Page 57 of Beck and Call

"Colter texted me the appointment time. We need to head straight there, and then you and I are going to get lost in the woods."

"I'm pregnant, I don't think getting lost in the woods is a brilliant idea," I murmured. Come to think of it, getting lost in the woods sounded like a horrible idea all the time.

She shrugged. "How about we go to an exclusive spa and turn off our devices then so no one can find us?"

I looked out the window. "I like that idea. Very much."

About thirty minutes later we pulled up to BioSolutions, and she found a parking space in the lot across the street. Colter was already waiting for us inside. My heartrate picked up, but he shook his head.

"He isn't here. I paid extra to have someone come and swab his cheek in the office."

"I'm sure he didn't fight you on it," I said in a flat tone.

Shock was setting in, but thankfully the urge to cry had fled. I wasn't feeling much of anything at the moment. Maybe spending a couple of days at a spa would be nice. Normally I'd have fought her for paying for me to do something so extravagant, but my pride was something I couldn't afford at the moment. I was also going to have to take her up on the job offer she'd extended to me several times. At least, I hoped she still had a job to offer me. We’d pretty much settled on me going to work for her before I walked out of that club, but when I agreed to give Beckett time to make our relationship work I’d put her off, again.

The procedure was as quick and easy as he said it would be. In less than fifteen minutes we were back out the door. Colter grabbed me and hugged me. There wasn't a single part of me that felt anything other than comfort.

"Keep your head up. We'll have the results by the end of the day tomorrow. He's going to come groveling back to you then," he promised.

"I don't care. I can do this without him. I will do this without him. Goodbye, Colter."

He let me go and faced Jana. "Take care of her. She doesn't seem like herself."

Jana laughed, but it sounded hollow and humorless. "Neither of you know her. Four months doesn't give you enough insight to know how she responds to trauma."

"You're absolutely right." He exhaled. "Don't cut me out too, Evie. I can't explain why, but I care about you a great deal. I'd like to be your friend if you'd let me."

I didn't answer.

"I'll call you, but not until tomorrow evening or even later. We're going to go off grid for a while. Just in case assface comes to his senses and comes after her. I'm going to make sure she's out of his reach until she's starting to deal with this," Jana explained.

"Let's hit the road," she said as Colter strolled away.

"I don't have anything," I muttered.

"Not true. You have me. You'll come to work for me next week, and until then we are going to let you process what's happened today."

"I mean, I don't have clothes, a phone, nothing."

"All of that can be replaced. I packed you some clothes you kept at my apartment from before Beckett Anderson blew up your life."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"I didn't figure you'd want anything he bought for you. Was I right?" she asked.

"God yes," I confirmed.

She pushed the ignition button and slid her sunglasses down from the top of her head. "Well then, girlie, let's get lost."

I hummed my assent, but I didn't need to drive anywhere to get lost. I already was.

Chapter Twenty

Beckett

Since yesterday, I'd vacillated between anger and sorrow. Her cheating on me didn't make sense. I'd been pretty sure she was falling for me. I'd felt her affection every day, especially since finding her on the bench that horrible night. More than that though, when would she have had time?

It didn't make sense. Colter had said many times that she didn't care about my money. Hell, I was still trying to talk her into marrying me. She wasn't the type to try and trap a guy in a relationship, nor was it necessary, like I already said, we were engaged. At least, we were engaged to be engaged.

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