Page 141 of Wilde Flame

She waited a moment before she spoke. “Did you feel anything when you saw Rachel?”

“Not a damn thing.”

Lilibeth

I paced back and forth in my bedroom as I wrung my hands.

“Don’t overthink this, Lilibeth. Just wait until Caden comes back.”

Stopping in the middle of the room, I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head.

Rachel had shown up at Caden’s house. And I was the one who’d answered the damn door. The way that woman looked at me with such disdain is something I’ll never forget. Or how incredibly beautiful she was. Her long, dark, wavy hair, blue eyes, and a perfect body to finish it off.

“No!” I said, pushing my hands out to the sides. “You’re not going to do that.”

Glancing at the clock, I noted that Caden had been gone for twenty minutes.

I sat down on the bed and drew in a deep breath. Caden wasn’t going to go back with Rachel. I saw the look on his face when he saw her. It wasn’t a happy look, but more of a shocked, angry expression.

My mind raced with reasons why Caden had followed Rachel off the ranch. Did he want to talk to her alone, so I couldn’t hear what he said? What would they talk about? What would she say to win him back? Did he still love her?

I quickly stood. “Ugh! Stop this, Lilibeth! Right now, stop this.”

A part of me was glad I hadn’t told Caden I loved him today. It had been on the tip of my tongue after we made love. There were a few moments I thought he might say it to me, as well, and then I’d whispered it after he fell asleep.

“This is all so stupid. You’re being ridiculous.”

I was also talking to myself now, apparently. I placed a hand on my stomach. Caden wouldn’t leave us, that much I knew.

The sound of his truck pulling up caused me to stop pacing, draw in a deep breath, and slowly exhale.

I wasn’t going to hide up in my room and wait for him to find me. I’d go downstairs and let him tell me what happened.

Doing just that, I got to the living room right as Caden walked through the front door. I stood at the bottom of the steps and watched him shut and lock the door. He turned around, stopped…and smiled when he saw me. It instantly made my stomach flutter.

“Are you okay?” I asked him, as I stepped down the last step.

“Am I okay? Are you? I hope her coming here didn’t upset you.”

Softly smiling, I nodded. “I’m okay. A bit rattled, if I’m being honest.”

Caden walked up to me, took my hand, and guided us to the sofa. We sat down. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Lilibeth.”

I exhaled. “It’s stupid, and I know I’m just…”

“Tell me. We promised we’d always be honest with one another.”

Nodding, I said, “Truth be told, since finding out that was your ex, my mind has been racing with different thoughts. The thought of you…” I blew out a breath and tried to steady both my heart and breath. “The thought of you going back to Rachel makes my stomach feel sick. I know this thing between us is new, and yes, we’re having a baby together, but she was your first love. The woman you wanted to build a life with. Before, she was just a faceless person in my imagination. But seeing her tonight…here in your house…it just made all these fears I hadn’t realized were there come to the surface.”

He squeezed my hands, then brought them to his mouth and kissed each wrist. “First, this is our house, Lilibeth. Yours and mine. I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. I’m all in. One-hundred-percent, and it’s not because you’re pregnant. I’ve never been surer of anyone in my life than I am of you.”

Caden reached up and wiped a tear off my cheek. He smiled and went on. “When I was younger, before I even started to date Rachel, I used to go up in the barn and sit there, watching the sun go down over the mountains, and I used to pray to God that he’d bring me someone to love the way my father loved my mother. And I prayed that she’d love me back just as much.”

He glanced at our hands and smiled as he shook his head slightly before looking back up at me. “I’m far from a church-going kind of guy, but man…I used to pray so hard for you.”

Confused, I asked, “Me?”

“Yes, you, Lilibeth. I prayed for someone to love me like my mother loves my father. For someone whose smile steals my breath away. Eyes that look into my soul and know more about me than I do myself. I always knew deep inside my heart that Rachel wasn’t the person I prayed for. I lied to myself, though, because I thought I was in love. And I was…just not the right kind of love.