Sun God Seeks…Surrogate? (Accidentally Yours #3)(15)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

If only I could remember something. Anything. Because at this point, the only thing I knew for certain was that the darn man had embedded himself in my mind, and I hated him for it. But not only him, I hated his lunatic sister, too.

I’d actually stopped by Cimil’s several times to tell her so, only to be turned away by her grumpy maid—a short, sassy woman in her sixties—who insisted her boss was away indefinitely, and not hiding as I suspected.

In any case, now that my anger had subsided somewhat, I wasn’t sure what I’d say if I finally saw her. “I hate you for changing my life?” Because, as painful as the situation might be, I couldn’t ignore the fact that my mother meant everything to me. And now, she might live. That was a fact. That made everything else water under the bridge. Everything except…I was late. Twelve days late. Oh yes. My night with Nick had been at peak ovulation.

“What were you thinking?” I said aloud, spinning my ring, the one my mother gave me—damn thing wouldn’t come off—while I stared at the little white plastic stick sitting on the edge of the sink. The two minutes had passed, but I couldn’t bear to look.

Chicken! Go over there and pick it up.

But…but…

The phone rang, and I practically jumped from my skin. It was almost 9:00 p.m., just about the right time for my mom to be checking into her hotel.

I scrambled to my bedroom and answered. “How was the flight?”

“Penelope?” said the deep voice on the other end.

My heart dropped to the floor. That voice. Oh, demon wafers, that voice. I wanted to weave it into a blanket and wear it wrapped around my na**d body.

“What do you want, Nick?” I responded.

Awkward silence. “To apologize.”

Too little, too late. “How very big of you.” My mind flooded with images of his face. I couldn’t help but start to feel pliable and needy.

Thankfully, my rational side kicked in, countering, He treated you like scum, Penelope. He called you a liar. He had zero sympathy for how his sister manipulated you.

“I have to go.”

“Penelope. Wait.”

I didn’t respond.

“Are you…?” he said.

I knew what he was asking. I had the same question, and the answer was in the other room displayed in that little clear-view window with a plus or minus sign. And if it showed a plus, then what? I certainly didn’t know how I felt about the situation, but I knew two things: He had no interest in having a baby, and I was a full-grown educated woman who was ready to accept the consequences of her actions.

It was true that Cimil had treated us to a lovely bottle of Dom Roofie, but I couldn’t overlook my contribution to the situation. I’d decided to go to his hotel room. Me. No one else.

“Penelope, my treatment of you was less than honorable, but you should know that I returned to the room almost immediately to tell you so. You were already gone.”

Sure. Right. And I thought I was a bad liar.

“And then you waited two weeks to call,” I chided.

Silence.

“Look,” I finally said, “you don’t need—”

“Cimil has been unreachable, and I did not know your last name or where to find you so I had to hire someone. I was given your number ten minutes ago. Apparently, Penelope is a very popular name.”

He’d gone looking for me? I felt my anger tick down by about ten notches. “Oh.” Now I didn’t know what to think or exactly how to feel.

Um…that’s called confused, genius.

Yes. Confused. He’d come looking for me, wanting to apologize, and I had to admit it made me feel…good. A little too good. But that didn’t change my situation or the fact that I wanted nothing to do with him and his psycho family.

“To answer your question, there’s nothing to worry about, if you know what I mean,” I lied. Or maybe I wasn’t lying. Wouldn’t really know until I faced that little white stick.

“Are you still wearing the necklace?”

So that’s why he’s calling? To find out about his stupid necklace?

My anger dialed right back up again.

Well, if he hadn’t found it lying in the middle of the floor where it landed after I hurled it at him, perhaps it had grown legs or walked away with the hotel maid. Serves him right!

“No. I left it at your hotel.”

“I see,” he said, sounding mildly disappointed, followed by a long pause. “May I see you?”

Wait. He still wanted to see me? So this wasn’t about the necklace? I felt so…

Confused?

“Why? Why do you want to see me? I’m just some seed thief.” Dammit. I hadn’t meant to sound that bitter, but I did. Oops.

“I bought you flowers,” he grumbled.

“Flowers? Why?” This is when I’m supposed to say that flowers wouldn’t buy him a ticket to forgiveness. But my ego said otherwise.

“I am told this is how men apologize.”

“What kind of flowers?”

Idiot. I can’t believe you asked him that.

Okay. But this was important. Red roses were a world apart from begonias.

“Monkshoods,” he replied.

What the heck was a monkshood?

Wait. Penelope, are you seriously worried about what type of flowers he bought you? Let’s do a little fact check. Crazy sister. He treated you like garbage. Men like him don’t date women like you.

This, my dear, is a booty call.

Gasp!

“I’m going to have to say no,” I replied.

“The word ‘no’ only counts if it comes from me.”

There was a loud knock at the front door.

Smug jerk! He’s already here!

We lived in a secure apartment building, so I assumed he’d snuck in while someone was leaving.

“How dare you! You can’t just come here uninvited!” I threw down the phone on the bed and marched to the front door. I yanked it so hard it flew open and practically walloped me in the shoulder. By the time my brain registered that it wasn’t Nick, it was too late.

So I screamed instead.

***

Kinich’s shock from Penelope’s refusal to see him was still reeling in his head—What? She doesn’t want to see me? Me? I am a god, for Christ’s sake!—when he heard Penelope’s gut-wrenching scream erupt in the background.

“Penelope!” he roared into his cell and immediately ran for the door of his hotel room. It was the one and only time in his entire existence that he would have exchanged all his powers to be a vampire who could sift. She was a good twenty minutes away by car, ten without traffic.