Pregnant at the Wedding / Baby Business: Pregnant at the Wedding

“Yes, you are,” he replied in a raspy voice. “And I’m more than ready. I’ve dreamed of you too many nights. I’ve thought about you more than you can possibly imagine.”

His words thrilled her, but she shook her head. “No, I can’t. We wait. There’s too much complicating our lives.”

“This is the best possible time to love each other.”

She twisted free and walked away from him, straightening her clothing and trying to get her emotions under control. She turned to face him.

His mouth was red and his expression conveyed his feelings. There was no question he was eager for her.

Fighting the urge to walk into his arms, she stayed where she was. “We need to talk about the future.”

“There are other ways to solve this and be happy.”

“Lust isn’t going to solve anything.”

“That isn’t how I would describe it. All right, Ashley, we’ll make some plans.”

“That’s exactly what I hoped to avoid. Ryan, I didn’t want you to know about the baby this soon because I knew you’d want to take charge. Let me deal with this. It’s my life, and you never wanted to become a father.”

“This is my baby, too, and you might as well get accustomed to the idea, because I’m not going away.” He spoke quietly, but she detected his unyielding tone.

She glared at him. “I want to have this baby and get settled. After that, let’s talk about what we’ll do.”

He crossed the room to take her hand. “This is so simple. Will you marry me?”

While her heartbeat fluttered, she hoped she kept her features impassive. She placed her hand on his cheek. “Your proposal is kind. Thank you, but no.”

“Dammit!” he snapped, while fire flashed in his eyes. “I’m not being kind. I’d like to marry you.”

“A week ago you wouldn’t have considered proposing. This is what you think you’re duty bound to do, and it’s generous of you. No, I’m sorry, but when I marry, I want it to be with someone I’m wildly in love with, who’s just as in love with me. You know we don’t have that relationship.” She shook her head. “No, Ryan. I knew you would propose, because I know you think you should.”

A muscle worked in his jaw and he got a piercing look in his eyes. Ashley braced for whatever he’d say next.

“We’re having a baby, which is the best possible reason to wed. Sex between us is fabulous—another dandy reason. Most times we’ve been out together, we’ve had a grand time, with the exception of breakfast this morning. We have simple backgrounds, and are in better times now, so we’re alike there,” he reminded her. While he talked, she had a suspicion he was fighting to maintain patience.

“We’re not remotely alike,” she retorted. “You’re a millionaire. I’m a wedding planner, trying to make ends meet, earn a living to support myself in the city and help my family,” she said solemnly. “And that’s just a start. There’s not one thing you’ve said that has changed my opinion. We have lust between us and that’s no basis to wed. We’re having a baby, but a sham marriage won’t do anything to make our child’s life better. The few times we’ve been together, we’ve gotten along, but they’re very few and not enough to tell how we’d do in the long haul. A pleasant time over dinner means nothing. We’re not getting our lives entangled so you can run things. You’re accustomed to control, but that isn’t the way this is going to go,” she declared, determined to resist him, although a nagging inner voice urged her to accept his offer.

“I don’t think you’re taking into consideration what would be best for our baby.”

She drew a deep breath as she gazed at him. “My baby needs loving parents. I want the man I marry to be my best friend, as well as my lover.”

“I qualify on half of that.”

“The least important half,” she said. “Ryan, as I said, you’re a take-charge person and I don’t want that. I’m having this baby. I don’t want to marry you out of desperation. An unhappy marriage won’t be any plus for a baby.”

“What makes you think it’ll be unhappy?”

“I don’t know that it will. But I also don’t know that it’ll be a solid marriage.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders again. “You think about what I can do for our baby. I can give it my name, so it will be a Warner and entitled to Warner money. There’ll be more than ample funds for education and travel and nannies. There’ll be a father on the scene. You can’t just dismiss all that without giving it due thought and consideration.”

“I certainly can. At this time, I know I don’t want to marry you. In months to come my feelings might change, depending on how our relationship progresses, but marry right now? No way. Give us time, Ryan. Let’s just sit, and you tell me about your day, besides what involved the baby and me,” she said emphatically.

He stared at her as if she was asking the impossible, but finally he crossed the room to the sofa. Ashley sat on the opposite end, curling her legs beneath her and smiling at him. He sipped his cold beer while she drank ice water, then replaced her glass on the table.

“I want to hear about your day. How long have you been having morning sickness?” he asked.

“Almost from the start,” she answered, aware of how intently he watched her. She wasn’t half as calm as she hoped she looked. To argue with him about doing things for their child had been hard, but she knew she didn’t want to move fast and make lifelong decisions on impulse.

“What did the doctor say about it?”

“It should end soon. Actually, he thought it would be over by now.”

“And who is the doctor you’re seeing?”

She told him, and suspected he was making a mental note to check the man out. “So what did you do today, Ryan?”

“That weekend was awesome, Ashley,” he said instead of answering, his words slowing and his tone deepening as he talked. “I can’t forget it.”

She gazed at him, tingling over what he’d just told her. “It was a great weekend, I’ll grant you that,” she whispered.

“We can have more like it,” he reminded her, and she nodded.

“But not yet, Ryan. I’m not ready yet,” she repeated, looking at his handsome features as if memorizing them.

“So what about business today? Did it go out the window completely?”

Setting his beer on the table, he scooted closer to her, to touch her shoulder lightly. “As a matter of fact, it did. That’s all right. I’ll catch up tomorrow. On Thursday, I may have to fly to Chicago, but I’ll be here Saturday.” He trailed his fingers across her cheek. “So when are you telling your family?”

She looked away, hating the question. “I dread dealing with my family,” she confessed. “I think my dad will be hurt.”

“If we wed, you won’t hurt him. Think about how much easier it would be to inform them.”

For just a moment she did consider his offer again, and she was tempted. What a burden that would lift, to announce her marriage to Ryan and then tell her family about the baby. She looked at him and shook her head. “That’s the best argument you’ve presented, but I still say no. I want full command of my life.”

“I don’t think I’m the only control freak here. You’re just as take-charge as I am, and you have a job where you’re the authority all the time.”

She nodded. “I hadn’t ever thought about it, but I suppose you’re right. I’m the oldest child in my family, just as you are in yours, and I think it makes a difference. I had to care for my brother a lot of the time.”

“I just browbeat mine into doing what I wanted, if they didn’t go along in the first place.”

She laughed, easing the tension, and they talked about growing up. Yet she had a feeling he was mulling over what he was going to do next. Finally, there was a moment of silence when he leaned away to look at her. He ran his finger along her knee, and she wondered what he was thinking.

“Ashley, I think you and the baby would both be better off if you’d marry me,” he said, abruptly changing topics again.

“I don’t happen to agree,” she retorted, wondering how many times they would argue over their future. She looked at his well-shaped hands, which too often brought memories about him.

“You’ve said you fear my take-charge ways, but you’re just as strong in that department, and I have no doubt you can hold your own with me. I think marriage is definitely in your best interest.”