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“Call girl?” Did she really think he thought of her that way? “I’ve never paid for sex in my life, and I ain’t gonna start now, sugar.”
“Good. You don’t have to. There’s a whole ranch full of beautiful women out back, Chad. One of them’s bound to strike your fancy. And I’m sure she’ll offer it up for free. But this little filly’s done.”
She snapped up her shirt, fluffed her hair, walked toward the door, and turned the deadbolt.
“Catie,” he said, but she was already gone.
* * *
Catie stood in the powder room, splashing cold water over her face.
She had done the right thing. Chad wasn’t serious about her, and she couldn’t keep sleeping with him. Oh, she wanted to, and only a day ago, she had been determined to keep it up. But talking to the other men had made her realize that maybe, just maybe, there was a man out there who would care for her. Would offer her more than just sex when he was horny.
She was worth more, damn it. And she intended to have it.
A tear trickled down her cheek.
Too bad she only wanted it from one man, and he was the one who would never give it to her.
Chapter Thirteen
Two weeks had passed, and he hadn’t called.
Not that Catie was surprised. Chad hadn’t promised anything beyond the next day, and waking up in his arms and making love again had been totally worth it.
Now, Catie was driving into Murphy. She had an errand to run, and she couldn’t do it in Bakersville. Couldn’t risk the small-town gossip.
She needed a home pregnancy test.
Her fears had surfaced. She was three days late.
She walked through the pharmacy in the small cow town, feeling conspicuous. They all knew why she was here, didn’t they? Their stares melded to her flesh. Their judgments mocked her. She took a deep breath and walked down one aisle and then another, mindlessly throwing items in her basket. A candy bar. Cotton balls. A knock-off of Chanel No. 5. She felt like a teenage boy buying condoms. This was ridiculous.
Condoms. That’s probably where she’d find the pregnancy tests. Ha. Ironic. She came upon the birth control aisle and perused the packages. Ribbed for her pleasure. Yeah, whatever.
Sure enough, the home pregnancy tests sat on a shelf next to the ovulation predictors. She grabbed one of the boxes that had two tests. Might as well be sure, right?
On her way out, she threw a trashy novel into her basket. There, she had several things other than the pregnancy test. This looked perfectly normal, right? She was probably a married woman buying some bath items and a book, and oh, yeah, by the way, a pregnancy test.
Her ringless left hand seemed to glow.
The teenage clerk rang up her purchases without a sideways glance. Breathe in, breathe out. Catie was convinced she’d hyperventilate at any moment.
She ran to her car and sat down, inhaling.
She needed to do the pregnancy test now. She couldn’t wait until she got home. She stuck the box in her purse and walked into the grocery store next to the pharmacy. She headed straight to the back where the restrooms usually were.
She eased into a stall and sat on the toilet. She opened the box and read through the instructions quickly. So this was what she had been reduced to. Peeing on a stick in a public restroom.
Here goes nothing.
After following the instructions, she hid the stick in the test box and watched the second hand on her watch.
Had three minutes always been this slow?
Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock.
Insanity threatened to overtake her.
