Page 2 of No Regrets

The girl looked up from her notepad in the direction he pointed. “Yes. Brianna Miller. Why?”

“No reason.” By God, it was her. His head swam as if he had one to many drinks.

She gave him a curious glance and took off toward the kitchen, only to stop by Brianna and whisper something that had her turning to look at them. Kaden ducked in the booth feeling like a fool with his buddies chuckling. This isn’t how he pictured seeing her. Not after . . .

“Hello.” Her sweet voice came from behind him, and he knew he was a goner. “Lindsay said that one of you wanted to see me?”

Like traitors, all three of his buddies pointed to him, and Kaden wanted more than anything to disappear underneath the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her look at him without recognition, yet. Could this situation be more awkward?

Mark spoke up, trying his best to charm her, though Kaden knew it didn’t work well with Brianna. “Tell me, doll. Are you single?”

She grinned, propping a hand on her hip, flirting just like Lindsay their waiter. Must be in the job description. “Depends. Are you going to leave a big tip?”

Mark chuckled, making Kaden’s jealousy spike a notch. “Doll, just wearing that getup is guaranteed to get you a nice, big tip.”

She laughed. “Is there anything I can get you, gentlemen?”

“Kaden needs a nice big glass of ice water, if you don’t mind.” Tony spoke up beside Mark. “He needs to, uh, cool himself down.”

“Kaden?” She turned to completely to face him. He swallowed hard and shook his head before finally meeting her eyes. “Oh, my God.”

“Hello, Bree.”

Without replying, she took off the way she came, and he groaned, taking off after her. He met up with her outside at the back of the building. She bent over, holding her stomach as if she were going to vomit.

“What do you want, Kaden? Just leave me alone.” As he came closer, he saw she was shaking. Although it was cold, he doubted the temperature was the reason.

“I don’t want anything. I came here tonight because I was in town visiting my father, and my buddies wanted to have a fun night at a new restaurant. I didn’t know you were here, and I sure as hell didn’t know you’d be dressed like that.”

She jerked her neck, pinning him with teary eyes. “How I dress is none of your concern.”

“No, but you sure as hell don’t look like you’ve been pregnant.” He hated the bitterness in his voice, but he couldn’t blame himself. She did trap him into having a baby after he clearly told her he wanted nothing but a good time with women. He wasn’t the fatherly type and sure as hell wasn’t husband material.

He pulled off his suit coat and held it out for her. “Here. You’re shivering.”

“I’m only going to tell you this once, so get it through your thick skull. I don’t want anything to do with you, and I sure as hell don’t want you concerned about my well-being. You didn’t have the audacity to care while I was pregnant with Shiloh, so why the hell would you care now. Just leave me alone.”

She pushed past him, hot with anger and ready to lash out at the next person that so much as even looked at her. He let her get a few feet away from him, only far enough that he could no longer breathe her scent before he spoke again.

“Why the hell are you so pissed at me? You came on to me. If memory recalls, you were in it fifty-fifty.”

Wrong thing to do. She turned on her heel and started back toward him, a new kind of fire in her eyes. The bad kind.

“Fifty-fifty, my ass. I have been there for that little girl every second, and what have you done? Nothing. You made your deposit and moved on to the next leggy tramp willing to spread her legs. How dare you even insinuate that this is my fault!” Her voice rose with the last sentence until she screamed at him.

Her reaction only made his temper worse. “You’re the one that trapped me, honey. Not the other way around. I told you I didn’t want to be tied down, and what the hell do you do? You go get knocked up after we spend one night fucking each other’s brains out. What’d ya do, ‘forget’ to take your birth control pill?”

Her jaw hardened. “I wasn’t even on the damn pill!”

“That explains it.”

“Of course it explains it. I was drunk and a virgin. I had no business saying those things to you, but you should have backed away. We . . . we’re both stupid, okay. But don’t you dare blame me for this.”

She started walking again while his brain processed what she told him. “You were a virgin?”

She groaned and turned back again. “Yes. Hence, why I wasn’t on the pill.”

“But you were twenty-three.”

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