That silenced him; she could practically feel his mind spinning through possible reasons for her behavior. But he didn’t release her hand. “Honey, if you’re hurting, you need to tell me.”
The statement almost made her laugh. Physically, she was fine. For the most part, anyway, considering the stress of the past hours. Emotionally, she was, indeed, hurting. She was frazzled and more confused than she’d ever been. Before this day, she’d known beyond a shadow of a doubt where she was going and who she was. She’d formulated a life plan for herself and her unborn child. Then Chase Vickers had waltzed back into her life and thrown her neat and orderly plan into total disarray.
“Lily, talk to me.”
She didn’t even look at him. Instead, she stared through the window at the eastern sky where the sun peeked through the dark clouds. A new day, she thought, and promised herself she would not repeat the mistakes of her past.
THE SLAMMING OF A CAR DOOR jolted Lily awake. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sleeping, but it was fully light. The car was parked in a neat gravel lot surrounded by lush maple and sycamore trees. A manicured lawn stretched to a tiny Victorian-style cottage nestled within another copse of trees.
She glanced over to see Chase slide behind the wheel. Though he’d been up the entire night, he looked rested, relaxed and…breathtakingly handsome.
Not wanting to go there, she sat up and looked around. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight.”
“Where are we?”
“Midway to Shane’s house. I haven’t been able to reach him on his cell, so I thought we’d stop and get some rest, eat and shower up.”
The thought of a shower appealed to her immensely. Even more appealing was the thought of food. Having not eaten a meal since before her shift at the hospital, she was famished. And exhausted. Aside from a couple of catnaps, it had been almost twenty-four hours since she’d had any real rest. As Chase crossed in front of the car and opened her door, Lily didn’t miss the fact that he scanned the quiet, tree-shrouded road, and she wondered if either of them would be able to relax long enough to sleep.
He offered his hand, but Lily didn’t take it and struggled from the passenger seat on her own. He pretended not to notice the slight. Thunder rumbled in the distance as they stepped onto the small wooden porch of the cottage Chase had rented from the manager of the cottage colony about a quarter mile up the road. Lily glanced over her shoulder to see dark clouds billowing and she knew before long they would get rain.
Chase used the key and swung open the door. Lily smiled at the sight of the charming room. It was small but tastefully decorated with dark antique furniture. Two full-size beds were covered with cream and navy matching comforters. On the center night table, a fake Tiffany lamp cast a circle of warm yellow light. A print of a Monet seascape hung on the wall above a tiny round table.
The room smelled pleasantly of sandalwood and lemon oil. Lily walked past the beds and spotted a dozen votive candles on the vanity. None of them were lit, but she could smell the vanilla from where she stood. Under the right circumstances, she might have enjoyed staying here. But the circumstances were anything but ideal. Except for the man, a traitorous voice interjected.
“I thought I’d run out and get us some food.”
Lily turned to find Chase standing just a foot away, watching her. She acknowledged the worry in his eyes, and promised herself she wouldn’t let his concern for her get to her no matter how handsome he was. No matter how powerful her attraction to him.
“I’m starving,” she managed after a moment.
“I wish I could offer you more than a burger and fries.”
“Believe me, a burger and fries will not be a hardship.”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Do you need anything else? Toiletries? There’s a drugstore in town.”
“A strawberry shake.”
A smile emerged and it changed his entire face. His topaz eyes shimmered like some tropical sea on a sunny day. Laugh lines appeared on either side of his chiseled mouth. Lily found herself thinking of the kiss they’d shared back in Boston and an emotion she did not want to acknowledge stirred deep inside her.
“I’d forgotten about your weakness for ice cream,” he said.
Returning the smile, she pressed her hand to her abdomen. “You know. Hormones.”
He glanced toward her belly. For a moment, Lily thought he was going to cross the distance between them, perhaps set his own hand against the place where she carried his child. She held her breath, not sure what she would do if he did so. Would she step back? Or would she share the moment with him? Or maybe step into his arms the way she had seven-and-a-half months ago…
The sound of car tires crunching over gravel made her jump. A cold finger of fear skittered up her spine when Chase went to the window, parted the drapes and peered out. When he turned to her, his face was solemn. “Just a family pulling into another cottage down the road.”