Page 11 of Wild Nights

When I got my period a few weeks later, I opened Oliver's contact information on my phone, debating what to say. He was worried, so I kept it short and sweet.

Carolina: You don't have to worry. I got my period.

The response came a few minutes later.

Oliver: Thanks for letting me know.

I debated saying something else, but what was there to say? We had a one-night stand, and neither of us wanted more. He didn't want to maintain contact. He could have said something when he gave me his number or written that note. But he was clear when he said he just wanted to know if I got pregnant. He was being responsible. He hadn't given me permission to contact him for anything else, and I'd respect his wishes.

Now there was nothing tying us together. I could let him go. I just wished it were that easy.

Chapter Four

OLIVER

Carolina: You don't have to worry. I got my period.

I stared at the letters until they blurred on the screen. I couldn't believe she'd texted. I'd asked her to, but I wasn't sure if she would.

I should have known better than to put myself in this situation. I didn't want another child with a mother who traveled all the time and possibly wouldn't want anything to do with him or her. I couldn't do that to another child.

Logically, I knew it might turn out differently. When I had a child again, it would be when I was in a committed relationship, and we'd both be on the same page about kids and parenting.

I shouldn't have felt relief from her sentence, but I did. Joey was all I could handle at the moment, especially since Tina was a part-time mother at best. She was more like an irritating distant relative who didn't help.

She swooped in from time to time to see him but never stayed long. She wasn't interested in the day-to-day parenting. She was barely interested in the fun stuff. I think having a child hurt her rock-star image, as weak as it was.

Her band was okay, but she didn't have the talent to domuch more than play at local bars. Not that she believed that. She held out hope she was a second away from her big break. Unfortunately, that meant that she didn't have the time or energy for her son.

I shielded Joey from her indifference as much as I could, ensuring he had his uncles and grandparents to shower him with love.

Carolina didn't know that I was a single father or that I worried about having another child with a woman I wasn't committed to. But I took care of my responsibilities. That night, I'd been reckless in more ways than one.

I prided myself on never hooking up with the tourists. I'd seen the way Xander bragged about the women who came through, seemingly falling over themselves to flirt with him. I never wanted to be that guy. This was our family business, and I took it seriously. Eli relied on me to keep things together financially. I didn't want to detract from the family's success with my extracurricular activities.

Eli popped his head into my office. "You got a minute to talk numbers?"

I set my phone aside. "I always do."

Eli sat in the chair across from me, steepling his fingers. "Have you had time to look at building cabins on the property?"

I opened the spreadsheet I'd created for his new venture idea. It would make the resort more attractive to a wider range of guests. Not everyone wanted to stay in the lodge where it could be noisy with the bars, restaurants, and gaming room. These cabins would be a nice option for those who wanted something quieter. "It will be a large initial investment?—"

Eli leaned forward in his chair, cutting me off. "I have a good feeling about this. I think we should do it."

"I haven't even showed you the numbers yet." We couldmanage it financially, but I preferred to take things more slowly. Maybe take another look at it in a few years.

Eli waved a hand at me. "I know what you're going to say. It's too expensive. Why don't we wait a few years until we have more profit under our belts?"

I relaxed slightly. "That's exactly it."

"The numbers are important. That's why I'm here. But it's not everything."

I frowned. "The numbers paint the picture. We can't operate on feelings or what we think the numbers say."

"The reason why we've been so successful is that we've followed my intuition anytime we've made a new decision."

We'd only recently taken the business over from our parents so they could retire. They'd built it, and we needed to maintain it. The problem was, Eli was never satisfied with the status quo. He was always coming up with new marketing ideas and ways to expand.

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