Page 18 of Worth the Risk

She didn’t agree or disagree as she watched me walk out of the bungalow, and the distance I’d created between us felt impossible to overcome.

But I wasn’t going to give up. I’d already decided to do whatever I could to get her back, and now that I knew about the baby, I was even more determined.

My mind lingered on Zoey as I walked back to the resort.

This place was beautiful. White sandy beaches and crystal-clear water and palm trees that swayed in the breeze. I strolled past an infinity pool surrounded by bright tropical flowers and through the glass doors into the tall building.

My room was at the end of the hallway on the third floor, and I felt a pang in my chest as I glanced at the door next to mine. That was where Zoey was supposed to stay…

No.

She should’ve been planning to stay with me all along. That was part of the problem, wasn’t it? Zoey wasn’t just upset that I made the colossally stupid decision to break up with her. She was always unhappy about the secret nature of our relationship.

I knew it, and I was never happy about it either, but I convinced myself that it was a sacrifice worth making to reach a career goal of mine.

It wasn’t. Not if it made her think that she wasn’t important to me.

I had two hours to kill until the bonfire on the beach, and I spent all of that time reading about pregnancy. I already knew more than the average man, of course. As an ER doctor, I needed to have a broad range of knowledge about any condition affecting the human body, but pregnancy-related issues weren’t something I saw often in the emergency room. There was plenty I needed to learn if I wanted to make sure that Zoey had a safe and healthy pregnancy.

And that was what I wanted more than anything. Zoey and our baby were at the top of my list, whether she’d believe that or not.

The sun had just set when I left my room. I was staring at my phone as I waited for the elevator, willing Zoey to respond to the message I’d sent asking how she was feeling.

“You okay, Ford?”

I looked up and realized the doors had opened and Ryan was standing there with Leanne. They were holding hands and looking at me expectantly.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, stepping onto the elevator as I shoved my phone into my pocket.

“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Leanne said while bouncing on the balls of her feet as we rode down to the first floor. She turned a blinding smile on Ryan. “We’re going to be married at the end of the week!”

Ryan chuckled indulgently and brushed his lips against hers. The open display of affection made regret rush through me.

Zoey and I could have been like this all along. I wanted that.

I wanted to take her out on dates. I wanted the nurses in the hospital to talk about how sickeningly cute we were together instead of speculating about my feelings for my ex. I wanted to go to her at the bonfire and wrap my arms around her in front of all these people that we knew.

I wanted to open my mouth right now and tell Ryan that I was nuts about his sister.

But I bit my tongue because I was positive that Zoey would be furious if I did that. The time to tell everyone what she meant to me would have been before.

The bonfire was already lit by the time we stepped onto the beach. Flames stretched out toward the dark sky, casting a dancing circle of light onto the crowd gathered on the sand. Music played from speakers that looked like rocks and people in polo shirts were bringing drinks to the guests from a tiki bar by the outdoor pool.

I spotted Zoey just as someone handed her a bottle of water. The dress she wore wasn’t especially revealing, just light blue cotton that hugged her chest and flowed loosely down to her knees.

But she was beautiful.

She’d pulled her brown hair into a messy bun at the top of her head and loose tendrils fell around her face. Even from thirty feet away, my fingers itched to brush them back behind her ear.

Ryan and Leanne were pulled into a conversation with Damien, the best man, and I headed toward Zoey. She was chatting with someone I didn’t know, a woman that looked like she might be in her early twenties. As I got close, Zoey laughed at something the other woman said, and the way the sound slid under my ribs was pleasant and torturous at the same time.

Then, she saw me coming.

Something hardened in her eyes. Turning to the other woman, she said something and walked away before I could reach her.

Damn it.

Before I could follow her, the woman she was speaking with moved to stand in front of me.