Page 18 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

Shit.

I see the look that crosses Brandon’s face, and I wonder if my sister could possibly have any idea what she’s done. Immediately, though, I’m in damage control mode. “Okay,” I say. I step out the door and pull it closed behind me before Kayla can say anything else. I’ll deal with her later.

To his credit, Brandon waits until we’re out of earshot of the house before he asks the question. “Baby?”

“Yeah.” My heart is pounding.No. No no no.This is the worst case scenario, the one thing I did not want to have happen.

“Yours?”

I hesitate.

“I can tell you’re nervous,” he says flatly. “I know you well enough to know that.”

He’s right. I can’t lie right to his face. He’d know. “Mine, yeah.” My mind is racing. There’s got to be a way out of this.

“So you’re…” He hesitates, framing the question. “You’re involved with somebody?”

“Oh, no,” I say. “She’s my ex’s.”

“Oh,” he says.

“He’s not around,” I say, unsure why I’m elaborating on my lie, but feeling the need to do it anyway. “It’s just the two of us.”

“And Kayla’s watching the baby for you,” he says.

I nod. “So I can probably stay out as long as I want to.”

Fuck. Am I really dropping these kinds of hints? Am I really suggesting what I think I’m suggesting?

Brandon turns to me and grins, and I know that he’s picking up exactly what I’m putting down. “What did you have in mind?” he asks.

Well, might as well throw caution to the wind. “Let’s see where the day takes us.”

He laughs. “You haven’t changed.”

“Haven’t I?” I feel like I have. I feel like a whole lifetime has gone by since the last time I saw Brandon, andthat was just three years ago.

“You were always like this,” Brandon says.

“I was always like what?”

But he smiles at me. “Adventurous,” he says. “Willing to go wherever life takes you.”

“That’s how you see me?”

“Well, am I wrong?” he asks. “Not to bring up touchy subjects, but…how long were you planning your escape to the human world?”

“I didn’t really plan it,” I tell him. “I got into a fight with my family the evening after the ceremony, and I just decided it was time to go.”

“At the spur of the moment,” he says. “And then you didn’t come back for twenty years.”

“Going away is easier than coming back,” I tell him. I feel like it’s the most honest thing I’ve said in a very long time.

“You should come back more often,” he says. “Maybe then it wouldn’t be so hard.”

Maybe he has a point. Seeing my family this time was a lot easier than it was three years ago. Maybe I reallyshouldcome back more often.

I think about Kayla arguing that I should just stay.

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