Page 49 of Wild Nights

"Joey," I called to him.

"There's my dad," Joey said, running back over to me.

"You're not supposed to run off like that," I chided him, but my mind was on Carolina and what she thought about finding out I had a child. But I couldn't quite meet her eyes.

"Are you heading home?" I asked, not sure how I felt about that. My worlds were colliding and not in a good way.

Carolina stood, brushing off her jeans. She must have changed out of the dress she wore in the conference room earlier to something more comfortable. "Like I said before, I'm not in any rush to leave. I don't think I could have gotten a flight out. I didn't want to chance it being cancelled and being stuck at the airport."

"It's so much fun being snowed in. Marcus makes us food, and his hot chocolate is so good," Joey rambled on excitedly. This was an adventure for him. He didn't have to worry about whether the power would go out and how to clear the snow.

"Marcus isn't our servant while we're here. We can make our own food."

Joey rolled his eyes. "I know."

"Come on, bud. Let's check in with Marcus." Before we headed down the last flight of stairs, I said to Carolina, "He'smaking dinner for everyone. You're welcome to come down and eat with us."

"I was going to explore the lodge first. It's kind of nice that it's so quiet."

"Yeah, most of the conference guests left already."

Joey pulled away from my hand and twirled in a circle. "We have the place to ourselves."

"There's still a few guests and staff members."

Carolina tipped her head to the side. "Are you staying here for the night then? With your son?"

"That's right. Sorry, I didn't properly introduce you. Joey, this is Carolina. She organizes some of the conferences here."

Joey surprised me by holding out his hand for her to shake. "Nice to meet you. Are you from North or South Carolina?"

Carolina smiled. "No, actually. I'm from Maine."

Joey's forehead wrinkled. "Why did your parents name you Carolina then?"

I headed down the stairs, my stomach twisting. I had no way of knowing how Carolina was taking this new information. Our personal lives were never supposed to mix. "Joey, that's rude."

Carolina shook her head. "That's okay. I don't mind. My parents vacationed in North Carolina before they had me, and then in Virginia before they had my sister. Her name is Virginia, but we call her Ginny."

That was an interesting tidbit about Carolina's life that I didn't know.

By then, we'd made it to the bottom of the stairs, and Joey took off, running toward the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about that." I wasn't sure what I was apologizing for: having a son, keeping him from her, or the awkward meeting. Probably all of it.

Carolina frowned. "Are you sorry that I met your son?"

I swallowed. I was screwing this up. "For keeping him from you. He's mine to protect. His mother's not exactly involved,and I'm careful about bringing women into his life. He's been disappointed so many times."

"By his mother?" Carolina asked, her eyes wide.

I nodded. "Yes."

"I understand why you didn't tell me. You wanted to protect him, and our relationship was never supposed to be serious."

That was true, but I didn't like the way her words settled in my gut. "We're staying in the lodge for the duration of the storm, so we're bound to run into each other."

Her brow furrowed. "You want me to act like we're just acquaintances? I can do that."

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