CHAPTER 28

 
 
“So did you tell the guy he’s the father
yet?” Hunter pretended to act innocent and asked Clarice if she’d
made her confession to Anton.
Clarice couldn’t look Hunter straight in the
face. Not again. Why had she agreed to meet up with him for lunch
when she was supposed to be talking to Anton about her future? And
why did she have to make all kinds of excuses just to postpone that
moment of confession?
The truth was she didn’t really want Anton
to interfere with her life. She just wanted to raise her baby
alone. But now, even Hunter had urged her to tell Anton. How was
she supposed to tell the man sitting in front of her that the man
who had impregnated her was his very own cousin? Would he be happy?
Would he jump for joy? Or would he look sulky like Max did when she
told him her news?
She was a little saddened when Max didn’t
show his usual happy behavior. Maybe he was really scared she might
not show him her usual love. She had to ring him to tell him that
so he wouldn’t misunderstand.
“Not yet?” Clarice said, scanning the array
of fruit on her platter. Not again. Why was everyone forcing her to
eat fruits? First Max and now Hunter. Did everyone want to turn her
into an herbivore or something?
“Good,” Hunter said, smiling. Then he
watched Clarice with concern as she just forked around her
fruits.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Don’t you want to
eat the fruit I ordered for you?”
“Of course not,” Clarice said sharply. “Why
did you order me a fruit platter? I don’t like fruit all that much,
not enough to eat it all the time.”
“Well, at least eat that apple there,”
Hunter suggested. “I’ll cut it up for you.”
“I don’t like apples,” Clarice said,
annoyed. “I’ve eaten enough apples to last me until the next life.”
Clarice pushed the plate away from her as her gag reflex acted up.
She closed her eyes and covered her mouth.
Hunter jerked out of his chair so fast it
made a loud screeching sound. He ran to Clarice, and in the next
second, he had her in his arms.
“Hey, are you okay? You should rest. You
should have rejected my offer to come out to lunch today.”
“It’s only morning sickness.” She laughed,
the jingle of her voice doing crazy things to his heartbeat
again.
“Stop laughing, Avocado. You’re sick, for
Christ sake. Here, sit down.” Hunter led her to the seat beside
him.
“Why did you ask me out anyway, Hunter?”
Clarice asked, feeling a sense of empowerment all of a sudden.
Well, after that episode of pretending to be
Max’s blind grandpa, Hunter was so agitated he had to call Clarice
to meet up for lunch, just to ask whether she’d confessed to his
cousin yet. Thank God she hadn’t.
When Clarice didn’t hear Hunter reply, she
leaned in closer to him and asked again. “I said why did you ask me
out? Shouldn’t you be somewhere else, trying to chase up some woman
or something?” Dear heavens, this had to be her fluctuating
hormones again. Otherwise, she wouldn’t behave like this. “Just
because you’re the first one to know I’m pregnant, you’re not under
any obligation to look after me, you know.”
As if her behavior wasn’t strange and
embarrassing enough, Clarice turned to Hunter then and leaned
forward until her nose almost touched his. Then she spoke softly,
which to Hunter’s ears sounded so seductive it made his heart drum
so wildly it almost leapt out of his chest. “I am pregnant with
another man’s child, you know. You shouldn’t be staying too close
to me. People might suspect you’re my… you know, tick-tock,
tick-tock.” Then she laughed like a silly schoolgirl and moved back
to her seat. Heavens, she really was crazy today.
Hunter could only blink randomly at
Clarice’s strange behavior. He knew exactly what she meant, but
damn his past life. Right now, Clarice was more important.
Shit, did he just admit the avocado was the
most important thing in his life right now? Yes, he guessed he did.
And it felt like a heavy weight had just been lifted off his
shoulders. As to the reason he thought of Clarice as his most
important, he knew it was a responsibility a father of a child has
when looking after its mother, but he was sure that wasn’t the only
reason. For now, though, he was willing to stay by her side.
Hunter turned his gaze to look at the woman
sitting beside him again. Why did she agree so suddenly to see him
again? She looked tired, really, really tired, like a little kid
fighting a nap.
He released a deep sigh and went to pay for
their meals, knowing full well that Clarice would not be eating any
more of the fruit he ordered for her. Maybe he should do some more
research on what kinds of food were best suited for pregnant women.
Clarice needed to eat healthy for their baby to grow up strong.
After Hunter paid for their meals, he helped
Clarice into the car.
Once inside, Clarice held a faraway look on
her face. She stared into the far distance, her eyes not seeing
anything.
“Maybe I should tell him,” she said to
Hunter quietly when he got into the driver’s seat.
Hunter shook when he heard this. God,
please no, not yet. He hadn’t decided yet what was wrong with
him. He wanted to spend a little more time with her first. In fact,
he needed to confess to her that he was the father to their baby,
not his cousin, before she she told Anton.
“When?” was all Hunter could say. “When
would you tell him?”
“At the pre-conference ball next week.”
No! No! It was only a few days away. That
wasn’t enough time to compose himself. He needed to confess to her
now. Right now. Otherwise, he would never be with Clarice. He could
feel his heart pounding and his ears ringing.
“Clarice, I have a confession too,” Hunter
croaked, his throat dry, and then he turned to face her. “I am the
man—”
But he couldn’t finish his sentence as he
saw Clarice’s sleeping form. She was so beautiful, this avocado.
She looked so peaceful.
Hunter couldn’t help himself as his body
leaned itself forward of its own accord and his lips brushed
themselves gently across her supple cheek.
“Clarice,” he whispered softly into her ear,
his heart swelling with an emotion he didn’t know existed. “It’s
me. I’m the father of your baby. Not my cousin.”
But she didn’t hear him. She was too
exhausted to register what he’d said.
Once again, Hunter had to wait. And this
time, he would make sure she would stay awake and hear him say
those words, loud and clear.