Page 7 of Rough Cowboy
“What is that?”
“The results.”
My hand stops. I eye the envelope. “The baby daddy results?”
He nods.
“You stole the results?”
He nods again.
“For me?”
His adorable half-grin accompanies a third nod.
“What if someone notices?”
He shrugs, and I know what this silent game is. He’s letting me decide whether I want to open the envelope. And I do. I really do.
I toss my sponge on the counter and seize the envelope. I slide my painted pink nail along the back seal before carefully extracting the folded paper. The name on this plain white square will attach me to one Wilde brother for the rest of my life.
I peer at Sammy through a lowered gaze. “Do you want to know?”
“I do.”
Holding the paper between us, I take a deep breath and unfold it.
The name causes my knees to weaken.
Sammy curses.
I curse, and panic slams into me so hard I nearly fall over.
“How is this possible? He said his swimmers were few and far between. He said he wasn’t nervous. He said he wasn’t the dad. Did he get knocked in the balls or not?”
Confusion, fear, and alarm play a thunderous song through my trembling body. I can barely breathe through my constricted chest. My hazy gaze blinks at Silver’s name on the page.
Sammy’s hands cover mine. “Hey, Elsie. Look at me.” His finger hooks my chin and lifts it. “Take a deep breath.” His nostrils flare when he loudly inhales enough. The sound pierces my panic.
I shakily nod and take a deep breath with him.
“Release.” His teasing smirk garners a glare from me.
I release my breath.
“Again,” he gently orders, and we inhale and exhale half a dozen times together. “Everything’s going to be alright,” he finally says.
“Easy for you to say. You just got a free pass out of parenthood.”
“Silver is a good guy.”
“Again, easy for you to say. You’re the only human on this earth who he treats with a molecule of respect. I can’t do this.” I rip my hands out of his grasp and storm into the bedroom. “I should’ve never come here.” I grab my suitcase out of the closet.
“Elsie, what are you doing?”
“Packing. Getting the hell out of Dodge.” I yank my beautiful clothes off their hangers and toss them into the suitcase like garbage.
I head to my closet for another handful.
