Chapter Six
The guilt ate at Ella. She woke early in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep, despite being so tired. But lying there beside Jesse, his naked, muscular body so available to her, she was turned on all over again. And now, she had an idea.
She figured she could sleep with him one more time and it wouldn’t hurt. Then she would never do it again because she couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to him, and she felt too bad. But for right now, she would indulge herself one last time.
She reached over and put her hand on his dick. It was still and soft right now, but soon it began to wake up. As it stiffened, he stirred. He murmured at her and she climbed on top of him. His arms went around her and she positioned him, then slid down onto him.
He groaned in pleasure as she rode him. They were still sleepy, and it was a half-awake, slow and sweet kind of lovemaking, the kind she liked best. But the passion built and, before long, she was banging into him hard, and she was coming. He grabbed her hips and slammed her down on him and, soon after, he cried out, too. She lay on his chest and kissed his neck.
“Sorry,” she said. “You were just so naked.”
He laughed. “I won’t hold it against you.”
***
A few weeks passed. They went out several more times and texted several times every day. Ella had managed to patch things up a bit with Charlotte. They were at least talking again. And Charlotte seemed happy with the progress she was making. But it was almost at the six-week point. That was when they had agreed would be the best time to tell Jesse.
They had planned to have dinner that night and, as Ella got dressed, she couldn’t help feeling saddened. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to hurt Jesse or lose him. Finally, she had a decent relationship with a hot boyfriend, and not to mention the fact that he was exceptionally rich, and she had to destroy it. She considered not going through with it. But then she thought of losing Charlotte, who had been her best friend for almost ten years. She couldn’t back out now, and she definitely couldn’t take Charlotte’s ex-boyfriend for herself.
She opened the door to face Jesse. She didn’t smile, and when he stepped forward to kiss her, she stepped back.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Can we talk?”
“Okay.” He followed her into her house and sat beside her when she sat on the sofa. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” she nodded. “I’m… pregnant.”
He froze for a long moment. His face seemed to go pale.
“Look,” she said, launching into the speech she and Charlotte had perfected earlier that afternoon. “I know that we haven’t been together long, so I don’t expect anything from you at all. I’m telling you because you deserve to know, but I want nothing from you. I don’t want money, and I don’t expect you to be there for me. I don’t need you to be involved with the baby in any way. But I can’t see you anymore. I think it would just make it weird, and there’s not much point.”
He got up and paced. “Give me a minute, okay?”
“I think it’s honestly best if you leave. You can think about it and we can talk later.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please. It’s been a hard day, and I just want to be alone.”
He stopped walking and nodded. “Alone. Right. Yeah, I should think about this. I’ll call you. Maybe we can talk in a few days?”
“Perfect.”
He walked to the door without coming to hug her or kiss her or even say anything at all. Maybe he was in shock. But now, for the first time, he was displaying the asshole attitude Charlotte had told her about. She heard the door shut, and she burst into tears.
He hadn’t even asked how she was or anything. He was the selfish jerk Charlotte had said he was after all. She sat and thought for a while, then picked up her phone to call Charlotte. She had only just started to run through the whole thing when there was a knock on her door.
She pulled it open to see Jesse standing there, holding flowers.
“I have to go,” she said and ended the call. “Hi.”
“Hi. Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
They returned to the sofa, but this time, he faced her after setting the flowers on the coffee table.
“I know I said I’d call you in a few days, but I didn’t get very far before I knew what had to happen. Ella, I like you a lot. I think I could love you, and I want you to give me a chance. I’ve always wanted a family, and you seem like the perfect type of woman to not only be the mother of my child, but my wife.”
He took a box out of his pocket and slid down to the ground to get on one knee.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. You’re supposed to be freaked out and break up with me and run off.”
“To be fair, you tried to break up with me. But I don’t see any reason to end what we have. We’re great together, don’t you see that? And we can make a great family. Marry me. Let’s make it work.”
“I—I—I’m not sure.”
He let out a hard breath. “Normally, that response would have crushed me, but I guess given the circumstances, it’s to be expected. We’ve only been dating, what? Three months? It’s not like we’ve said ‘I love you’ or anything. But Ella, I want you to be mine. If you need to think about it, fine. But know that I’ll do whatever it takes to make you mine.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, you’ll marry me?”
“I meant okay that you’ll do whatever it takes. Can I think about it for a little while? I really thought you would freak out and disappear. All my plans were just me and the baby, so I need to get my head around this.”
“I understand.” He set the box down. “I’ll give you whatever time you need. I’ll leave the ring in case you decide to say yes. Call me tomorrow? Just to talk? You don’t have to give me an answer tomorrow.”