âItâs not nice to mock the mother of your child.â
âI was teasing, not mocking.â
She was falling for Tanner Bravo.
Falling for Tannerâ¦
She was learning that what she felt for him wasâ¦more. More than just sex. More, even, than the huge reality of having his baby.
What was happening here? Crystal didnât do the forever type of commitment.
But then again, she was having a baby. That was an enormous commitment. Maybe it wasnât all that surprising that suddenly she found herself confronting the possibility of giving forever a chance.
Forever with Tanner. What next?
Love.
Could it be? Really?
Theyâd been so careful, all along, never to say the word. Tanner hadnât said it, even when he got after her to be open to the idea of marriage.
Love.
Having his baby. And now thisâ¦
Crystal Cerise stood in the cute little kitchen area of her one-bedroom apartment, staring out the window over the sink at an uninspired view of the parking lot. She was two months pregnant. And that evening, over dinner, she intended to break the big news to the father of her child.
The salad was made and waiting in the fridge. The main course, lasagna, was almost through baking. Its tempting smell filled the air. Crystal looked down at the open loaf of Italian bread on the counter in front of her. Ready for the garlic butter. She picked up the spreader and began slathering it on, pausing for a glance at the yard-sale kitchen clockâa red vintage treasure with big deco-style white numbers that usually made her smile. Not today, however. Today it would take a lot more than a whimsical wall clock to make Crystal smile.
6:05 p.m. Twenty-five minutes until he arrived. Oh, she did not want to do this. But putting it off would only make the job all the harder in the end. Or so she kept reminding herselfâ¦.
God. Having Tanner Bravoâs baby. How could she have let this happen?
The answer was simple: chemistry. She and Tanner had it bad for each other. Neither of them wanted to be driven nuts with mutual lust. They constantly agreed that theyâd never do that again.
And then they did do that again. And again.
Sadly, other than between the sheets, the two of them werenât a match in any way. She knew he considered her a flake, though he never actually used the word. Uh-uh. He would talk about her âwoo-woo waysâ and give her a hard time for the way sheâd packed up her car and moved to Sacramento on what he considered a whim.
âBetter a flake,â she muttered, reaching for the paprika, âthan overly serious and broody and grim.â She shook the paprika onto the garlic-buttered bread. And controlling. Oh, yeah. Tanner Bravo was way too controlling.
She should never have had sex with him. Not the first time. Or the second. Or the third or the fourth.
She set the can of paprika down. Hard. And stared out the window some more.
Raging lust had made her careless. And now there was a baby coming. A baby she would keep, thank you very much. Crystal may not have been practical or thrifty or all that wise. She was scared to death sheâd be a terrible mother.
And yetâ¦well, she simply could not refuse such a huge gift of the universe. Especially not in light of what had happened when she was sixteen.
So. She would keep the baby.
Twice in the past couple of weeks, sheâd tried to tell Tanner that there was going to be a baby and that she was keeping it. Both times, theyâd ended up having sex. As per usual. And after the sex, well, she was so disgusted with herself for giving in to her crazy yen for him, yet again, that she never did get the words out.
Truth to tell, she still felt the urge to put off telling him. More than once that day, sheâd found herself reaching for the phone, ready to call him and cancel this little get-together tonight. The desire to back out had been especially compelling at about two oâclock that afternoonâright after sheâd quit her job. Because, please, who wants to be newly unemployed and telling a man sheâs pregnant, both on the same day?
Frowning, Crystal stared out the window some moreâand blinked in surprise when a wiry gray head popped into view. It was Doris Krindle, who had the one-bedroom next door.
Frantically, Doris mouthed, âNigel? Have you seen Nigel?â