Page 21 of Touch Me

“Oh, god.”

He looked up to see Moira blinking back tears as she studiedhis face.

“I—I’m so sorry. I came to commiserate on the press turningyour personal lives into bullshit news bites. But you didn’t know. You didn’tknow about this stupid post—and yeah, it’s already gone viral—and I can tellfrom your face that you didn’t even know about the pregnancy, either.”

She exhaled, then sat in one of his guest chairs. “Maybethere isn’t a pregnancy. Maybe the whole thing’s made up.”

He said nothing, because what the hell was he supposed tosay? That his wife had never told him she was pregnant? That she’d never evenhinted at it, much less raised the possibility of an abortion?

It couldn’t be true. How the hell could it be true?

Except maybe it could. He’d noticed her tender breasts. Herrecent craving for sweets. And the fact that her jeans were fitting just alittle too tight.

Not to mention the look on her face when he’d passed her acoffee.

So, yeah. He believed the pregnancy.

But surely she wouldn’t terminate. Not without talking tohim. That would be a horrific breach of trust. She’d have to be wildly freakedand acting on pure impulse, because—

His breath hitched. Jamie was one of the most impulsivepeople he’d ever met. “Fuck.” The curse was almost a whisper, butacross the desk, Moira nodded.

“What can I do?”

“Nothing.” He snapped the word at her, then wanted to kickhis own ass. “I’m sorry—”

“Oh, please. It’s me.”

He managed a small smile and a nod. “If anyone had to tellme, I’m glad it was you.”

His intercom buzzed, and it occurred to him that his phonewas unusually quiet considering what he now knew was out there in that mostunsocial of all virtual places — social media.

“Not now.”

“Just checking to see if you need anything,” his assistantsaid. “Other than for me to keep screening your calls.”

He actually chuckled at that. “Thanks. You’re going to bemissed around here.”

“I’m going to miss being here. But there’s work and there’slife.”

He nodded. Right then her plan to spend a year travelingsounded like a damn good one. “Ask Leah to come in, will you?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Maybe the whole thing’s bullshit,” Moira said. “I mean, shewas probably at the clinic, though these days, who knows. That could be an AIversion of Jamie. Or she might have gone there to hold a friend’s hand. Or toget a birth control prescription.”

“Because her regular doctor is suddenly unavailable?”

“I just mean that you don’t know what you don’t know. Andthe only thing we do know is that tabloid reporters twist the shit outof the truth.”

“Maybe so,” he said, but he was only placating his sister.Jamie was really pregnant.

Or she had been.

A sharp crack startled him, and he realized he’dsnapped the pen he’d been holding in two. He looked up, his gaze meetingMoira’s knowing one.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, as Leah tapped at the door.

“I’m going to go,” Moira said once Leah had entered. Shemoved around the desk to give him a hug. “Call me. If for no other reason thanthat stonewalling me will give you something else to think about.”