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But I didn’t have time to celebrate the fact that she was here again, no. I wasn’t sure I could. Or wanted to. Nothing about this reunion was… good. Not right now.
“Give me your phone.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to go throw it in the lake.”
“Pete—”
“You said this guy is hunting you down and you’d be locked up and forced to marry him if your parents find you. I’m not gonna let that happen, so give me your phone.”
She took her phone out of her purse and handed it me. It was a flip phone, something I hadn’t seen in years. I smirked at her, flipped it open and shut it a few times before slapping it against my desk, breaking it in half.
“What the hell—” she gasped.
I slipped its remains into my jacket pocket and shrugged. “Hopefully you didn’t have anything important on that.”
“I—I didn’t.”
“Good, well. Uh, are you totally alone or do you have like, friends or other family who could help you out?”
“My friend Jane, in Washington, she helped me escape but that’s it. She has a toddler and I can’t burden her like this.”
“You’re not a burden,” I said quickly. “This situation is… my fault. I—I should have been more careful. Checked, you know, checked the condom.” I licked my lips and met her eyes. Heat blossomed on her cheeks and I felt a rush of warmth at the sight. God, she was beautiful. I wondered if she even knew.
But what had been between us was going to be so different now. She needed me to step up in more ways than one. I was sure many men would look at this situation—her situation—and simply show her the door. Pretending to be in a relationship… to protect her from what sounded like people with money who knew how to use it to get their way…
I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that she was up against that and alone.
“You’re staying with me. We’re going to figure this out. I’m going to help you.”
She nodded and broke my gaze. Her eyes focused on her hands in her lap. Her wrists—so thin. She looked tired.
“I can’t promise that I won’t fucking kill this guy if he shows up though,” I added. That caught her attention. She looked at me for a long moment. Could she see how serious I was?
“He… isn’t going to hurt you.”
“I know,” I said, sitting down in the chair opposite hers and scooting forward so our knees were barely touching. “I’m not worried about me. He won’t be walking out of Hot Springs, Sierra. Do you understand what I mean?”
She swallowed, looking a little flushed. Good, better she knew what I was capable of now.
“I’m not a nice guy,” I continued. “You don’t know me, Sierra. You might not like me once you do. Just a warning.”
“I think you’re nice.”
“I can promise you that I’m not.” Nothing I’d ever said had been truer. “But I’m going to do right by you and this baby, as long as it’s mine. If it’s not, I’m not going to turn you on the street with nowhere to go. As long as you stay in Hot Springs you have my word that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t have to go back to wherever you came from.”
“Thanks.”
I leaned back in my chair and looked her over as a heavy silence settled between us.
“There’s a regional hospital in town. Tomorrow we’ll go down there and get you checked out, make sure everything’s okay. After that we’ll see if there’s a way to do a paternity test this early.”
She exhaled deeply through gritted teeth and looked over me, slouching a bit.
“I’ve only ever had sex with two people, and you’re one of them.”
“And if this baby’s father is Jonah? What will you do?”
