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“I’m keeping it.” Her chin quivers despite her ferocious determination.
“Okay.” What the hell else am I supposed to say? I can’t get my head around what the hell is happening.
How is it even possible?
“I know what you must think of me.” Her voice drops to a near whisper, and her arms fall to her sides.
She sways closer, so close we’re almost touching, and looks up at me with an expression so full of courage, it makes me feel weak.
“I know how this must look,” she continues, “but I’m not a schemer, and I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. I don’t want anything from you.”
“Lacy.”
“No, I mean it. I only told you because it’s the right thing to do.” Her chest heaves and fists clench. “I don’t need your money and I do not need you in my life to look after me. I’m nobody’s burden, Ridge. Nobody’s.”
Burden? Why in the hell would she ever think that?
I open my mouth to argue, but she spins from me and takes off in a run.
“Lacy,” I call, not even thinking about the boom of my voice, how far it might carry, or who might overhear. “Lacy.”
But she doesn’t stop. Fuck, she doesn’t even slow. She runs headlong into the darkness, leaving me staring after her like a goddamn fool, not knowing what I’m supposed to do next.
Am I supposed to carry on with things as planned? Can I marry Chastity and pretend like my life wasn’t just irreparably changed by two little words?
2
LACY
My chest heaves and tears sting as I slide behind a tree. Gasping for breath, I bend at the waist and struggle for composure. I’m far enough away from the wedding reception, from Ridge, that no one will see me. Better yet, Ridge won’t find me. That’s if he even bothered to come after me.
More than likely, he’s grateful I ran, and as much as I hate to admit it, I can’t say I blame him. Our one night together was a reckless, irresponsible, albeit mind-blowing mistake. A mistake I’ll never forget no matter how hard I try.
My hands rest on my still-flat stomach, and my head swims with images of our unborn child. The baby growing inside of me.
My child.
Ridge’s child.
Dammit.
What on earth was I thinking when I jumped into bed with the sexiest and cockiest—even if he has reason to be—man in town?
Oh, that’s right…I wasn’t thinking.
Now, I’ll be reminded of the dangers and consequences of giving in to my basic instinct for the rest of my life. Just my luck, I got knocked up.
God, Lacy, could you be any more of a cliché?
I should have run the night he came into Oz’s Club, especially when he started to pound back the whiskey. But nope, I stuck around. Couldn’t help myself.
I’m a sucker for a man down on his luck, and this one was easy on the eyes. We may be from different worlds, but Ridge Kincaide caught my attention the first time I saw him in town. How old was I? Early teens, I guess.
He’s always been hard to ignore, but when I was younger, boys were no use to me. All idiots and pains in the ass.
Still are most days.
Ugh. Since that night at Oz’s, there have been too many times to count that I can feel his strong, calloused hands all over me, owning my body. The memory is fire. Vivid and hot.
