But you didn’t call to ask me about that. Did something happen? Is Ernest okay?”

“He remains as loudmouthed as ever,” Denton said with a soft chuckle. “He’s been asking about you a lot these days. Wants to know when you’re leaving for Europe.”

Oh, shoot. They had no idea about my change of plans. “Um, actually, I’m not going.”

For some reason, he didn’t seem all that shocked. “May I ask why?”

I let out an awkward laugh. “Well, I thought Rach would have more fun going with her new boyfriend. And I made plans to spend Christmas with my mom. That’s about it, really.”

He paused. “I see. And there’s no other reason?”

Okay, now his behavior was starting to freak me out a bit. “I can always go next time.” Although with a baby, that might not happen for a while. “It’s not a big deal. I just decided that I wanted to have a quiet Christmas this year.”

There was another pause, longer this time. “Why is your ex, Andy Morris, visiting you in the evenings?”

“First of all, it was one evening. One. And second, how did you even know about it?” He had some nerve lecturing me about my ex visiting, when the last time we’d spoken, he’d made it very clear we shouldn’t check up on each other to see if either one was dating.

He blew out a deep breath. “I wasn’t spying on you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then how did you know?”

“Because he told me,” Denton said, sounding angry now. “Your fucking ex told me.”

“Wait… what?”

“He said you two were going to spend Christmas together with your mother, and it was going to be one big, happy family gathering. At the time, I didn’t believe him, but when you said you weren’t going on the European trip just a minute ago…”

“Did he say anything else?” Oh, please, not the pregnancy. Not that.

Denton’s voice rose a little. “Anything else? Isn’t this enough?”

So Andy hadn’t mentioned my pregnancy then. “I didn’t invite him. He probably just said that to piss you off.”

“But why did he call my private number to tell me this? What’s he playing at?”

That was a good question, and one I needed an answer to as well. “Look, Denton, I’m sorry he called you, but let’s say I did invite him over for Christmas—

so what? It’s not like we’re dating again. And my mom likes his company.” When Denton stayed silent, I went on. “I’ll make sure this never happens again. I’m sorry.”

“Tell him if he wants to talk, he can make an appointment to see me in my office. But I don’t appreciate strangers having access to my private number. Now I’ll have to change it.”

Man, he sounded pissed. And although Denton didn’t outright accuse me, I could tell in his tone that he thought I’d personally handed his private number to Andy. Which I hadn’t, of course.

How the fuck did Andy get it, then? Had he snooped through my phone while I was on one of my bathroom breaks or something?

“I didn’t give it to him,” I snapped, fed up with his accusing tone. “Anyway, I’m tired, so goodnight.” I hung up on him before I could start shouting what I was really feeling.

Rach knocked on the door and peeked inside, looking confused. “Is everything okay? It sounded like you were having an argument.”

I rubbed my temples and sat cross-legged on the bed, tossing my phone. “Apparently, Andy called Denton on his private line and bragged about how he and I were planning to spend Christmas together.”

“That piece of shit,” she muttered angrily, joining me on the bed. “I knew it was a bad idea letting him back into our lives again.”

“Well, the damage is already done. Denton hates me, and I’m having his baby. Yippee.” I was going to kill my ex-boyfriend and dump his meddling ass in some isolated field. What on earth had he been thinking?

He probably wanted to make Denton jealous. And maybe put some kind of claim on me at the same time.

“What are you going to do now?” Rach’s eyes were full of sympathy.

“I’ll have to put a stop to this,” I said tiredly. “Now that Andy knows I’m pregnant, he’s getting weird and possessive.”

“Give him hell,” she said, growing angry again. “And make sure he knows that you’ll never go back to him, ever.”

Grimacing, I reached for my phone as Rach left to give me some privacy.

* * *

“What’s with the dick-measuring contest!” I shouted as soon as Andy picked up. “Why would you call Denton and make up all these lies?”

Andy remained calm during my outburst. “I wasn’t lying, Tiff. I do plan on visiting you on Christmas Day.” After a pause, he added, “And I think we should break the news together to your mom. I want to tell her I’m the father of your baby.”

“No, Andy, you are not telling her that!” Why was he doing this? “Denton’s the father, and I haven’t even told him yet!”

“Let’s keep it that way,” he urged. “I’ve been thinking about this ever since you told me you were pregnant. I admit, I was shocked at first. But it started making sense to me later. I’m in a position to take care of you now, you and the baby. It’s like fate brought us back together again, you know?”

Fuck, he sounded so earnest. I had to tread carefully here. “Listen, Andy… I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. But Denton’s the father, okay? Not you.”

“Then why haven’t you told him yet? What’s holding you back?”

“I’m waiting for the right time.”

“Oh, please. Women who find out they’re pregnant are bursting to tell their husbands. You, on the other hand, need to wait for the ‘right time,’ meaning not until you’re showing and you’ve no other choice. That tells me everything I need to know.”

I was getting pretty pissed, and I had to take my sweater off to keep from sweating. “Really? And what’s that?”

“You’re afraid to tell him, Tiff. You’re afraid that he’ll feel burdened. Deep down, you know this isn’t what he wants.”

Since when had Andy become a psychic? Or was I simply that transparent?

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” I said coldly, trying to mask my doubts. “If anything, Denton’s whole family has been eagerly waiting for this, especially his grandfather.”

“Look, Tiff, I’m just saying—”

“Enough, Andy. Let me make it very clear—I appreciate your friendship, but not your intrusion into my personal life. There will be no ‘getting back together’ for us. Denton is my husband, and I love him.” My voice trembled on the last word. “So please, don’t make this harder than it already is.”

Taken aback, he asked, “You love him? But I thought… I thought you married him as a way to get back at me.”

His arrogance and delusion knew no bounds, it seemed.

“My marriage to Denton North had nothing to do with you. Even now, our separation isn’t because we aren’t in love—we are.” A half lie, since I was the only one in love. “We’re using this time to figure out some complicated things in our lives. And I need you to be a supportive friend, not someone who actively seeks to break up my marriage.”

After a moment of silence, Andy muttered an apology and quickly hung up, as if he couldn’t deal with what I’d just said.

Rach appeared at the door again, narrowing her eyes. “Did he apologize? Is he going to back off now?”

“I hope so.” I stared at the phone in my hand. “Because if he keeps this up, Denton will start to think there’s something between Andy and me. And he’ll spend the remainder of our separation being angry and doubtful of what we had during the time we were together.”

“Want some advice?” Rach’s face took on a calculating expression.

I sighed wearily. “Sure, why not?”

“Come clean and tell Denton you’re pregnant. It’ll clear everything up. If anything, it’ll shift his focus from Andy to the baby.”

“But what if he only wants to stay married because of the baby…”

“Stop being selfish, Tiff. It’s no longer about you. And this is his decision too. You have no right to withhold this news from him.”

Was I really being selfish? The thought hadn’t occurred to me. I drew in a deep breath and faced Rach. “Maybe after Christmas. I don’t want to spring this news during the holidays.”

“What about Ernest?” Rach tried again. “Bet it would make his Christmas a little more special if he knew he was going to get a great-grandchild.”

She wasn’t wrong. I had no idea if this would be his last Christmas or not, so I needed to tell him sooner rather than later.

“I’ll let him know this week,” I said softly, placing my hands on my still-flat belly.

“Good.” Satisfied, Rach wriggled her index finger at me. “Now come and help me pack my sexy lingerie. I need your opinion on which ones to take to Europe. Oh, and I should take a sexy Santa Claus outfit too. Bet Dylan will love that!”

Smiling, I followed behind her, glad that at least one of us was happy and had things to look forward to.