Page 65 of Waiting on You

“When I took over the Kingston-Bradford partnership, I had no idea that you were pregnant,” he says. “All I knew was that I had been missing you like crazy for two months and I needed to see you.” His eyes bore into mine, and my heart clenches in my chest. “I tried like hell to respect your wishes, but I couldn’t do it. I came to Rosemary to see you.”

“And you’re staying because I’m pregnant.”

“No,” he corrects. “I’m staying because I fell in love withyou. Do I want to be home with my family? I would be lying if I said I didn’t. I love my family and my job. But I love you too, Paige. And in life, we have to make decisions?—”

“You mean sacrifices.”

“No,” he says, “choices, and I’m choosing you. I can visit my family anytime. I can get a new job. I can live with you, or we can buy a new house. But if I stay in Dallas, I don’t get you, and you’re everything I want, with or without the baby.”

I choke out a sob, and he pulls me into his arms.

“I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

He’s not going anywhere.

He wants to stay with me.

He’s choosing me.

But what about his family? By him staying here,his family is left without their future CEO. Bradford Hotels runs the risk of no longer being family-owned and-operated. And all because of my selfishness.

“Hey,” he says softly, wiping away a tear I didn’t realize had fallen. “What’s going on?”

I open my mouth to tell him what I overheard, but before I can get the words out, his phone buzzes in his pocket.

“It’s okay,” I tell him, forcing a smile. It’s bad enough he’s going to be leaving his family’s company for me. The least I can do is be understanding when they need him. “Answer that. Your family needs you.”

“My dad needs me to go to Vegas,” he says. “He’d go, but he hasn’t handled anything regarding this property, so he wouldn’t know where to start, and they’re not telling him much over the phone, except they were digging at the site and something happened, causing the county to issue a cease and desist. I’m going to meet our attorney there to get it all sorted. If I could send someone else, I would, but…”

“It’s okay,” I insist. “It’s part of the job.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promises. “But while I’m gone, can I call you?”

The pleading in his tone has me saying, “Of course.”

I’m so confused about where we stand, but one thing I know is that I need to stop avoiding him. No matter what happens, he’s the father of my baby, and we’re going to be in each other’s life for a long time.

And then a thought hits me. “Will you be back formy twenty-week appointment?”

“That’s not for over a week.” He scoffs. “There’s no way I’ll be gone that long. From what my dad said, there’s a snag with the county. Probably a permit that wasn’t filed correctly. If all goes well, I should be back in a few days at most.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my temple. “And when I get back, we’re going to talk about us, Paige.”

chapter twenty-four

PAIGE

“Good morning, beautiful.”

I smile into the phone at Nate. He’s been gone for four days, and every day, he’s made it a point to video-call me in the morning and evening.

“Good morning,” I say back, rolling to my side and snuggling into my pillow. “How’s it going?”

Nate’s brows pinch together at my question, and my stomach knots at the look of distress on his face.

“Not good,” he admits. “When I arrived, they notified me that they had found bones, but this morning, they confirmed they’re human.”

“What?” I sit up in shock. “Like people bones?”

I scrunch my nose up in disgust, and Nate chuckles.

---