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“You’re the only one who feels this way,” I breathed as I slid into his truck and put it in drive. I hit damn near every curb on my way back to Pete’s apartment, of course. I was a terrible driverand even worse in a truck this size, but he’d actually thrown my car keys down a drain instead of just threatening to do so.
He didn’t want me driving it when it was in such bad condition. I didn’t blame him. We’d actually talked about getting an SUV for me and the baby but I’d balked at him buying it for me.
I knew he would buy one anyway, because he thought he was responsible for me. That he owed me.
Not because he loved me.
Tears stung my eyes as I turned a corner and drove into the cozy, winding downtown streets. It was starting to rain again, and the leaves on the trees were a deep crimson in the faint lantern light coming off townhouses and shops that I passed.
I rolled a stop at the stop sign and waited for a group to cross the street.
There was a woman toward the back of the group wearing a big black hat, a camel-colored raincoat pulled tight around her thin frame.
I looked at her and my stomach twisted with panic as she crossed in front of the truck. I slumped down, praying she wouldn’t turn her head.
But she did, her pale gray eyes shifting over my shadowed face before she turned her head and kept walking.
I lurched forward, driving like a manic as I fumbled for my purse. I pulled out my phone and called Pete.
“I’m sure it was my mom,” I said, my voice trembling as I paced in front of the couch. Pete was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, watching me pace. A cooking show was on mute behind me as I thoroughly panicked. “I know it was.”
“It’s pretty dark outside, babe,” he said, standing up. “You could be wrong.”
“I don’t know how she would have found me here,” I pressed, choking on a sob. “If she came here, that means Jonah knows where I am.”
“Neither of them will touch you. They can’t force you to do anything anymore, Sierra.”
“You don’t know them—”
“Well, if they plan on coming to my town and harassing my woman—”
“But I’m not! I’m not your woman!” My heart cracked in my chest as I turned to face him. “I’m not. We’re pretending—”
“Oh, we’re past pretending,” he said in a low growl, taking a step toward me. “What the hell is going through your head right now—”
“We’ve been sleeping together, Pete. Sure, we agreed that we’re dating but the only reason for that is because I’m pregnant—”
He closed the distance between us in a single step, clutching my shoulders. “Is that what you think? That I’m only with you right now because there’s a chance this baby is mine?”
“Yeah!”
“Sierra.” He pressed two fingers to the underside of my chin and forced me to look up at him. “This isn’t pretend for me. Is it still pretend for you?”
A glimmer of hope knitted my broken heart back together as I looked up at him in awe.
“But you don’t think this baby is yours—”
“That doesn’t matter to me. This baby is mine regardless of whether I fathered the child. I will be its father. I will be here for you and that baby. I’m here for you now. I know this is all because you think you saw your mother but we don’t know that she’s here for a fact. I’ll find out. I’ll take care of it.”
I was at a loss for words momentarily as I stared up into his eyes.
I almost said it. I almost told him I loved him. Almost.
I just couldn’t. I wasn’t sure why.
Everything between us had happened so fast.
“I don’t want to go back home with her.”
