Robyn Donald - Finding Her Prince

What she hadn’t expected was relief and disappointment in equal parts. Then she did the pregnancy test and shock pushed out every other emotion.

She’d just gotten off work and was waiting in the hall outside the NICU for Nathan to be finished with hospital rounds. This wasn’t the best place to talk, but she didn’t know what else to do. Thanks to her, no phone numbers had been exchanged. And it seemed like forever before he came out of the unit, but that was probably normal when your life was falling apart.

Nathan stopped short when he saw her leaning against the far wall. There was an expression on his face that she couldn’t decipher. And it didn’t matter anyway.

“We need to talk.” Her fingers twisted together as she looked to her left and right, making sure that employees moving in the hall were too far away to hear.

“Hello to you, too.”

“Sorry. I’m a little freaked out.”

“Ah. So we should go somewhere private?” he asked.

“That would probably be best.”

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “How about the Revello Lounge. It’s at the M Resort. Do you know it?”

“I’ll meet you there.”

The one-year-old hotel was on the corner of Mercy Medical Center Parkway and Las Vegas Blvd. Fifteen minutes after leaving the hospital she turned left into the resort lot and found a parking place close to the lobby entrance. She walked inside and took the escalator up, stepping off onto the shiny marble floor. To her right was the gift shop, a café and a pastry place called Baby Cakes. Fate was having a laugh at her expense.

She found the lounge, which was all glass, amber lights and modern glitz. Nathan was waiting in a quiet corner and she took the leather barrel-backed chair across the chrome table from him. They each ordered club soda with lime. She would have preferred something stronger. There was no way to soften the news and she didn’t try.

“I’m pregnant.”

He was all brooding silence before saying, “I figured.”

“I’m pretty sure when you promised me a good surprise at dinner you didn’t mean a baby.”

“I never planned for anything to happen.”

She believed that, and yet he carried a condom. A faulty one.

Just then the cocktail waitress appeared with their drinks and set them down on napkins. “Can I get you anything else?”

Cindy figured she had about all she could stand and shook her head.

“We’re good,” Nathan said and the woman drifted away.

“You might be good, but I’m pregnant.” Cindy picked up her drink and played with the straw. “This is Las Vegas and odds are fickle at best. But I can’t believe my luck is this bad.”

“Yours?” He was still in his scrubs and checked the pager on his waistband. “What about mine? It appears the planets aligned just right and you were fertile.”

“Right back at you, buster,” she said.

“I was hoping you were on an alternative method of birth control.”

“Since I’m not seeing anyone, there was no reason.” She glared at him. “And can we talk about the condom? That was yours so don’t even try to make this my fault.”

“That’s not what I meant. Look, Cindy, I take full responsibility—”

“Don’t.” She couldn’t handle an apology right now.

She’d been a willing participant as soon as his lips touched hers. For God’s sake, she’d thought about him naked when he’d picked her up. All through dinner something had been sizzling between them. They’d had sex. Then nothing.

One minute he’d been pestering her for a phone number, the next he completely disappeared. Yet again she’d been fooled. He really was just one of those guys who refused to give up until he got what he wanted. This time he got more than he’d bargained for, but she was also paying a high price.

“This is not part of my plan,” she said.

He nodded. “Plans have a way of changing.”

Cindy felt a bubble of panic mix with hysteria that was barely held in check. She couldn’t handle calm rationality any more than his apology. This was her life. She’d made a bad decision in the past but was working things out. For a short time there had been light at the end of the tunnel, and now it was connected to a speeding locomotive. All because she’d won that stupid raffle ticket and slid into hell when Nathan Steele noticed her.

“You don’t understand,” she said. “I have another semester of classes. I’m doing my internship, not to mention a full-time job. My bills aren’t going to pay themselves. And I’m putting my brother through college. Harry is my responsibility.”

“It doesn’t have to be all on you. He can get student loans.”

“No. I can’t let him do that. The subject of blame keeps coming up. Between you and me the fault for this pregnancy is about equal. But the fact that my brother’s college money is gone is all on me.” She put her glass back on the table without drinking any of the club soda in it. “I was supposed to take care of his college fund. My father left me in charge of the money. How can I tell him that what our father left for his education isn’t there?

“My parents started putting away money for school when each of us was born. One of the last things Dad said to me was to see that my little brother graduated from UCLA. Harry wants to be a lawyer.”

“Good for him.”

“Not if he can’t get his degree.” Cindy twisted her fingers together in her lap.

“Why can’t he?” Nathan’s frown deepened. “What happened?”

“There was a guy.” She met his gaze and figured he was thinking that there always was. “Conrad Worthington. At least that’s what he said his name was. The cops couldn’t find any trace of him.”

“What did he do?”

“He charmed me into trusting him, told me he loved me, then cleaned out my bank account.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “He maxed out my existing credit cards and all the ones he could get in my name.”

“Son of a bitch.” Nathan’s hands, resting on the arms of the chair, curled into fists.

“Yeah. I called him that, too, and a few things I can’t repeat. The banks refused to forgive the debt, but I managed to negotiate payments. I dropped out of school and worked two jobs for a while. When I had better control over the situation, I started taking a few night classes, which is why it’s taking so long to get my degree. But I had everything under control and it was going according to plan. The thing is, I’m still paying for that mess. I can’t afford another one.” Even in the dim light she saw when his expression went from brooding to pity. She could stand just about anything but that. “And then you came along. Dr. Charming. Wanting my phone number and not taking no for an answer.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he said again.

She believed him, but that didn’t help when panic was her go-to emotion. “It’s all fun and games until the condom breaks and someone gets pregnant.”

Nathan’s head felt like it was ready to explode. It was a sensation that was becoming increasingly familiar where Cindy Elliott was concerned, but this time wasn’t about passion. He struggled to process information that was a lot of fact swamped by buckets of emotion.

Fact: The condom broke.

Fact: She was pregnant.

Fact: The odds of this happening were ridiculously low, which put it firmly in the miracle column.

Emotion: He went from holy crap my boys are badass to holy crap I’m going to be a father .

That was a fact that gave him serious pause since he’d been parented in absentia and had no working model of how to raise a kid.

Cindy was staring at him, then abruptly she stood and slid her purse more firmly on her shoulder. “I just thought you should know about the baby.”