Page 38 of Forsaken Trail (Runaway 4)

She shrugged off her coat, taking it into the living room and tossing it on the back of a cream couch. Inside was like stepping into another world. Sheer white curtains covered the dark windows. There were plants everywhere, most varying shades of green but some with flowers. Red and pink poinsettias decorated the dining table. A bouquet of yellow roses flourished on the kitchen counter. With the light walls and neutral furniture shades, it was like a bungalow tucked away on a quiet island.

Serene. There was no other way to describe it. She’d made herself a haven.

And I was going to beg her to give it all up.

“Would you like some water?” she asked.

“Please.”

“Make yourself comfortable.” She waved to the living room, then disappeared into the kitchen and turned on the faucet.

I paced in front of the couch, unab

le to sit. The flight to Oregon had been brutal enough, trapped in a seat, itching to get out. Not even a fifteen-hour flight to Australia had felt so long.

Clara had been texting me all afternoon. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. I hadn’t told her where I was going when I’d rushed out of the office. We’d been in the middle of a weekly planning meeting when Aria had called. Clara didn’t take many personal calls during our workday unless they came from August’s school or her sister.

When Clara had handed me the phone, I’d thought Aria had finally decided to tell me what a prick I was for leaving after our night together. I’d been expecting it for months. I’d deserved it for months.

But pregnant? No. We’d used condoms. Multiple condoms.

I’d replayed our night together for two months. Never had it occurred to me that one of them had failed. Never. Or maybe I’d been too wrapped up in the woman to notice.

“Here.” Aria came toward me, thrusting a glass of water in my hand.

I took it and gulped it to the bottom. “Thanks.”

She sat down on the couch, her shoulders curling inward. “We used condoms.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” I sighed, taking the chair across from her. “I didn’t know that one had broken.”

“This is a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“Not what you expected from a one-night stand, huh?”

I’d had one-night stands. My night with Aria didn’t even come close to hitting that bucket. “Sorry. For leaving after the wedding.”

“Why are you sorry? It was just a hookup.”

Was it? Because it sure as hell didn’t feel like a hookup. Definitely not with a baby on the way.

I’d been a coward for leaving without a word. She’d be right to call me on it. But I’d been scared. No woman in my life, not even Heather, had affected me like Aria. One night with her and I’d wanted more.

But this was not the time for a romantic entanglement. Certainly not a long-distance relationship. The company needed my focus if I was going to keep Grandmother from sinking the ship.

So I’d hopped on a plane the morning after Aria had snuck out of my bed—I’d woken up pissed that she’d already left—and flown back to Vegas, where I’d spent two weeks living in a hotel and working from dawn to dusk.

“Why did you come all the way here?” she asked.

“I own a plane. And I just . . . I couldn’t stay in Arizona. I couldn’t do this over the phone.”

She tensed, studying my face. “I’m keeping this baby.”

“Did you think I’d come here and ask you to have an abortion?”

“Yes.”