An Outrageous Fake Proposal by Susie Warren

Author:Susie Warren [Warren, Susie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781956339024
Published: 2022-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

10

Fatherhood (Foster)

I want to push her up against the car and plunge myself into her seductive warmth, but I can feel her pulling away from me.

Releasing her, I pull in a ragged breath. “What’s wrong, Ivy?”

Her warm brown eyes settle on my face. “You said that you’re tired of looking over your shoulder and trying to figure out if you can trust someone. Did someone betray you?”

I glance into the woods. I shouldn’t have let that thought slip out. My tone is harsher than I intend. “Yes. It’s not surprising. I’m thirty-two and work in advertising. The world isn’t always what you think.”

She puts a hand on my chest and I can feel her warmth through the fabric of my shirt. “Foster, you handle yourself well in business. It’s something more personal. Was it Tallulah’s mom?”

I become aware of small sounds emanating from the forest, birds chirping and small critters running on dried leaves. My body must be primed for a fight. I take in a deep breath and remind myself that I’m not in any danger. Ivy doesn’t want to harm me; in fact, she’s been incredibly generous towards my daughter. “It was Anne.”

Her eyes get larger. “What happened?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. Why does she want to know all of this? “It’s a familiar story. A young couple has a lot in common, their families are friends, and getting involved seems like a natural progression. But then he works a ton of hours, and she’s bored and has an affair.”

Her eyes narrow. “That doesn’t ring true, Foster. You’re an ethical guy. When she announced her pregnancy, you called off the engagement.”

My body feels rigid. I shouldn’t care about any of this. It was years ago. “I found a note in her handbag signed xo. It talked about how much this guy loved her but couldn’t act on it. When I confronted her, she admitted that she was still in love with him, but he was married to someone else. It was a mess. Anne was pregnant and it didn’t occur to me that the baby wasn’t mine. I assumed the other relationship happened before we started having sex. We stayed together because of the pregnancy, but I didn’t want to go forward with the marriage knowing she was in love with someone else.”

Speaking slowly, Ivy asks, “Are you saying that Tallulah isn’t your child?”

An ache begins to form in the back of my head. “I did a DNA test when she was a year old and it showed that I’m not her biological father.”

“That must have been devastating to learn.”

I can feel my chest expanding. “Not really. In some ways, yes. I was angry with Anne for lying to me. But it didn’t change how I felt about Tallulah. That kid lived in my heart from the moment I knew Anne was expecting. I experienced the pregnancy with her, and when I held Tallulah after she was born, I felt a strong, primal connection.”

Ivy asks softly, “Does she know?”

I shake my head.

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