Chapter 7
Was the entire earth-shaking? Or was it just her?
Unexpectedly sick to her stomach, Bailey blinked frantically, trying to clear her vision. It wasn't working.
She slapped one hand to her forehead and looked at him through wide eyes.
Protection. Birth control. Oh no. This kind of fiasco only happened in awful movies.
How could they have overlooked something so basic?
Because she conceded wordlessly, they had been too preoccupied with something far more basic.
“Oh, God.”
Flopping back onto the bed, she buried her face in her hands.
He exhaled heavily. “As far as one concern goes,” he said in an anxious tone, “I can tell you that I'm clean.”
Bailey wanted to crawl under the bed and hide. How could she have been so dumb?
She had even thought about that and she should have considering everything that was out there.
“So am I,” she whispered when she realized he’d stopped pacing to look at her inquisitively.
Did he think she wouldn’t be? At twenty-six, she’d had exactly three lovers.
Including Duke. With that being the case it was no surprise she’d committed such a blunder.
She didn’t have enough experience to handle a man like Duke.
She muffled a groan and tried to quell her racing thoughts so she could focus on what he was saying.
“However, concerning pregnancy...” He stopped in mid-step and instantly she felt his intense gaze. “Please tell me you’re on some sort of birth control,” Duke said.
“Fine,” Bailey stated tiredly. “I take birth control."
“Which type?”
“All right,” she said, fighting not to break down into tears. “I’m not on birth control.”
“Just great.”
She scowled at him. Was he attempting to place all of the blame for their lack of caution on her? Well, he had another thing coming. They had been in the bed together...both of them.
Two extremely dim-witted people.
“Excuse me for not being prepared. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead,” she snapped and attempted to overlook the ball of anxiety already beginning to form in the bottom of her stomach. She sincerely hoped that was all that was starting to form.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Sure you did.” She rose to her feet and stormed past him, heading for the bathroom room. She wanted to scream when she heard him following her. Marching over to the sink, she turned on the water and splashed some on her face. She turned off the faucet, gripped the counter, and shook her head.
“I am so stupid,” she mumbled.
“Hey,” Duke replied as he walked over to her. “We were in that bed together. I could have said hold on. I should have been prepared to use something. I’m not placing the blame on you. We are both at fault here.”
She looked at him and then shook her head before storming past him. “This is major, Duke.”
“I know, sweetheart,” he stated as he followed behind her. “While I wish I could roll the clock back an hour or two, we are beyond that. We just need to talk about what to do next.”
Bailey quickly redressed while her mind raced. Fortunately, Duke grabbed a pair of sweatpants and put them on.
“I need time to think,” she stated. “This is something I never considered.”
He frowned. “Birth control? Why not?”
She yanked the shirt over her head before glaring at him. “No. Not birth control. But just so you know, I don’t make a habit of jumping into bed with men. You would probably laugh if you knew how long it’s been since I’ve had sex before we just did what we did.”
One corner of his mouth curved upward. “How long?”
She froze, then took a deep breath to keep calm. Finally, she was able to respond. “Is that all you can think about right now? Because I am completely freaked out over the idea that we may be dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.”
Duke crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her for a long time. “You’re right. Let’s focus on what’s important here because we can’t turn back the clock. How long would we have to wait to find out?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never been through this before. But I don’t want to wait. Can you take me to the store?”
He frowned. “This time of night? Nothing is open here.”
“No, to Osceola. There is a twenty-four-hour supermarket there,” she clarified.
Duke walked over to the pile of discarded clothes and picked up his shirt. “Sure, but I think it’s too early for a pregnancy test.”
“I don’t want one. I’m hoping they have emergency contraceptives,” she replied.
Once her words registered shock flashed across his features before he stiffened. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “My friend Ginger had a scare like this one time so I know what to look for.” She paused. “Who would have ever thought that I’d be here having the same crisis of my own?”
“Bailey—”
She stopped him by holding up her hand. “We can talk later. Right now I just need you to take me to the store or drop me off at home so that I can go myself.”
“That’s not an option.” He stepped closer to her. “Whatever your decision, I will not leave you to do it alone. Our momentary lapse of judgment is on both of us. We were both caught up in the moment.”
She didn’t want to remember. She didn’t want to ponder why she had responded to him in such reckless fashion—one that had led to this moment.
Never could she recall experiencing such a strong reaction.
She had never known a man could be so alluring that she needed to be with him.
Until she had met Duke Murphy, Bailey’s social life had been boring and well-orchestrated as the rest of her life.
Dull, her mind taunted her.
“Bailey,” he continued, “if we screwed up, we did it together.”
Screwed up. What they had done was stupid. Immature. But a mistake? Immediately, she recalled the feeling of fulfillment she had experienced when he entered her. When their bodies were joined together.
Was that discovery a screw up?
And if they had made a child together—would the child be considered a mistake as well? She cringed at the thought.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, his voice low.
For a second, she didn’t know what he was talking about. Then it registered. She looked up at him. “Yes.”
He released a pent-up breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”