Page 95 of Tempted To Be Mine

She met my gaze, and for a second, I thought she was going to say something. Her lips parted and it looked like she was about to tell me and then the moment passed.

“I would tell you, but there’s nothing wrong,” she said softly.

I didn’t believe her. But I also didn’t know how to push without making things worse. So I did the only thing I could do. I let it go.

“Okay,” I said. “But if you change your mind, I’m here. Whatever it is, you can talk to me.”

She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I know. Thank you.”

We finished the meal in relative silence, the conversation drifting to boring topics. The shoot tomorrow. The weather forecast. The logistics of getting back to California. Normal stuff. Manager stuff. The kind of conversation we’d had a hundred times before.

But this version of Lucy was nothing like the woman that jumped my bones yesterday. That hot-blooded woman was gone and manager Lucy was back.

I paid the bill and helped her with her coat. As we stepped out into the cold air, I took her hand in mine.

“Thank you for hanging with me today,” I said.

“That’s my job.”

I frowned. I thought about asking what she meant by that, but once again, I let it go.

Whatever was happening with Lucy, I’d figure it out eventually. She was too important to me to let her struggle alone. But for now, all I could do was be there. Be patient. Be ready for whenever she was willing to let me in.

33

LUCY

Ikept replaying his words in my head. The easy way he’d dismissed the idea of settling down. The casual laugh when he talked about being the fun uncle. His career came first.

I can’t imagine ever settling down and having kids.

He’d meant it. I’d watched his face, hoping for any sign that he was just giving the interviewer what she wanted to hear. But there was nothing. Just Jeremy being Jeremy. Honest. Charming. Completely unaware that his words were shattering something inside me.

I couldn’t blame him. He’d never promised me anything different. We’d never talked about the future. We’d been too busy figuring out what we were to each other in the here and now. And having sex. Lots of amazing sex. We didn’t think twice about what happened when all of this ran its course.

I knew what came next for me. And he’d made it very clear he didn’t want it.

We walked into our chalet that no longer felt all that welcoming.

“I think I’m going to take a hot shower and go to bed,” I said.

“Can I make you some tea? There’s another can of soup I can heat up. You didn’t eat much.”

“No. I’m good. I just need to sleep.”

He nodded. “I need to meet up with Sebastian about the shoot tomorrow. I can tell him I can’t.”

“No. Go. You’re here to work.”

I hated myself for the relief I felt when he walked out the door. I walked upstairs feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I decided to skip the shower and take a hot bath in the massive tub.

I sank into the water and closed my eyes and then tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do. I had two options that I could think of.

I could tell him. Be honest. Let the chips fall where they may. We were adults and it wasn’t like either of us didn’t have the means to support a child.

But I already knew how that would play out. Jeremy was a good man. Despite his reputation and the parade of women that had come before me, he was a good egg. If I told him I was pregnant, he would do the right thing. He would step up. I knew he would put his career on hold and rearrange his entire life. Jeremy would try to be the partner and father he thought I needed him to be.

And he would resent me for it. Maybe not right away. Maybe not even consciously. But eventually, the weight of a life he never wanted would crush whatever we had between us. He’d look at me and see the woman who trapped him. The woman who ended his rise just as it was properly starting to peak.