A Million Little Things (Mischief Bay, #3)

She had to tell him the truth, which meant losing him. Losing them.

She covered her face with her hands and gave in to the tears. Crying turned to sobs as she thought about all she was about to lose. Steven was everything she’d been looking for. He was a great guy. They could have...

Mason rubbed against her and purred. She sniffed, then stroked him.

“It’s over,” she whispered. “All of it. He’s going to leave and I can’t blame him. There’s going to be a baby, Mason.”

He mewed, which she took to be a few cat words of support. She wiped her face. While she wanted to wait to tell Steven the truth, she knew that was wrong. Better to just get it over with quickly. Like ripping off a bandage. The pain would last a lot longer, but there was no avoiding that.

She picked up her cell phone and called Steven. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, I was just thinking about you,” he said. “How was your first day of substitute teaching?”

Her eyes filled with more tears as regret poured through her. Steven had remembered. Of course he would. He was a good guy. Funny and kind and smart. He was good to his mom, handy around the house and damn good in bed. How on earth was she ever going to find someone like him again?

“It went okay,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear that she’d been crying. “Look, Steven, I need to tell you something. This thing between us. It’s not going to work out. I’m sorry.” She had to swallow before she could keep talking. “It’s not you. I know people say that all the time but this time, it’s really t-true.”

She sucked in a breath. “You’re great. All of this has been amazing. I just can’t see you anymore. I’m so sorry.”

She hesitated, hoping he would say something but there was only stunned silence.

“Okay. Well, I, um, wish you the best. Goodbye.” She ended the call, then looked at Mason. “I hate my life.”

Mason meowed his agreement, then wound his way around her legs. She staggered to the sofa and sank down just as the tears returned.

She cried for what felt like forever, then forced herself to wash her face before boiling water for herbal tea. None of this was fair, she thought as she worked. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She should probably get a lawyer and sue the hell out of the company that had messed up the shots. Which all sounded really proactive and great, but didn’t help right now.

What was she going to do? How was she going to get through this?

She should make a list, she thought. Figure out who she had to tell and when she was going to do that. She would work up to Chad because there was no way that was going to go well. Pregnant!

She brewed her tea and tried to get excited about dinner. The headache was gone, thank goodness, but she still felt crappy. She was so not used to standing all day and she already missed Steven. She wanted to talk to him, to hold him, to see his smile. How long until that ache got better?

She fed Mason, then sat down with her tea. She would make a plan, she told herself. Figure out what steps she had to take and in what order. Then she would eat a salad with a lot of chicken for protein, then go to bed early. In the morning she would take the first step. Until then, she got to feel sorry for herself. She was going to wallow in missing a wonderful man. There had been so much promise, she thought sadly. So much—

Her doorbell rang.

Zoe frowned as she wiped away tears. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe it was that guy from Publishers Clearing House, telling her she’d won twenty million dollars. While the money wouldn’t solve all her problems, it would help.

She sniffed and walked across the living room. Steven stood on her porch.





Chapter Fifteen

Zoe’s heart jumped, her breath caught and she half expected to be imagining Steven. But there he stood.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, wondering how mad he was and if he was going to yell. Only he didn’t look mad. Handsome, sexy and maybe confused, but not mad.

“I don’t break up over the phone,” he told her as he stepped into the house. “I want you to tell me to my face and I want to know why.”

She would have sworn she didn’t have any tears left. Yet they filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

“I didn’t want to,” she blurted before she could stop herself. “I had to.”

He glanced around. “You’re being held hostage and if you break up with me, they release you?” There was no amusement in his voice. “Come on, Zoe. I deserve better than this. No one is making you do anything. What happened? I thought things were going well between us. I thought we had something. Was I wrong?”

He was being rational, she thought. She might have been wrong about him being angry, but he wasn’t letting his emotions control her. Instead he was asking mature questions. Like a grown-up.

She closed the front door and walked over to the sofa. He followed and sat across from her. Humiliation burned, but there was no avoiding the truth. Not that he wasn’t going to find out eventually.

“I’m on birth control,” she said. “I get a shot every three months.”

He frowned. “Okay. What does that have to do with anything?”

She swallowed and knew she had to just spit it all out. Then make sure she wasn’t standing between him and the door so she didn’t get mowed down when he bolted.

“Two months ago I had sex with Chad. It was after we broke up. It wasn’t planned and it was a mistake. But it happened. A couple of days ago I got a call from my doctor’s office. There was a problem with my last shot. The batch was bad or something. The bottom line is I wasn’t protected, like I thought.” She raised her chin. “I’m pregnant. With Chad’s baby.”

She pressed her lips together. There was no point in saying anything else. Steven wasn’t going to be around to hear it. Only as the silence stretched between them, she noticed he didn’t seem to be moving.

He looked at her. “And?”

“And what?”