Nerves rushed back.“We…we do?”No way.I couldn’t do that.I glanced around nervously.What if…
“Yep,” Luka said.“Wildcatters after-party.You’ll like it.”
“I…” I squeezed my fork so hard the edges indented the fleshy part of my thumb.I didn’t do parties.I didn’t spend time with strange men—hence the no parties.Just as I didn’t date.Or have fun.Or live an actual life.
Not anymore.
But he was tempting me with everything I wanted.Luka was gorgeous, he was fun, and I desired him.I shouldn’t.I definitely should not give in to the growing attraction I felt for him.
There would be consequences.There werealwaysconsequences.
Luka seemed to understand my warring, terrified mind better than I did because he smiled again, and this one was softly protective.“I’ll be by your side as long as you need, Millie.Don’t worry.We got this.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t want to go?”
Oh, I did.But I wasn’t sure I could handle it.Focus, Millie.I sucked in a breath and began to list chemical compounds, my go-to stress-reliever.
Carbon-14 had eight neutrons but just six protons, making it a useful isotope for medical tech and nanobiology.I blew out a slow breath.
Luka waited, his thumb rubbing a gentle rhythm on the back of my hand.“What do you want?”he asked.
You.To be normal.So damn many things.I smiled.“Let’s go to your party, hockey man.”
I blinked awaythat memory of our first meeting as I met Dr.Perera’s bored expression.
“Say that again,” I said.Oh, I’d heard him.I just didn’t want to believe him, to have the words be real.
Dr.Perera, the man who’d had the misfortune of being on shift in the hospital when I walked in, sat on his little rolling doctor chair.He waited as I gawped.No doubt I looked like a herring struggling to breathe, the opposite of sexy—not that I wanted to be sexy for Dr.Perera.Or anyone.
Just Luka.
He’d helped me move past one of the worst experiences of my life, and I’d always be grateful to him for that.
“You’re pregnant,” he repeated.
Cold reality slammed into me as I assimilated Dr.Perera’s words.I was halfway around the world, working my dream job, just as I’d planned.I’d assumed that after I ghosted him, Luka must have moved on with many different female companions.I knew of his reputationbeforehe sat down at my table.He made every woman he spent time with feel sexy and special.But I wasn’t either of those.I couldn’t be.
I’m Millicent Anne Jones.Seriously, even mynamewas boring.
We’d talked after our initial meeting at dinner, and I’d fallen further under his spell.Over that next week, I’d given Luka not just a little of my trust but a piece of my heart.
So stupid.
Still, I couldn’t regret the night I’d shared with him.I’d known I was leaving the next day, so I took what I wanted: a hot, young professional hockey player with soulful brown eyes and a smile that incinerated my panties.The memory of it had burned deep into my mind.
And apparently my body.
The garish lights above me burned my eyes while the antiseptic smell of the room dug into my nostrils and drove a spike into my mind.I hated being sick, and I hated hospitals.But mostly, I detested that I couldn’t stop thinking about Luka Stol.
I leaned over and puked in a plastic basin that smelled of bleach and looked like an anemic liver.The container was unpleasant but getting sick on myself, the bed, or the floor held even less appeal.
I knew this from experience.I’d spent the last thirty-six hours heaving my guts out pretty much nonstop.This wasn’t the first time I’d vomited since I’d entered this hospital, but it was the first time I’d done so knowing the reason I couldn’t keep anything down.
I wiped a shaky hand across my mouth and looked up at Dr.Perera.He never batted an eye.I decided it would take a nuclear attack to get this guy to show some emotion.
“You should let the father of the child know so you can make some decisions,” he said calmly.“Is he here?I can call him in.”
