Page 38 of Off-Limits Silver Fox Billionaire

“You sure you’re good?” he mouthed to me, taking his time to pace out his words so I could understand what he was saying.

“I think…” I couldn’t finish the sentence before I zoned out. A splitting ache slashed through my head the second after I heard a thud, and I only realized I had dropped to the ground when both Iris and Josh chorused my name.

The darkness was too strong even though I tried to respond to them. I couldn’t speak because my throat felt too parched, and there was a buzzing sound in my head that threatened to cut me off.

I slid into the darkness, hoping it would provide comfort to the pain tunneling through me, and it did.

The next time I opened my eyes, I groaned and licked my lips. Josh was beside me. He held my hand tight and kept rubbing a hand over his face until I whispered his name and tried to sit up.

“What happened?” I croaked when he assisted me. I noticed the IVs connected to my hand, and I looked around the hospital room.

Sunlight reflected through the window, and the steady beep of the machine in the room started to rhyme with the beat of my heart.

“The doctor says you need to rest. You had a high fever and that made you pass out. You’re also dehydrated. I think it’s the baby, so you need to take it slow for a few days and rest.”

“What about Iris? Did she find out anything?”

Josh frowned as he combed his fingers through his hair, then got up from where he sat and came to sit beside me. “Iris went out to re-park the car. I hurriedly brought you in here and neither of us had the time to make sure we parked right until the doctor checked and said you were alright.”

“I don’t remember anything,” I whispered then rubbed the back of my neck. “I just feel so tired all the time.”

“I know,” Josh said. He was sitting beside me on the bed now and touching my hand. “We’ll need to tell everyone about the baby now, Bree. Your father, and Iris too. I want to tell them.”

“I want to tell Iris myself,” I whispered back because his voice had also dropped a notch. Josh had inched closer to me on the bed now, and all I could smell was the musky scent of his cologne. “It’s best if she hears it from me.”

“Well, you have to tell her soon. I’m going to speak to your father too. I hate that you have to hide this from everyone, especially since you’re sick. It makes me so worried about you all the time.”

Our eyes met, and the tenderness I saw in his gaze made me sigh. Josh framed my cheeks with one hand and kissed me tenderly on the lips. My lids remained close as I savored the kiss and enjoyed the warmth of his lips pressing into mine.

My heart swelled inside my chest, and I knew just then my feelings for Josh were long past the desire that swarmed through me each time he was close.

I loved how tender he was with me. It made my heart melt for him and made me forget all the reasons why these feelings were wrong. He nuzzled the side of my neck for some time before he pulled back and stood up from the bed.

“Iris knows about the baby now, she’s going to ask about the father,” he said as he stood with his back to me. “Do you need me to be there with you when you tell her?”

I swallowed and shook my head. “No, I can handle it, you don’t have to worry.”

When he nodded but kept staring at me, I nibbled on my lower lip and asked. “Do we really have to tell my dad now? And Iris too? Maybe we should wait until after Iris’s wedding? I don’t want to ruin anything, and Iris is going to be so mad at me when she finds out. I don’t think I can handle her being angry with me right now.”

Josh sighed. He framed his hands on his waist and shook his head. “It’s best they know now, Bree. Besides, I can’t keep walking on eggshells around you when what I really want to do is take care of you. It’s difficult to do that when no one else but us knows what’s going on.”

Josh was right. The sooner we got this huge secret out of the way, the better. But the problem was, what exactly was he going to tell my dad? Josh didn’t believe in love or happily ever afters, but he was good with having a child, so what about my growing feelings for him?

17

JOSH

“Iwant to tell him,” I said to Bree some days later in my backyard when we stole a moment to share a kiss and be together. Iris was face-timing her fiancé, so she wasn’t paying attention to us, and I was wondering why Bree was suddenly pulling away from what we talked about in the hospital.

We had agreed and she was backing out now. Was she scared? Or worse, not sure of being with me? I wasn’t planning marriage or anything either, but I wanted to be in my child’s life, and I also cared for Bree too.

“What exactly are you going to tell him?” she asked. “Hey Phil, what’s up, I’m sleeping with your daughter and she’s carrying my child? Don’t you see that’s insane, Josh, he’s going to lose it if you tell him that. I know my dad… He’s definitely going to lose it.”

“You are carrying my child, Bree, and you said you wanted this.”

“Yes, I want the baby, but not….” She stopped, turned away from me and sighed. “I don’t think I want to make it public that we’re seeing each other yet, that’s it.”

“Bree—”

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