Page 96 of This Baby Business
Twenty minutes later he arrived at the gym, bench-pressed until his eyes crossed and ran a mile in six minutes. He hit the shower, still angry, and hoped that by the time he arrived at the airport he would have cooled off. Carly had already texted him once, which he’d ignored. She didn’t text him again, which was wise. Maybe she’d come to her senses and give him some time.
He dropped by the Drip for a coffee to go, and on his way out saw Lily.
She grabbed on to his elbow. “I’m glad I ran into you. I’ve decided to forgive you. I know the engagement with you and your nanny is just a ruse for the sake of the grandparents. So if you’re still thinking you want to revisit that second date…”
“No. I can’t. Sorry.”
“Aw, did she break your little heart?” She licked her lips. “Because I can fix that for you.”
“That’s a nice offer, but I’m going to pass.”
“Let me know if you change your mind,” she called out as he left the shop.
He couldn’t talk. Couldn’t be civil. Because, truthfully, he felt dangerous right now. Like a caged animal let loose on an unsuspecting public. Carly had lied to him. Again. He didn’t know why he’d been surprised. She’d lied about being a baby expert.
Lied about their engagement. Lied about leaving.
She’d also lied about loving him. This time the lie went deeper and had caused far more damage. He wished he could say what he felt for her was a lie as well, but most unfortunately for him, it was real and alive. Consuming him.
The person he was most pissed with?The honor goes to me, myself and I.But Carly followed a close second. She’d made him care, damn it. Drawn him in, hooked him, and for what?
CHAPTER39
Carly
First, I cried. A lot.
Then, realizing that Grace was deeply affected by my emotional state, fussing and weepy, too, I got my act together and stopped sniveling. Smiled and laughed and put on a show. Played peekaboo with Grace until she giggled in a beautiful belly laugh. I faked it well. Even after Levi still hadn’t answered my one text from hours ago. I was beginning to fear that maybe Levi didn’t have any use for me if I couldn’t be his nanny friend with benefits. Simply put, he didn’t love me. And oh, yeah, he hadn’t told me that he did, so he got points for honesty. That smile on his face when I’d told him I loved him was to be expected, because who didn’t like to be told someone loved them? No one.
In the end, I’d called Jill and Zoey and told them I needed an intervention. Because what I wanted to do was drive to the airport and force Levi to listen to me. Force him to listen to my explanation. If he was going to walk away, it would be for the right reasons. Not because he had some mistaken impression of how difficult it had been for me to come to this decision. How hard it would be to leave him and Grace, even for a couple of months.
“You just told him you loved him? Just like that?” Zoey snapped her fingers. “First the engagement and now this. Girl, you’ve got a serious set of cojones.”
“Where were you and exactly what were you doing when you told him?” Jill said.
“I’d rather not say.” My face heated.
Now I had to admit it wasn’t the world’s greatest timing. I could see why Levi might think I’d been…er, unduly influenced. Caught up in the moment. Not true, but I saw his point. Given that I’d followed my confession of love by getting caught in a lie, he might not fully appreciate the honesty of my words. Nope. Instead, he might think I’d lied to him. Again.
“Uh-huh,” Jill said. “I thought so.”
“So what do you want to do?” Zoey asked, holding Digger.
I had brought him next door with me, too, and he seemed out of sorts since my laundry room just wasn’t the same as Levi’s.
“I want to go over to the airport and make him listen to me!”
“Won’t he be busy in an airplane?” Zoey said.
“The point is—” Jill thrust her index finger toward me “—you called us here for a reason. This meeting is to stop you from doing anything stupid.”
“It is?” Zoey wrinkled her nose.
“Of course! We’re here to prevent any more of this foolery. I don’t know who ever told you to let a man know what you’re thinking, but you should take away their friend card.”
“No one told me that,” I said miserably. “It was all me. I thought I’d be honest for a change.”
“Bad move.” Jill shook her head. “Bad.”
