Page 135 of Mistaken Impression

I’m no expert, but that bump can only mean one thing. She’s carrying my child. Except that can’t be. She’d have told me. She’d never have kept something like that to herself…

“One of us needs to go after her.” Ella’s companion speaks and I turn at the sound of his voice. He’s frowning up at me, and once again, I’m struck by a strange familiarity.

“Do I know you?” I ask.

“Yes. I took the photographs of you semi-naked, as you put it.”

“Oh… of course.” I guess that’s how they met. Maybe he had to take Ella’s photographs, too, when she started leading the show. “Are you and Ella…?” I can’t bring myself to finish that question, but he smiles, shaking his head.

“I’m her brother.”

My relief is overwhelming. “You’re Hunter?”

“No, I’m Drew. Now, get after her, or I will. And I don’t think that’s what either of you really wants.”

Chapter Thirteen

Ella

I’m surrounded by people, still filtering into the main hall. They’re jostling me, nudging me out of their way, all desperate to get in before the ceremony starts, while I’m just desperate to escape.

The problem is, I can’t leave without Drew. I’m supposed to be taking him back to his apartment in the city before I go home to Newport… and I can hardly abandon him.

I glance at the doors, wishing they’d open, and he’d come out. What on earth can he be doing in there? He won’t be talking to Vivian, that’s for sure. The look on her face when we arrived was an absolute picture.

“She’s definitely the same Vivian,” Drew murmured as we sat down, having greeted everyone.

They’d all seemed pleased to see me. To start with, Ruby just glanced at my bump a little pointedly, but then Kennedy offered her congratulations. I could hardly deny the fact that I’m pregnant, so I thanked her, and everyone else, who quickly joined in, although I could tell Kennedy was dying to ask who the father was. That was one of the reasons Drew and I sat down so promptly, even though everyone else was still standing. It avoided awkward questions.

Vivian kept glancing at Drew with daggers in her eyes, and I was wondering whether I might have the opportunity – and thecourage – to confront her during the evening, when I noticed Mac approaching the table.

Having convinced myself he wasn’t going to attend, I could hardly breathe. He might have looked absolutely God-like in a tux, but I wanted nothing more than to run away. I couldn’t, of course… not without revealing my ever so slightly obvious pregnancy. So, I stayed where I was and watched him, reliving all the times we’d been together, recalling his lips on mine, his fingers caressing my skin, his soft words. I could feel his eyes on me, but didn’t dare raise my head.

I heard everything he said, though… and when Kennedy revealed she’d been responsible for what happened with the press, I so wanted to get up, to scream at him, “I told you so!” Except I hadn’t told him so, had I? Because I’d never for one moment suspected Kennedy of betraying him.

I just knew it wasn’t me.

And as she spouted her pathetic excuses for ruining his life – and mine – he realized the truth, too.

I think that was why he told her I’d been the star of the show. It was guilt talking. I know that. Mac was the star, through and through. But just hearing him compliment me, with that familiar softness in his voice… it was all too much, and regardless of my pregnancy, and my wish to keep it from him, I had to get out of there.

I look up as the doors open, Drew’s name on my lips, and I gasp when I see Mac stride out. He looks straight at me, and although our eyes lock for an instant, I can’t face him.

Drew will have to get back to his apartment by himself… I’m out of here.

I turn and run… again, heading for the main door, but have only gone a few paces, when Mac steps in front of me, blocking my path. There’s too much of him to get around, and I stare at his broad chest, taking deep breaths.

“E—Excuse me, please.”

“No.”

I look up. He’s frowning down at me. Is he gonna get mad? After everything he said and did? Is he gonna have the nerve…?

Seeing red, I raise my hand, jabbing him in the chest with my forefinger. “Don’t you dare.”

He doesn’t flinch, but his brow furrows even more. “Dare what?”

“Get mad at me.”

---