Page 42 of My Cowboy Temptation

“Sorry, you’re right. Only, I do have my truck.” I nod toward my truck parked a few spots away. “Can I at least give you a lift to your place? Save me an extra trip.”

“Oh,” she says when she spots my truck. “Okay.”

I escort her over and open the door before offering her my hand to hold on to as she climbs up, which of course she ignores and instead grabs the side of the door and pulls up herself.

I shut the door and head to the other side. “Okay. Where to?”

“Drive three more blocks and take a right.”

She keeps her attention outside the window, her fingers clenched tight in her lap. Already in the short amount of time she’s been in the cab, I can smell her light scent, a mix of vanilla and…violets? It’s a little different than before, but at its base is still Callie.

A few minutes later we seem to have arrived as she shows me a few available visitor parking spaces. Getting out, I stare up at a red brick building three stories high that seems nice enough. Using her keys, she opens the front door, and I follow her inside to a clean lobby with a wall of mailboxes on one end and signs pointing to the laundry room. We head up a flight of stairs, stopping on the second floor.

“Is there an elevator?”

“Don’t need one.”

“Maybe not now, but once you have the baby, you might think differently when you’re pushing a stroller or a car seat.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

Fair enough. She’s at the end of the hall, and after pushing her key into the lock, she opens the door and steps aside to allow me in. There’s a beige couch that’s in decent shape, a chair, a coffee table, and all the usual comforts of an apartment.

“How did you get all this stuff up here by yourself?” I ask.

“The furniture’s included in the lease.”

I nod and walk to the other end of the apartment and to what seems to be the place she’s set up as her studio. There are two canvases on the floor and leaning against the wall, the art that covers them an explosion of color and delicate blossoms. She comes to stand next to me, following my gaze.

“You did these?” She nods. “Cal. They’re good. Really good.”

“Thank you,” she says quietly.

“They’re kind of a departure from what you usually work on, no?”

She shrugs. “My moods have been fickle of late, and right now, this is what I need to create.”

I walk a few feet away to stare at the current canvas she has propped up on an easel, a painting filled with flowers painted in both soft and vibrant colors that’s hard to look away from. “They’re all stunning. Is this oil?”

“Watercolor. Not usually my medium, but it’s safer for the baby.”

The baby. Paint fumes. I hadn’t even given that any consideration before, and now I look to the windows and around the room, concerned. “That’s right. You’re sure that watercolors are safe? What’s the ventilation like?”

“The windows open. I hope you didn’t come here to criticize and second-guess me. Don’t you think I researched what’s safe during pregnancy?”

I nod, not sure why I reacted like I did. “You’re right. So do you have a doctor you’re seeing here in town?”

“Of course. Dr. Talbot is very qualified.”

I make a mental note of the name so I can follow up later on who they are and what are their qualifications. I turn to meet her eyes, ready to just get the big question over and done with. “And you’re sure there’s no chance the baby’s mine?”

I could have hedged, but it’s the elephant in the room, and I’m nothing but direct.

She glares at me, then turns away and heads to the kitchen area. “I said this already. I’m twelve weeks along, which means the baby was conceived in June. We haven’t been together since May. So you can rest your mind that this baby isn’t your responsibility. You’re free to move on, Brody.”

“Damn it. That’s not what I meant.” My hands are clenched, and I open them, trying to calm down instead of taking my frustration out on her. Frustration that’s focused primarily on me. “It’s just… they can’t always guess with one hundred percent precision. So I just wanted to know if you’re certain there’s no way it’s mine.”

“I’m certain.”

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