Page 24 of Last Resort

Maci couldn’t pay attention to his words or the drink. All she could focus on was the nausea clawing at her insides.

Oh, no. She hadn’t taken any morning sickness medicine today, since she’d felt fine this morning for the first time in a couple weeks. Evidently morning sickness wasn’t limited to just the early hours of the day.

“Excuse me.” She walked away from Rich, her mind whirling as she desperately tried to remember where the bathrooms were. Chance had made sure she knew where seven different exits were out of this building, but nothing about bathrooms.

Her stomach gave another lurch, and she cursed under her breath.

“Maci, you okay?” Chance asked. “Why did you leave Rich? Did he do something?”

Maci didn’t want to say anything, afraid that just opening her mouth would be enough to trigger her stomach, but she knew Chance would assume the worst if she didn’t. “I’m going to be sick. I need a bathroom.”

She could hear Chance and his brothers talking, trying to figure out where she was going, but she didn’t pay attention once she saw a sign for the bathroom. All her focus was on getting to it before she made a scene.

The relief she felt when she found the door was almost enough to send her stumbling. She shoved through, thankful there was no one else inside, although not caring if there had been, and fell to her knees inside a stall just as her dinner came up.

They really shouldn’t call it morning sickness when it could happen anytime.

Maci didn’t know how long she knelt there before she felt cool hands brushing her temples as they gathered up her hair, helping to soothe her overheated skin. She couldn’t even be startled, could only try to remain upright as her stomach tried to empty more, even though there was nothing left.

“You’re going to be okay.”

Chance.

He crouched behind her, whispering soft words as his big hand rubbed soothing circles across her back.

She had no idea how she was going to explain this.

Eventually, the urge to puke disappeared and all that was left was the weariness that came from it. With one hand on the wall, Maci got to her feet, grateful when Chance’s hand on her elbow stabilized her.

The first thing she did when she got out of the stall was rinse her mouth out with water and wish she had a toothbrush. Or at least some mints in her purse.

“Thanks,” she muttered. She felt much better—as she always did—just weak.

“Are you alright?” Chance hadn’t moved far from the stall, his arms crossed over his chest as he studied her.

She didn’t have it in her to turn around and face him head-on, so she lifted her exhausted eyes to his in the mirror. “I’m fine.”

“You aren’t. We need to call this off.”

“No.”

“There will be other events, Maci.”

Her eyes flashed to his in warning as she looked under the stalls. No shoes, so they were most likely alone, but still, he shouldn’t be mentioning the mission.

“I locked the door behind me when I came in. We’re alone.”

Of course he had. The grand strategist always had a plan.

“I’m fine to keep going. It was just nerves.” There was truth to that, although she knew that wasn’t truly what had just happened.

She turned back to her reflection and opened her clutch, grateful for the touch-up makeup kit she’d thrown in last minute. With her makeup fixed and all signs of her bathroom interlude wiped away, she looked and felt a million times better. “How do I look?”

He took a step closer. “Are you sure you still want to do this? We can try again another night.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I feel much better now.”

She moved for the door, but he stepped in front of her. She could feel his gaze on her face like it was a touch, and she had to fight the urge to flinch away. Or move closer.

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