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Five
That second evening in New York set the pattern for the days to come. Because the pizza arrived while Wynn was still dealing with the baby, Felicity chickened out. She took two slices and a glass of wine to her room and didn’t emerge until morning.
Fortunately, Wynn and Ayla fell in love with each other right away. He doted on the baby, and she in turn adored him.
If this had been a real family, Felicity might have been jealous. But everything was unfolding exactly the way it was meant to. Wynn and Ayla were bonding.
Felicity made herself scarce whenever Wynn was home. She wanted him to get comfortable with Ayla’s routine, and that meant Felicity had to hold back, even if she was the one who spent the most time with the baby.
It wasn’t a contest.
For two entire weeks, the setup worked. But then one Friday evening before Thanksgiving, Wynn forced a confrontation.
Felicity was cleaning up after dinner, preparing to escape to her room as usual, when Wynn strode into the kitchen and took the drying cloth out of her hand. “We need to talk,” he said. The look on his face sent a shiver down her spine. His expression was intense, and it radiated masculine pique. His green eyes glowed hot. “What in the heck is going on inside your head?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Fliss. I’ve never been treated like a communicable disease in my own home until you moved in.”
Her temper flared. “I’ve done exactly what you asked me to do. To the letter. And Ayla loves you. So what’s your freakin’ problem?”
His gaze settled on her lips. “You know what my problem is,” he said. The words were husky. They rubbed over her emotions like sandpaper against velvet. “It’s nothing new, Fliss.”
She took a step back. “Don’t,” she whispered.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t make this personal.”
“It’s never not been personal. You wouldn’t even serve me on a flight from Atlanta to London. You swapped sides of the plane.”
Heat rolled from her throat to her cheeks. “I didn’t realize you noticed.”
“That’s a lie, Fliss. I could feel you looking at me.”
She chewed her lip. “Well, maybe I did. It was embarrassing.”
He took a step closer. His gaze focused on her breasts briefly before coming back to meet her eyes. “Is that it? Or were we both shocked and...intrigued?”
“Give me a break.” She tried to ignore the ache his words created. “There was no intrigue. Just because we both moved away from Falcon’s Notch didn’t mean it was some great mystery. You left me, and I went on with my life.”
He scowled. “I left because you didn’t want to marry me.”
“Of course I wanted to marry you. Don’t be an ass. But I was physically in pain and emotionally upset, and I didn’t know what to do. I hurt your feelings and you walked out on us.”
“Tell me the truth,” he said. “Did you know you were pregnant?”
She frowned. “No. I didn’t know. I told you that before.”
He stared at her without speaking.
“What?” she demanded. “Either you believe me, or you don’t. Why would I lie?”
“Your best friend, Jordana, told me you did know. But you hadn’t said anything to me because you weren’t sure I was the father.”
Felicity burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious. First of all, Jordana wasn’t anybody’s best friend. She was a gossip and a troublemaker all through high school, and she had a terrible crush on you. Secondly, do you honestly think I was having sex with somebody else?”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “No. Not really. But I was a kid, and you turned me down. What was I supposed to think?”
