Page 58 of Undoing His Innocent Enemy (Hot Winter Escapes)

She jumped when there was a knock on the door.

‘Cara, what are you doing in there? If you wish to arrive at the campsite before nightfall, we must go soon. It is not safe to travel through the gorge at night,’ he said in that typically protective tone.

‘Okay, Logan. I’m coming.’

She dumped the stick in the waste bin. And washed her hands, still stalling.

When she finally got up the guts to leave the bathroom, he was gone. Probably finishing loading up their supplies for the camp-out they had arranged to observe the bears as they emerged from hibernation and began mating.

She finished packing her own backpack, then left the house. She trudged round the edge of the lake, but her steps slowed as she spotted him coming towards her. In a plaid shirt, worn jeans and work boots, the long hair she adored touching his shoulders, he looked more like a rugged mountain man than the heir to a billion-dollar fortune.

Herrugged mountain man.

You have to tell him you’re pregnant now it’s official.

He grinned, the spontaneous smile whenever he saw her just one of the many changes from the guarded, wounded man she had first met. Changes she had come to adore.

Logan was so much more open now. He still hated to talk about his feelings... But at least he was no longer afraid to admit he had them.

She couldn’t bear to risk losing that man, even a little bit.

He pressed his callused palm to her cheek, the unguarded affection in his eyes making her heart stutter.

‘At last you are here,’ he said, the amused frown making her own heart ache. ‘The bears will not wait for ever, you know.’

She swallowed. She had to tell him now, before she lost her nerve. Whatever the consequences they would work through them, together, because that was their superpower now.

So as he leaned in to kiss her, she pressed her palms to his chest—the arousal something she didn’t want to encourage... For once.

‘Cara, what is it?’ Logan asked as Cara pushed him away. And avoided his kiss. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked, aware of the panic in his own voice. The panic he had kept ruthlessly at bay for close to a week.

Something wasn’t right. Cara had been quieter than usual for days now. The inane chatter he loved drifting into silence too many times to count. Plus she’d made a trip to Saariselkä yesterday, and had insisted on travelling there without him.

She’d told him it was a routine meeting with the rep from the stock photography site she now supplied. But he suspected it had been more than that, because she had clung to him this morning, after they made love, so tightly, then disappeared into the bathroom.

She had been so excited about the camp-out they had planned to observe the bears. Until a week ago. But what had changed?

She blinked, and he could see guilt shadow her eyes.

‘Whatever it is, you need to tell me,’ he demanded now. She was scaring him.

The last year and a half, with her, had been the best eighteen months of his life. Bar none. Everything about her still fascinated and excited him. And there was nothing he would not do for her... Even agreeing to see that nosy shrink, who had forced him to talk about his feelings for hours on end.

He wasn’t hiding any more, he was living. He had no fear of people now. Although he had no specific need to spend too much time with any of them. Except her.

Was that it? Had she begun to feel smothered? Her life curtailed by his need for solitude? This was precisely why he had not wanted to return to Finland full time, even though he had missed the quiet and serenity here. He hadn’t wanted to risk the chance that she would feel suffocated.

But she had seemed to enjoy it here too. They had both become immersed in their work and building their life together. He hadn’t seen the signs.

He cursed silently as she continued to look at him. Of course, he hadn’t seen the damn signs. Because he was still learning. How to negotiate rather than demand. How to temper his desires, and adjust his own needs so he didn’t risk overwhelming her.

But she had seemed as enthusiastic about their life here. How could he have been so wrong?

He watched her swallow, unable to stop himself from cupping both her cheeks now, from touching her.

She grasped his hands and pulled them away from her face. ‘It’s okay, Logan... It’s... I don’t want to scare you. But I have news that you might not... Well, you might not like.’

‘Tell me,’ he said, unable to keep the edge from his voice.

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