The Devoted Winter: BWWM Billionaire Romance Novel (Her Winter Love Series Book 1) (19 page)

Why did his doctor insist on punishing him with the memory of his wife?
I’m not ready for love, that’s why.
Darryl tried to remind himself. But the reminder just didn’t seem to stick as he thought of the way Vanessa’s face had twisted in pleasure beneath him, as he thought of her beautiful gray eyes, her soft body and long hair. Perhaps he was going about this all wrong… Perhaps he needed Vanessa to truly let go and heal. But was it right to use someone else as medicine for a broken heart? Could he ever really be vulnerable with Vanessa or was this just the sex talking?

Their hesitations about seeing each other again soon became moot when Vanessa realized that her period was two weeks late. As soon as she realized she was late, she knew that she was pregnant for Darryl. She hadn’t slept with anyone else and they hadn’t used protection.
Stupid.
She reprimanded herself but no reprimand could undo the damage that had already been done. After taking a test and confirming that she was in fact pregnant, Vanessa knew she had to call Darryl. Fuck trying to keep it casual. There was a baby on the way and no matter what, things were way past casual already.

Vanessa had no intention of giving up the baby, so no matter what Darryl said, her decision was made. But she still had to tell him just in case he wanted to step up. She gathered up her courage, jotted down notes about her “confession” and picked up the phone.

When Darryl answered and heard Vanessa’s voice at the other end of the line, he was relieved and overjoyed. He wasn’t the only one who had been thinking about their night together apparently.

“Vanessa, it’s good to hear your voice,” Darryl said, trying to mute the excitement that he felt.

“Yeah… you might not think so for very long. I’m pregnant, Darryl,” Vanessa replied. She’d tried to stick to her notes but it had just felt unnatural. Blurting it out wasn’t necessarily a better option.

“Holy shit,” Darryl said. She figured he would respond something like that.

“Listen. I’m keeping it but I don’t want anything from you. I know you probably just thought of me as a one night stand since you didn’t call or anything, but I didn’t think it was fair to have your child and not give you a heads up at least,” Vanessa replied. There, she’d stuck to the speech a little more closely this time.

Darryl didn’t know what to say, but he did know that he wasn’t going to abandon his child or the mother of his child. Yes, this was dangerous and breaking every rule in the book but perhaps fate had allowed this to happen for a reason. He didn’t want to rush into anything with Vanessa, but he also knew that he couldn’t abandon her. Now would be a good time to tell her the truth about who he was…

“Vanessa… I’ll help you, not because I feel like I have to, but because I want to. I need to confess something to you first. When you met me, I was drawn to you partially because you had no idea who I was. I’m Darryl Jordan, former NHL athlete turned investor turned… billionaire. I’ve got a lot of fucking money and most people try to use me for it. I was thrilled to meet someone who actually liked me and didn’t give a shit about my money. I should have been up front,” Darryl said.

How could Vanessa be pissed? This was sort of a dream come true in many ways. Darryl was going to stand by her side and actually help her. She had no expectations of being in love with him or even having a future but just knowing that she didn’t have to go it alone was enough to calm her down from the life changing news that she was pregnant.

**********

The End.

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