Page 49 of Hard and Unprotected

I thought he felt something for me.

I thought the billionaire cared, and that his soul was moving in my direction.

But this piece of glass told me something different. It told me that I’d been a dumb girl, dreaming dreams that never existed. I’d been caught up in my reverie with a lot of hopeful “what ifs” and “maybes.”

But there were no what ifs.

There were no maybes.

Evan was a prince, and I was a nobody.

The chasm between us was wide and deep, and as big as the Grand Canyon. The fake ring was proof of that. Everything was an illusion. Feelings? What feelings? There were never any feelings, period.

Plus, the billionaire was already starting to wind down the show for his parents, giving me a great big glass ring instead of a diamond.

My heart wept. Every tear that trailed down my face was another ounce of hope sapped, another joule of vitality gone. The phone fell from limp hands and I collapsed on the living room floor.

I should just take the ring and wear it. Yeah. That’s what I should do. Walk around with this big pink glass ring on my finger because that’s all I’d ever get.

Pain slashed through my chest once more, making me gasp.

But I couldn’t put on the fake ring. It hurt just looking at it, the glass burning an image on the backs of my eyelids.

It represented my stupidity.

My foolishness.

Everything that I’d never have.

The impossible, out of reach for a poor girl who works with her hands.

Oh god.

Tears dribbled from my eyes and into my mouth and I gasped, trying to catch my breath. What next?

Because this wasn’t how I pictured it while taking the pregnancy test this morning. After missing my period and then vomiting for twenty minutes, I knew I had to check. And it was true. Evan Lincoln’s fertile seed had done its duty, and now I had a baby inside me. Evan and I were going to have a child.

But he never wanted a child.

He never wanted me.

So I was going to have Evan’s baby. Alone.

The glass ring had showed me that much at least.

I sniffed again and stood on shaking legs, smearing my cheeks with pumpkin and flour. I couldn’t stay here. I loved the animals at DoggyMart, I loved the city, I loved Evan. But I had more than myself to care for now. I had a baby to think about now.

So I had to go because this was Evan’s city … and my broken heart wouldn’t let me stay.

12

Evan

Henry’s an asshole and I was done with him. That was that.

There was no anger anymore. No recriminations. No hate.

I was just done.