Page 17 of Darla's Christmas Knight
But when Bobby had lifted his head, his expression was shuttered.
Without a word, he’d released her fingers, shifted his body off hers, and risen from the bed.
And she had lain under the sheet, naked and sated, watching him pull the worn denim over his lean hips, biting her tongue.
Stay, her mind had screamed.Spend the night.
But she’d remained mute, caught in a web of distrust, unable to let go of past hurts.
Dressed, he’d turned to face her, and for a moment the shutters opened, revealing the raw longing as his gaze drifted over her covered form.
All she’d had to do was crook her finger, and he’d be beside her in a flash.
All she’d had to do was let go of the anger, the gut-wrenching distrust, and admit the feelings she kept under lock and key.
Feelings he shared, having revealed them in that unguarded moment.
She had wrestled with herself, her mind warring with her heart. How on earth had she imagined that binding herself to him with a baby was a good idea? Bobby wasn’t a person to turn his back on his child. He was a protector. It was an intrinsic part of him. Look how he’d sacrificed his family, sacrificedher, to honor a promise he made to a dying man.
Once their baby was born,his own flesh and blood, thatprotection would include their child. And by default her.
Dammit, she hadnotthought her plan through all those months ago.
And now she had a test to take.
Darla straightened her shoulders, cast a final look of regret at the bed, and moved to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, she stared at the results in silence. Bittersweet elation moved through her, and an old idiom popped into her mind.
Be careful what you wish for.
*
And back to the islands …
“You need to woo her,” his brother said.
“Woo Darla?”
“Court her. Romance her.”
“I know what woo means. But Darla won’twantthat,” Bobby stated. “No strings. No commitment. She was very firm about that.”
Stuart snorted. “Of course she said that, dickhead. You broke her heart, and she’s protecting herself against further hurt.”
“Exactly.”
Stuart slapped the side of Bobby’s head.
“Ow!”
“Do you want to have a future with Darla? And I don’t mean just as co-parents.”
“More than anything. I love her, Stuart,” Bobby declared. “So bloody much.”
“Then win her back.Wooher.”
“How?”
