Page 42 of Island Whispers

“I’m fine.” Proving it, she shoved a forkful of omelet into her mouth. Whoops. The smell, texture, or sheer volume of food pushed her over the edge. She bolted for the bathroom and slammed the door closed. Sick and frustrated, this was the exact opposite of the point she’d been trying to prove.

A few minutes later, after cooling her face with a wet cloth and brushing her teeth again, she mustered the courage to leave the bathroom.

Boone had cleaned up everything in the kitchen. The only scent she could pick up was the tea. Somehow, she managed to breathe it in, taking comfort, without giving in to the scream building in her chest.

He leaned back against the counter as she sat down at the table. “If…” He shoved at his hair. “I mean. If you are, um—”

“With child?”

He gulped, color flooding his face. “Yeah. That. Are you sure it’s, ah, mine?”

Fury whipped through her in a hot second. “Yes,” she replied through gritted teeth. Before their hookup it had been a good six months since she’d had an interesting kiss. Not that her hiatus was his business. She didn’t want to admit that she’d gone a year without a sexual partner. “If I’m pregnant, we can do a paternity test.”

“If.” He snorted.

“We don’t know, Boone.” Before she could stop herself, her imagination spun out the fantasy of wonder and awe and joy. Carrying his child, raising a baby with his smile, his brown hair that turned gold in the sun, and those incredible sea-green eyes. That would be incredible.

Score a point for imagination. Logically—genetically—it was far more likely their baby would have brown eyes.

Then again, she wasn’t convinced they were having a baby at all.

Denial was a powerful tool and she would use it for as long as possible.

“All right,” he said brightly.

Too brightly. She watched him over the rim of her tea, wary of what he was thinking now. He pulled out the chair and spun it around, straddling it and resting his forearms on the top rail. Such an alpha-male move. And that smile, the flash of dimples, so predictable.

Her heart really shouldn’t be fluttering in response.

“We’ll go get a test. You can take it and then we’ll know if we need to deal with the obvious questions that follow.”

She refused to speculate about what he thought those questions might be. “Take it today?”

“Sure. You don’t have to wait for a certain time of day anymore.”

“You know a lot about pregnancy tests.” More than a man who wasn’t a father should know, in her opinion. She didn’t think her dad knew this much, but she wasn’t about to call him and find out.

“Sister,” he reminded her. “We’re close.”

“I’m close to my brother,” she said. “This isn’t a situation that I plan on sharing with him.” Nash would flatten Boone if he knew the truth. The potential truth. “He’s had enough opinions of you being my shadow all this time.”

“I’m sure he has.” Boone seemed to build connections with everyone. “I’ll be back in a few.” He shoved to his feet.

He was at the door before his intention registered. “No!” She scrambled after him, tripping over the edge of the rug. He caught her, drawing her in close to his chest.

“Easy. You need to be careful.”

She needed to be annoyed, but she was too busy being grateful that he’d kept her from an embarrassing fall. And this close, the scent of him enveloped her. It was a more effective calming agent than the tea.

That couldn’t be a good sign. She retreated, rubbing her hands on her shorts. “You can’t just go out and buy a pregnancy test.”

“I can.” He frowned. “Can’t I?”

“Yes.” She shook her head. “I mean, sure, you can. But you can’t.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the couch. “This is a small town, Boone. And it’s Sunday. Both the pharmacy and grocery stores are closed until one.”

She was pretty sure someone other than the security detail would notice Boone leaving and coming back. She should be worried that “someone” would be the prisoner still evading the police, instead she was worried it would be someone who was more likely to mention it to her mom.

She rubbed her temples. “This will sound dumb, but if you buy a pregnancy test here, word will be all over the island before we get the results back. I don’t want to be the subject of more gossip.”

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