Courtney Mack

Worth the Risk

Copyright © 2026 by Courtney Mack

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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Preface

Chapter One: Zoey

Chapter Two: Ford

Chapter Three: Zoey

Chapter Four: Zoey

Chapter Five: Zoey

Chapter Six: Ford

Chapter Seven: Zoey

Chapter Eight: Ford

Chapter Nine: Zoey

Chapter Ten: Ford

Chapter Eleven: Zoey

Chapter Twelve: Ford

Chapter Thirteen: Ford

Chapter Fourteen: Zoey

Chapter Fifteen: Zoey

Chapter Sixteen: Ford

Chapter Seventeen: Zoey

Chapter Eighteen: Ford

Chapter Nineteen: Zoey

Epilogue: Ford

Thank You!

About the Author

Also by Courtney Mack

Preface

A Note for Readers

Worth the Risk contains an unplanned pregnancy, discussions of childhood abandonment, foster care, and parental neglect, as well as explicit sexual content. The story also includes pregnancy and childbirth anxiety. Please read with care.

Chapter One: Zoey

“Did you see that woman throw herself at Dr. Smokeshow earlier?”

I paused with my fingers poised over the computer keyboard. There were two other women sitting at the nurse’s station, each of them at other computers. I was on friendly terms with them, just like I was with most people I worked with, but these two were especially close, having gone through nursing school together and been hired at the hospital at the same time. It was no wonder that they were gossiping without noticing that I was nearby to overhear.

The nurse who spoke, Mara, didn’t mention Ford by name, but I knew who she was referring to. He’d gotten that nickname from a patient in her eighties that came in after a fall at a nursing home a couple of months ago. She was so full of life and sass that everyone in the ER grew fond of her during her brief stay with us. One of the nurses thought calling Ford “Dr. Smokeshow” was funny and accurate, so now, half the nursing staff referred to him that way. Never to his face, of course.

Still, he knew about it. I couldn’t resist telling him just to see the way two spots of color appeared on his cheeks while he ducked his head and groaned. The man really was the best-looking doctor in this hospital, but he didn’t revel in it. His focus was medicine, and I always respected that.

I also appreciated the fact that I was the only nurse whose attention he craved.

But no one knew that, so I kept my attention on the computer while I returned to my charting. There was always so damn much charting to do. Half of my day was usually spent sitting at a computer, no matter how busy the hospital was.

“Oh yeah. She was shameless. Giggling and batting her eyelashes,” the other nurse, Annie, said with a chuckle of her own. “I’ve never seen the good doctor look so uncomfortable.”

“You think he’d be used to it.” Mara sounded wistful, and I knew that she was probably wishing she had a shot with Ford. But he was always careful to keep things professional with the hospital staff.

Except me, behind closed doors.

I smiled a little as I typed out some notes on the care of a patient that came in with a severe respiratory infection this afternoon. I understood why Ford was considered the most eligible bachelor of Lakeview Medical Center. When I first met Ford, I had the thought the man looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine instead of rushing around an emergency room in his navy scrubs.

Then, I worked at his side and realized that the man was great at his job. Smart and decisive and caring enough to never quite forget that he was helping real people, not just solving medical crises.

“Maybe he’s just holding out because of Delilah,” Annie said, wiping the smile right off my face. My shoulders bunched up, and I tapped the computer keys a little harder than necessary.

“She’s his ex,” Mara pointed out. “There’s probably a reason for that.”

“Sure, but they broke up like two years ago and every time she visits the hospital, she’s all over him. As if their relationship never ended.”

Annie had a point, and it drove me crazy. Delilah was here way too often, considering that she wasn’t an employee or patient. Her father was on the board of directors after having retired as a well-respected surgeon years ago, and she found reasons to visit every couple of weeks.

She also found a reason to flirt with Ford whenever she was here.

My jaw clenched as I thought about that. He’d told me over and over again that he had no feelings for Delilah, but he had to play nice with her because of her father’s influence on the board and what it could mean for his career. I believed him, but it wasn’t easy to know that a woman he’d once been engaged to was desperate to get him back. Ford said that she’d dropped hints over the years but seemed to be getting bolder in her pursuit of him recently.

It put me on edge to know that while being unable to stake a claim on him myself. But he had his reasons for wanting to keep us a secret.

I didn’t like it, but I agreed to it from the beginning. Now, I was stuck listening to my coworkers speculate about his feelings for his ex-fiancée while I bit my tongue.

I hurried through the rest of my charting and left the nurse’s station while Mara and Annie were still talking. It wasn’t just to avoid hearing any more about Ford and Delilah. The tracking board hanging above us showed that a fourteen-year-old patient with a head injury was in exam room four, and I didn’t want to keep her waiting for an assessment.

In the room, the girl was sitting on the bed with the back raised. Her face was pale and her mother hovered over her, pressing a thick, blue hospital towel to her forehead. Blood was crusted in the girl’s eyebrow and smeared along her temple, but it had been cleared out of her blue eyes, and they met mine steadily as I walked into the room.

“Oh good, you’re here,” the girl’s mother said, her voice thick with tension. “I think it’s stopped bleeding, but I’m not sure. I think she might’ve lost too much blood. She says she feels light-headed…”

I plastered a smile on my face and moved closer. “No worries. A cut to the head can be scary because of how much it bleeds, but it’s unlikely that this cut has caused a dangerous amount of blood loss. The light-headed feeling is more likely to be from pain and the sight of the blood.”

Going to the sink, I got a towel wet with the cool water and wrung it out until it was damp. Placing it on the back of the patient’s neck, I lowered the bed and urged her to lie flat.

“Focus on breathing and relax a bit,” I instructed, gesturing to her mother to continue applying pressure while I sat at yet another computer in the corner of the room and input information provided by both the patient and her worried mother.

The injury was caused by an unfortunate accident at home. The girl—Grace—tripped over the family cat and bashed her head into the corner of a coffee table. I didn’t tell her that she was lucky the pointed edge didn’t get her eye. There was no need to freak her out. After checking her blood pressure and heart rate, I shined a light in her eyes to confirm that her pupils contracted.

“Everything looks good,” I said, shifting my attention to Grace’s mom. She was worrying her bottom lip so much that I wouldn’t be surprised if she broke the skin. “The pupils are reactive.”

“So… no concussion?” the mom asked.

“The doctor will have to do a screening of his own to confirm that, so let me get a look at the wound, put some numbing gel on it, and I’ll go get him.”

The mom reluctantly stepped back so I could see the cut, but she stayed close. The hovering didn’t bother me. Some nurses hated dealing with parents because they could be so over-the-top in their concern and sometimes pushy about their child’s treatment, but I always saw it as a good thing. I knew what it was like to be a scared kid in a cold hospital with no one to hold my hand and tell me everything would be okay.

Children like Grace didn’t know how lucky they were to have a parent that cared so much.

My eyes shifted to the burn scar on my own forearm. It was fifteen years old and a shiny, pinkish color that covered most of my arm from my wrist to my elbow. There were small round scars that surrounded it from where the hot oil splattered. For just a moment, the scar seemed to tingle, as if the potency of the memory called up a physical reaction.

It was a terrible experience, made much worse by the fact that I was alone in the hospital afterward. My father didn’t even leave work at his finance company to come take me himself. He sent his driver for me. It was a lovely old nurse that stayed by my side as I underwent treatment. She did her best to help me through the fear and pain, and she didn’t know it, but she was the reason that I decided to become a nurse myself. I wanted to help people the way that she helped me.

As I used saline-soaked gauze to wipe away the trickling blood that started to flow from Grace’s wound once the towel was removed, I noticed her mom taking her hand out of the corner of my eye. She murmured soft words of comfort to her daughter, and I hated that a part of me felt jealous in that moment.

I’d never had a parent care so much.

Making quick work of applying the topical numbing cream, I taped a fresh piece of gauze over the laceration and stepped back. “I’m going to give that gel time to work so that you won’t feel a thing while the doctor stitches you up. Be back soon.”

I slipped out of the room. Knowing that the numbing would start to take effect in about twenty minutes, I popped into another patient’s room to briefly check in on him. He was sleeping, probably a good thing since he came in with intense back pain. The pain medication had kicked in and allowed him to rest.

After that, I made my way down the hallway, scanning the area for Ford. I found him standing outside of the chief of medicine’s office, speaking to the man himself.

Dr. Serrano had been at this hospital for over thirty years, something that he liked to brag about whenever he had the opportunity. He lived and breathed for this hospital. Everyone knew he didn’t have a family or anything in his life besides his job, but that was by choice. Dr. Serrano was a serious, intense man, and he expected his staff to be dedicated to the job above all else.

Of course, it didn’t always work out that way. Most of us had lives outside of the hospital.

“I’m still considering who to recommend for the director of residency position,” Dr. Serrano was saying as I approached.

That job was important to Ford, and I knew he’d be great at it. It was the whole reason that we’d kept our relationship a secret for so long. Ford feared that if the hospital board knew he was sleeping with a nurse in the department where he worked, it would look unprofessional and lessen his chances of landing the promotion.

“We still have a few weeks until the board meets to make its decision,” Dr. Serrano continued. “The decision will be made by a vote among all members, but I have to say, my word carries a lot of weight with them.”

Ford smiled, and I didn’t think anyone else would notice the way it didn’t quite reach his eyes, but I did. I knew how much he hated the politics of trying to get ahead in a hospital. He didn’t want to kiss up to the admins and turn on the charm for the board members. He just wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, and he knew that the best way to do that was to obtain a position of authority here.

“Excuse me, Dr. Whitmore,” I cut in before Dr. Serrano could throw his weight around a little more. “I’ve got a juvenile patient with a gaping forehead laceration waiting in room four.”

Ford was already stepping away from the chief of medicine before I even finished my sentence. He mumbled a quick apology to Dr. Serrano before falling into step beside me.

We were both focused on work, walking with a foot of space between us and talking about the patient as we headed down the hallway together, but there was a flutter in my chest that always seemed to show up when he was near. Just being around him was intoxicating, like being filled with an electric warmth that made breathing a little easier.

When we reached the room where Grace and her mom were waiting, I introduced him and stood off to the side while he assessed the young patient and reassured the mom that there were no signs of a concussion, just as I thought. The numbing gel had taken effect, and I stood by his side as he stitched the wound, handing him tools from the tray as needed.

His hands were steady and sure, and it didn’t take long for him to close the cut and apply a fresh bandage over it. As he worked, I could see tension leaving the mom’s body, and she was even smiling by the time she left the room with her daughter tucked under her arm. Another nurse came to escort them to the desk area where Grace would receive discharge papers, and I stayed behind to clean up the room so that we could bring in another patient soon. There were always people waiting to be seen in the ER.

For that reason, I expected Ford to move along to the next patient right away. I’d just stripped the linens off the bed and stuffed them into the soiled laundry bag when I heard the click of the door shutting, but I sensed that I wasn’t alone in the room. Straightening, I turned and saw Ford lingering in the room.

A shiver ran down my spine as his mouth curled into a devastatingly sexy grin. He took a step closer, his eyes trailing down my body and back up again.

“You look beautiful today,” he said. His voice was different in this moment than it had been while speaking with the patient and her mother. Softer, more intimate.

“Really?” I chuckled as I gestured to my burgundy scrubs. They weren’t exactly designed for seduction.

But the heated look in Ford’s eyes suggested otherwise.

“Yeah, really. Don’t forget that I know what you look like underneath the scrubs.”

He was right in front of me now, his hand tipping my chin up as his lips pressed against mine. As always, my body melted into him, lips parting as I lost myself in a rush of affection. His hands came to my hips, squeezing in a way that reminded me of what we did on his couch just last night. Naked, sweaty bodies moving against each other…

“…need to order an X-ray for the patient in room seven…”

The snippet of conversation filtered through the closed door, and I recognized the voice as belonging to another doctor. He didn’t have a reason to come into this room, but Ford broke our kiss and stepped away anyway, as if reacting to the reminder that we weren’t truly alone.

For me, the way he put distance between us was a reminder of everything that bothered me about our relationship. When I agreed to hide it, we were just beginning to explore feelings of attraction. It made sense to me not to let our nosy coworkers know about it until we figured out if there was more to it than physical desire. By the time we knew that we cared deeply about each other, Ford had heard that the director of residency was planning to retire.

Again, it made sense to keep what we were doing a secret until he—hopefully—got the job. But it had been so long now, and we never went out on dates or touched in public. He was one of my brother’s closest friends, so we saw each other socially sometimes, and I had to act like we were nothing but co-workers. Then, there was gossip around the hospital about him still wanting his ex…

It was all starting to get to me.

“I’d better get back to work,” Ford said, unaware of the tendril of hurt snaking around my heart. “Can you come over tonight? I want to make you dinner.”

I nodded with a small smile, burying my negative feelings. “That sounds great, actually. I’m already exhausted and I’m only halfway through my shift.”

A crease appeared between his eyebrows. “You said you were tired yesterday too.”

I shrugged. “Don’t overthink it, doctor. I’m on my feet all day here. It’s natural to feel tired.”

“Then, I’ll have to pamper you a bit. Be at my place at six, okay?”

“I can’t wait.”

As he left the room, I finished a quick clean of the exam room, my mind lingering on Ford and the cold feeling that settled into my chest when he pulled away from me. I knew that making out with him at the hospital was beyond unprofessional, but it wasn’t about that.

Even knowing the reason that we kept things secret, I couldn’t help feeling ashamed of it, like I was settling for less because I was in love with a man that needed me to hide in the dark for the sake of his career. All I could do was hope that when the board voted on a new director of residency, things would change for the better.

If they didn’t, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could go on like this.

Chapter Two: Ford

If I have to fake one more smile, my face might crack.

I looked around the ballroom, feeling overwhelmed not by the sheer amount of people but by the prospect of hobnobbing with the most influential members of Lakeview Medical for the next hour or two. I would much rather have been spending this gala with other attending doctors and one particular nurse that I had yet to spot among the crowd.

“Ford, it’s nice to see you outside of the hospital, for a change,” Dr. Hirschi said, clapping me on the shoulder.

I managed yet another stiff smile as I turned to him. “Well, it’s a pleasure to get out of my scrubs and put on a tuxedo for a change.”

I was lying, of course. I would much rather have been dressed for work than wearing this formal attire that was too tight around my neck. Like a noose.

But this was all part of playing the game. If I wanted to get ahead, I couldn’t just do my job well. I had to do things like dress up and make small talk with the men and women that would decide my fate in just a few short weeks. Would I remain an attending in the emergency room like I’d been for the past four years or would I become the head of the residency program?

I could make a real difference in either position but moving into a role with authority and influence was important to me. It would prove that I wasn’t just good; I was exceptional. I’d always wanted that. Always wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of that.

But at times like this, I had to wonder if it was worth it, especially as Dr. Hirschi’s daughter came sauntering up to us. Delilah was beaming at me, and instead of standing by her dad, she came to my side, looping her arm through mine before I could react.

“There you are,” she cooed. “I’ve been looking for you.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Delilah always seemed to home in on my location effortlessly, sniffing out my whereabouts like a bulldog after a bone. Her clingy possessiveness was exhausting. We hadn’t been a couple for nearly two years, but she still acted like she had a claim on me.

“You look lovely tonight, princess,” Dr. Hirschi said, leaning in to press a kiss to his daughter’s cheek.

“Thanks, Dad.” Her eyes shifted to me with expectation in their hazel depths. She wanted me to echo the compliment, but that wasn’t going to happen. Normally, I’d gladly tell a woman she looked nice when decked in a floor-length ballgown like Delilah was, if only to be polite, but she was bound to take it to mean more coming from me. I had to stay on Dr. Hirschi’s good side for now, and part of that meant putting up with Delilah’s flirtatious behavior without outright rejecting her.

It was a complicated dynamic because I was the one that ended my engagement to Delilah. The truth was that the relationship never should’ve gone that far. We had little in common, and over time, I’d realized just how self-centered and irresponsible she could be. I liked to think of my proposal as nothing more than a bout of temporary insanity, but the deeper truth was that I was flattered by how much she wanted me. I let it go to my head, and it drowned out my doubts about us for far too long. Maybe it was abandonment issues from my childhood that I didn’t like to think too much about, or maybe it was just my ego overriding my common sense.

All I knew was that after Delilah pressured me into marriage and I put that ring on her finger, I regretted it almost immediately. It was a hell of a lot harder to overlook the problems between us when I was staring down the barrel of a lifetime with this woman. So, I broke things off as gently as I could, but there was no way to avoid hurt feelings. She was upset, and because she was a self-proclaimed “daddy’s girl,” that led Dr. Hirschi to resent me for a long time.

The last thing I wanted to do was bring up bad memories or reignite his anger toward me, especially just a couple of weeks before the board was due to finally vote on the issue of appointing a director of residency. That thought kept me in place and prevented me from pulling away from Delilah.

“Quite the turnout,” I commented instead, my eyes scanning the room again.

I wasn’t really interested in the large crowd or even how much money the tickets for this event would bring in for the hospital, although I knew that I probably should have cared about that.

I just wanted to see if my girl was here yet. The gala started an hour ago, so I figured she was around somewhere.

My chest went tight at the thought of her coming alone. I should’ve been by her side. Instead, we’d agreed to arrive separately and avoid spending too much time together. It was easier to pretend we were nothing but colleagues at the hospital—there was work to focus on—but social situations made it harder. I always had to force myself not to stare at her, usually stuffing my hands into my pockets so that I wouldn’t touch her.

This charade was getting old, but we were so close to the finish line. The board would decide who got the promotion in a couple of weeks. If I secured the position, I wouldn’t have to worry about being seen as the attending that couldn’t get his hands on one of the nurses in his department. I’d no longer be in the ER, and I’d have the kind of power in the hospital that made people ignore a relationship that might otherwise have been seen as inappropriate.

And if I didn’t get the promotion, all of this secrecy would have been for nothing.

No. I couldn’t even think like that. I needed this job. It would show the world that I was worth more than anyone ever thought I would be. Besides, I couldn’t stomach the idea of putting Zoey through all of this secrecy for no good reason.

“We sold even more tickets than anticipated,” Dr. Hirschi said as he took a champagne flute off the tray of a passing waiter. “I think we’re going to reach our goal. We’ll have five new POCUS machines by the end of next month.”

“POCUS?” Delilah asked.

“It stands for point-of-care ultrasound,” I said, shaking my head slightly at the fact that she didn’t even know why we were here tonight.

“The hospital is going to use the money raised here tonight, combined with some earmarked grant money we’ve recently received, to buy five advanced perioperative nerve block and regional anesthesia systems,” her father said, sounding like he was reading from a brochure. “These are premium ultrasound machines that can map out nerve pathways and monitor vitals while patients are under.”

“That sounds advanced.” Delilah turned her eyes to me with a bright smile. “You must be excited to get those new machines.”

“Why would he be? He works in the emergency room, where I doubt he’ll ever even see those fancy new machines,” a voice said from behind me. I used the excuse of turning to face the speaker to extract myself from Delilah’s grip and put a little space between us.

The man who joined our conversation uninvited was Dr. Hayes. He was one of the few doctors at the gala who wasn’t in the hospital’s employ. Instead, he ran a private practice and held privileges at Lakeview.

He smirked with all the arrogance I’d come to expect from him over the years. Hayes was a talented clinician, and I respected his skill, but he never missed an opportunity to remind us that his chosen path bought him medical autonomy while those of us employed by the hospital were just cogs in a corporate machine, answering to suit-wearing administrators who cared far more about the bottom line than the patients downstairs.

He wasn’t exactly wrong, but I generally didn’t like his attitude.

“Am I right?” he asked Dr. Hirschi. “Will you be keeping those new machines locked up in the OR storage bays?”

“They’ll never leave the surgical floor.” Dr. Hirschi flicked his wrist in a dismissive gesture that made Dr. Hayes roll his eyes. “That’s how things work in a hospital. Equipment is assigned to certain departments.”

“And I bet the ultrasound machine you guys use in the ER is a decade old.”

I couldn’t deny it. “Maybe older. And we have to share it with the ICU.”

Dr. Hirschi frowned, and I knew that I should care that I was probably pissing him off, but it seemed that I had a limited amount of shits to give when it came to keeping the man happy, even if my promotion was on the line.

Then, I saw her. There was a shift in the crowd to my right, and I had a clear line of sight to the bar. It was that long, dark brown hair that caught my attention, and I forgot about the people around me, even as Hayes and Hirschi got into a somewhat heated debate about the advantages of private practice versus a hospital with corporate oversight.

Zoey’s body was wrapped in a strapless dress made of midnight blue silk. There was a slit up the side and I saw a flash of her toned leg as she stepped closer to the man she was speaking with. A smile lit up her face, and I felt a stab of vicious jealousy until he turned his head, and I got a good look at his face.

Jake. Zoey’s brother.

One of the few men I’d be okay with her spending time with while she looked so beautiful and everyone thought she was single.

“I’m bored with this conversation,” Delilah said, gripping my arm. “Dance with me, Ford.”

I opened my mouth to decline, but Dr. Hirschi chuckled and spoke before I could.

“You kids go ahead. Have some fun.”

Delilah’s grip on my arm tightened until her fingernails dug into me even through my tuxedo jacket, and she pulled me toward the dance floor. I could have pulled away, but I didn’t see a way to do it without causing a scene.

There was a string quartet playing on a small stage, and a few other couples were dancing. My hands settled on Delilah’s hips as she looped her arms around my neck and pressed herself closer to me. Tightening my grip to keep her in place, I shifted back, purposefully keeping as much space as I could between us. She pouted as she looked up at me.

“Is there something wrong? You seem so stiff…”

I sighed through my nose, biting back the urge to tell her that I’d rather be anywhere else than in her arms. It felt too much like a betrayal of the woman I should have been spending time with.

Think of the job. There’s too much riding on this.

“I’ve never been much of a dancer,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

“I guess we never had the occasion to dance when we were together. But we had good rhythm in other areas.”

She flashed me her most charming smile, but my stomach felt hollowed out at the way she was talking and the heated look in her eyes.

“You know,” she continued, attempting to pull my face down to hers, even as I resisted, “we could go back to my place after this is over. For old times’ sake.”

Fuck no.

“Delilah…” I paused, considering how to let her down without upsetting her too much. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go there again. It’s been two years since we split up, and sleeping together again would be…”—terrible—“…like taking a step backwards. I don’t think that’d be good for either of us.”

And I’d never cheat on Zoey. But I couldn’t tell Delilah that. Not while we were keeping the relationship a secret.

Delilah’s smile slipped. “You know, I really thought you’d realize by now what a big mistake you made by breaking up with me. We’re perfect for each other.”

No, we’re really not.

“I think ending our engagement was the right decision,” I said as gently as possible. “Besides, I’ve really been focused on my career. You know that.”

It was the excuse I’d used every time she hinted at getting back together. Instead of shutting it down the way I wanted to, I always took the safer route of blaming my job for my reluctance. It felt safer while I still needed her dad on my side in the boardroom. It had been effective in the past, but Delilah had ramped up her attempts to get me back into her bed recently. I didn’t know if she sensed that my romantic interest had shifted to someone else—even though she couldn’t possibly know that I was with Zoey—or if she suspected that my tolerance for her flirty behavior was dependent on my need for her dad’s approval. Either way, she seemed almost desperate to reunite with me in the last couple of months.

Every interaction made my skin feel too tight.

I looked around the ballroom over her head and spotted Zoey again. This time, she was alone and heading toward the hallway just off the ballroom that led to the bathrooms. Luckily, the song ended then, and I took the opportunity to step away from Delilah before she could suggest that we dance to another.

“I need to use the restroom,” I mumbled, turning away before she could respond.

Weaving my way through the crowd, I made my way to the hallway just as Zoey stepped out, looking like she applied a fresh coat of coral lipstick. The thought of those lips pressed to my skin sent a rush of desire through me, and I closed the distance between us with long strides.

After dancing with Delilah, I was desperate to get close to the woman I truly wanted in my arms. Zoey’s breath hitched as I yanked her body into mine, loving the way her curves felt against me. Having her so close was familiar and exciting, but she also somehow made me feel settled, like she made the world around me quieter.

“Come with me,” I said, pulling her toward a door marked GREENROOM across the hall. No one in the ballroom could see into the hallway, but if anyone else headed for the bathroom, we’d be spotted.

But it was more than just a need to maintain the secret. Zoey was too sexy in this dress, her lightly floral perfume was going straight to my head, and the distance between us all night was driving me insane.

I needed a moment alone with her. Maybe a few moments, if I could manage it.

The door to the greenroom was unlocked, and I flipped on the light as we stepped inside. There was a counter in front of a mirror with lights over the top on one wall and a couch pressed against the other wall. The room was small, but it was more than enough.

Shutting the door, I pressed Zoey up against it, one hand at her neck with my thumb tracing the delicate line of her jaw, while the other snaked around her hip. But when I looked into her eyes, I saw that she wasn’t with me. The burning desire I expected to see was missing, and she looked… upset?

“What’s wrong, Angel?” I asked, using the nickname I’d given her the first time we slept together. It started as a light-hearted comment about sleeping with her being a heavenly experience, something I muttered with a sappy smile on my face as I laid sprawled on my back with her naked body curled into me at my side. From there, the nickname was born, and it stuck.

“Nothing,” she said, but her eyes didn’t hold mine. Zoey was usually open and honest, so whatever was bothering her must have been something she didn’t want to share for some reason.

But I needed to know. I didn’t like my girl to be unhappy.

“Talk to me, Zoey. We’re not going back to the party until you do.”

Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, and I felt another spike of arousal. I wanted to dig my teeth into that plump, preferably while I was inside of her.

I pressed my forehead against hers. “Are you going to make me beg?”

A smile flickered across her face. “The proud Dr. Whitmore would beg for me?”

“Absolutely. But if I end on my knees in front of you, there’s a good chance I’ll bury my head under this sexy as hell dress.” Now, the heat flared in her eyes, but I wasn’t going to let that distract me. “Tell me what’s upset you.”

She let out a long breath. “I saw you dancing with her.”

Of course. Understanding swept over me, and I wanted to kick my own ass for being so careless with her feelings.

“It was nothing,” I said. “I just didn’t want to piss off her dad, especially with the board meeting right after we return from the island.”

We’d be on a tropical island together next week for the marriage of Zoey’s brother Ryan, who happened to be a close friend of mine. I was a groomsman in the wedding, which meant I’d be spending a whole week on Sirona Isle with the rest of the wedding party and the family of the bride and groom.

That meant seeing my girl in a bikini in the bright sunshine and sneaking into her hotel room at night when no one was looking. I couldn’t wait.

“I know,” she said, but she didn’t sound as certain as I would have liked. “I know it’s just about being nice to her for the sake of your job, but it bothers me. I hate seeing her hang all over you.”

“I hate it too,” I said sincerely. “But I swear that I don’t want her. You’re the only woman I want to touch me.”

To prove my point, I rolled my hips against her, letting her feel the erection pressing against the front of my slacks. “That’s for you, Angel. Seeing you in this dress, feeling your body against me, it’s driving me crazy.”

She gasped, her eyes widening. “Ford… you didn’t bring me in here to-”

“Hell yes, I did. I can’t stay out there talking to stuffy old board members while I’ve got this throbbing need for you, now can I?”

“We shouldn’t…”

But the thrill in her voice said otherwise. She wanted this.

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving this room until I’ve made you come.”

Grabbing her by the hips, I turned to face the counter, lifting her until her ass was perched on the edge. I fumbled to open my pants, burning desire making my movements clumsy. Zoey yanked up the hem of her dress until the silky fabric was gathered at her hips, and I licked my lips at the sight of black lace between her thighs.

“Did you wear this for me?” I asked in a husky voice, slipping a finger beneath the damp fabric covering her pussy. “Were you hoping for this to happen?”

“Always.”

With that, I took her mouth in a heated kiss, my tongue plunging in to taste her even as I yanked her panties to the side and lined myself up at her entrance. My hips snapped forward, driving deep inside of her, causing us both to groan into our kiss.

Zoey’s hands slipped under my jacket and around to my back, pulling me closer as she arched into me. I held on to her hips as I thrust in and out of her, the wet sounds of sex filling the small room.

I broke the kiss, needing to pull oxygen into my lungs, and Zoey’s lips brushed along my jaw. “Fuck, Zoey,” I ground out, picking up my pace. “You always feel so good.”

I could tell she was trying not to be too loud, but there was no holding back her moans of pleasure as I rode her hard and fast. I’d quickly lost control, the warmth and heat of her driving all rational thought from my mind. All I could do was follow my instinct to slam into her over and over until we were both at the peak of pleasure.

Zoey loved it like this, craved the desperate way my body dominated her at the height of passion. Her hands fisted my shirt at the small of my back, and her legs wrapped around my hips. Everything about her screamed for more.

And I gave it to her.

“Come for me, Angel,” I murmured into her ear. “And then, I’ll fill you up. I want to know that your little black panties are soaked by me for the rest of the night.”

Zoey was the first woman that I’d ever taken bare, and I loved it. She was on the birth control shot, so I had nothing to worry about there. It felt so good to have nothing between us, and I was obsessed with the feeling of her silk walls tightening around me.

She hissed my name as she came with a shudder, and my own climax followed almost immediately. I buried my face in her neck as I came, my teeth nipping at her skin and my hips grinding into her while I unloaded everything I had to give.

When it was over, I stayed there for a moment, my arm locked around her body as I kissed her temple. The heat between us faded and left behind this moment of tender intimacy that made me dread going back to the party where I had to pretend that she was nothing more than an acquaintance.

But I didn’t have a choice. The two of us had kept our relationship a secret for so long that it would be stupid to go public with it now. It would tarnish my reputation at the worst time, just weeks before the board made its decision about who to promote.

So, I touched one more kiss to Zoey’s lips before leading her out of the room. But as we stepped into the hallway, I glanced in the direction away from the ballroom, where there was an exit onto the event center’s terrace. There was no reason for anyone to be there, and I wasn’t sure what made me even look in that direction, but my stomach dropped when I saw the chief of medicine, Dr. Serrano standing on the other side of those glass doors. His phone was at his ear, and I assumed he’d stepped out there to take a private call.

Not that it really mattered why he was there. All that mattered was that he’d seen me walk out of that greenroom with Zoey. He could easily come to the correct conclusion about what we were up to.

Shit.

“I’ll head back into the ballroom first, okay?” Zoey asked, and I snapped my eyes back to her. She hadn’t seen Dr. Serrano, and I opened my mouth to tell her but hesitated at the last second.

There was really no point in worrying her until I knew if he was going to make this a problem. Maybe he’d keep quiet about it, or maybe he wouldn’t assume to know anything about what we might have been doing in that room. That was probably too much to hope for, but I was a man that liked to dream big.

For now, I’d just keep my mouth shut and hope that no matter what Dr. Serrano thought he saw, he’d do the same.

Chapter Three: Zoey

The hospital was always busier on Mondays, especially the emergency room. I was surprised by that when I started working in this department, but one of the older nurses that’d been doing this for years explained to me that many people avoided the ER on weekends either because they worried it would be too crowded or they just didn’t want to spend a day off dealing with minor issues.

The unfortunate truth was that putting off getting medical care often led to small problems becoming big ones.

Which was why I was currently drawing a circle around the inflamed red skin of a patient with a purple surgical marker while Ford explained to him that he had a serious infection.

“It was just a scratch,” the patient said, shaking his head. He was a forty-year-old man with a flannel shirt and a stubborn streak that I picked up on immediately when I assessed his condition. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“You said you scratched it on a rusty nail?” Ford asked, leaning in to look at the wound on the man’s right leg, just above the ankle.

“Yeah, I was gardening and didn’t see it sticking out of the fence. It didn’t hurt that badly, so I figured it was fine.”

Ford reached out with his gloved hands and gently prodded the wound. “And how does it feel now, Mr. Newman?”

Based on the way he flinched, I already knew the answer to that question.

“It’s killing me. And I told you to call me Scott.”

Ford grinned, but the skin around his eyes was still tight. He was worried about this man.

“Okay, Scott. Nurse Simms says you have a temperature of 101.9.” He glanced at the monitor beside the bed. “Your heart rate is 115 and your blood pressure reading was on the low side. This tells me that the infection is spreading. It’s likely in your bloodstream, and your entire body is responding to it. You need fluids and broad-spectrum antibiotics started immediately.”

I was already turning toward the cabinets against the wall to grab two IV kits, but I stopped when Scott spoke again.

“No, not yet. I want to wait for Dr. Hayes to get here.”

Ford blinked. “Dr. Hayes?”

“He’s my doctor. When I called his office this morning, he told me to come here, and he’s on his way.”

Ford’s eyes flickered to me before settling back on Scott. “If he told you to come here, he must have thought it was important that you get treatment immediately. Timing is crucial in matters like this. Right now, we can still get in front of this, but the longer we wait, the greater the damage. Infection in the bloodstream can affect the heart and kidneys. So, I want Nurse Simms to get a blood culture and then, we’ll put an IV in each arm. I’m sure Dr. Hayes would agree.”

I could tell by the way Scott folded his arms across his chest that he wasn’t going to budge on this.

“Dr. Hayes won’t keep me waiting for long,” he said. “I don’t want you to do anything that will mess up his treatment plan.”

The annoyance flickered across Ford’s face so quickly that I was sure no one else would have seen it. But I knew him better than most people.

He managed to cover it with a blank expression as he nodded. “If you insist. Just know that if you go into shock, your decision-making capabilities may be compromised.”

“How about I draw your blood?” I said, giving Scott a gentle smile. “Dr. Hayes is going to need those results to decide what treatment will work best for you.”

“We know what treatment he needs,” Ford mumbled from the corner of the room, where he was now typing on the computer, probably making notes in Scott’s chart for Dr. Hayes.

Scott didn’t seem to hear him, which was probably for the best. Ford slipped out of the room while I drew Scott’s blood, returning with Dr. Hayes just as I finished.

“Scott, it’s good to see you,” Dr. Hayes said, shaking the man’s hand. “I just wish it was under different circumstances. Tell me what’s going on.”

Ford jumped in before Scott could speak, rattling off his assessment of the man’s symptoms and diagnosis.

“I see,” Dr. Hayes said, prodding the red skin around the wound. “Well, Scott, it sounds like a pretty serious infection. I want to start fluids and antibiotics immediately.”

I could see the combination of vindication and annoyance in Ford’s eyes at that. “That was my plan.”

Dr. Hayes just grinned. “Would you mind getting a line started in each arm, Zoey?”

I nodded and Ford’s frown deepened. He was always careful to call me ‘Nurse Simms’ at the hospital to keep the professional boundary in place—despite occasionally slipping in some private time with me in empty rooms—and I didn’t think he liked Dr. Hayes’ less formal way of addressing me.

I just rolled my eyes. He couldn’t exactly act possessive of me when we were in a secret relationship. Besides, Dr. Hayes didn’t mean anything by it. He was just easy-going and casual. All of the private doctors with privileges at Lakeview seemed to be like that.

I set to work on the IVs while the doctors stepped out of the room to talk. By the time I was done with Scott, Dr. Hayes had returned to the room, and Ford was gone, probably having moved on to another patient.

“It’s lucky that you came into the hospital today,” Dr. Hayes said. “Infections like this can get serious fast, and you’re going to be here for a while.”

Scott frowned. “You know I don’t like hospitals.”

“No one does. But sometimes, it’s the best place for you to get better. Don’t worry, I’ll come by every day, and Dr. Whitmore will keep me informed of your progress over the next few days. He’s a good doctor, so stop giving him a hard time, okay?”

He patted Scott on the shoulder, and we both left the room.

“That was nice of you,” I said, closing the door behind us. “It’s not exactly easy to treat patients that don’t trust us.”

“That’s the benefit of private practice. We form relationships with our patients.” His eyes darted around the hallway for a moment, as if he was making sure we were alone. No one was around, but he leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “Just between you and me, one of the doctors at my clinic is retiring in two months.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I know nurses are the ones that really keep a hospital running. They know the patients and the doctors better than anyone. So, if you know of anyone that might be tempted to join my practice…” He trailed off with a shrug. “Just think about it.”

I wasn’t sure if there were any doctors at the hospital that would be interested, but I promised to let him know if I thought of anyone.

The day went on in a flurry of patients and charting and devouring a protein bar when I had a free minute. I saw Ford in passing a couple of times throughout the morning, but we were working on different patients, so we didn’t interact. That wasn’t unusual. The ER could be a madhouse at the best of times, and there were days when we worked side-by-side constantly and days when we barely saw each other.

But there was a moment in the early afternoon that was out of the ordinary.

I was walking past a lounge area used to deliver bad news to patients’ families when I spotted Ford and Dr. Serrano together. It wasn’t strange that they were having a conversation, or even the location, because the empty lounge was as good a place as any for a private discussion.

It was the tension in Ford’s body and the dark look on his face that sent a chill down my spine. He looked angrier than I’d ever seen him, but beneath that, I could have sworn I saw a flash of fear.

What the hell is that about?

I couldn’t stand around to find out. There was work to be done, and it wouldn’t look good if the chief of medicine saw me lingering around while he was having a conversation that clearly wasn’t meant to be overheard.

So, I went about my day and didn’t get a chance to ask Ford about it until I was about to leave at the end of my shift.

He was in his office, his white doctor’s coat hanging by the door and his tie hanging loose around his neck. I knocked on his open door, and his head snapped up.

“Zoey.” He stood, running a hand through his blonde hair and letting out a sigh. “I meant to text you…”

I frowned as I stepped into the room. “What’s wrong? Is it something to do with Dr. Serrano?”

Surprise flickered across his face, then he narrowed his eyes. “Why would you ask that?”

My stomach flipped over his unexpected reaction. I wanted to go to him, to place a comforting hand on him, to connect with my boyfriend.

But the door was still open, and we were still at work. So, I stayed in front of his desk.

“I saw you guys talking earlier and it looked… intense.”

“It was nothing,” he said, his eyes dropping as he gathered up the papers spread across the surface of the desk. “You know Serrano. He’s uptight and already worried about how he’ll manage things next week while we’re on the island.”

I smiled at the thought of going to Sirona Isle for my oldest brother’s wedding. Ryan was marrying his girlfriend Leanne on a tropical island, and Ford was one of the groomsmen. I’d introduced them when Ryan came into the ER after breaking his leg on the job. He was constantly at risk as a firefighter, but this was the first time he’d ended up in the hospital, and I wanted the best doctor in the ER to treat him. I wasn’t even dating Ford back then, but I knew he was the one I wanted to take care of my brother.

What I didn’t expect was for them to become instant friends.

“Listen, Zoey, I need to take a raincheck on dinner tonight.”

“Why?” There was no way to keep the disappointment out of my voice. “I thought you were coming over right after work. I was going to make you dinner since you cooked for me last week.”

He hung his head for a moment, like he could hardly stand the weight of something that I couldn’t see pressing down on him.

“I want to, Zo. I swear. But I have to go to dinner with some board members. I just got the invitation this afternoon, and since I’m going to the island next week, this may be my last chance to kiss some ass before they vote on who to give the director of residency job to.”

His reasoning made sense, but there was something off about him. He wouldn’t hold my eyes for long and the way he kept fidgeting with things in front of him, straightening papers that he’d already gathered in a neat pile and shifting the cup of ballpoint pens from one side of the desk to the other.

He almost seemed nervous. Maybe guilty.

I didn’t know for sure what was going on in his head, but this wasn’t the place to get into an in-depth conversation about our canceled date night.

“Okay, I get it.”

And I did. The job was important, and an opportunity to gain favor with members of the board was worth taking.

But that didn’t negate my disappointment or the feeling I had that something was wrong. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, a feeling that he was closed off from me in a way that he’d never been before. I couldn’t explain it, and I didn’t like it one bit.

I wanted to reach out for him, to connect in some physical way.

Instead, I offered a strained smile and told him to call me later. When I walked out of the office, my heart throbbed in my chest. I tried to tell myself that I was overreacting, that one canceled evening didn’t mean anything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a distance forming between us that maybe had always been inevitable. After all, how long could we keep doing this in secret?

I went home in a gloomy mood, telling myself that I would have a real conversation with Ford about all of this tomorrow. I’d put it off long enough.

Those thoughts lingered in my mind as I stripped out of my scrubs and showered. I’d lived in my own place for three years, but my apartment had never seemed so quiet and lonely. I wasn’t looking forward to spending the evening by myself while Ford was out at dinner with a group of old men that made important decisions for the hospital.

I was tired, as I had been so often lately, so I wasn’t interested in going anywhere. I decided to invite my best friend over instead. Maybe we could watch a movie.

Wearing my most comfortable sweats, I headed to the kitchen with my phone in hand. I sent a text message to Ruby. She and I had met in college, bonding because we were both studying nursing. We both ended up at Lakeview, but she worked in the labor and delivery department.

She responded right away, confirming that she’d be here in fifteen minutes, so I put down my phone and opened a bottle of tea, my favorite. I took a sip while thinking about placing a massive Chinese food order to be delivered. Ruby and I could demolish a hell of a lot of eggrolls and noodles while watching whatever rom com was on one of my streaming services.

But the moment the taste of the tea hit my tongue, I forgot all about dinner and Ruby coming over. Cringing, I swallowed the tea and smacked my lips. The taste was so off that I was sure it must have expired.

Squinting at the date on the bottle, I was confused to see that it hadn’t passed yet. Taking another small sip, I wrinkled my nose and poured the rest of it down the drain.

The metallic taste lingered on my tongue, and I didn’t understand it. How could a bottle of tea go bad two weeks before its expiration date?

Confused, I grabbed another one from the refrigerator, but it tasted the same. I gagged as I poured it down the drain.

Filling a glass with water, I chugged it instead. The taste was still there, but not as strong.

Then, it hit me. Dysgeusia.

I’d heard of this before. If a woman came into the ER and described a sudden metallic taste in the mouth, the first thing I’d do would be to ask if she’d missed any periods.

Because dysgeusia was a common symptom of early pregnancy.

Oh my God.

Chapter Four: Zoey

“Ibought two tests,” Ruby said when she walked through the door.

I texted her after I had the shocking realization that I could be pregnant. Since she was already coming over, it made sense for her to stop by the drugstore and get what we needed. Besides, she was the only person that knew I was dating Ford.

She had a white plastic bag in her hand, and seeing it made my pulse skitter. This was really happening.

“I can’t believe this,” I said, pacing to the other side of my small living room and back again. I couldn’t seem to stand still. “Maybe I’m wrong about all this. I mean, maybe it was a bad batch of tea. Or maybe I’m getting a cold. That can mess with your sense of taste…”

Ruby raised one eyebrow. “Do you have congestion? A cough? A fever?”

“Don’t go all Nurse Ruby on me. I’m just saying that there are other explanations. I’m on the shot! I’m not supposed to have to worry about this.”

Ruby’s lips twitched, like she was trying not to laugh. “You’re freaking out, and I get it. Unplanned pregnancy is pretty huge. Life-changing even, but-”

“You’re not helping.”

She held up the bag with the tests. “I was going to say that there’s no point in panicking before you’ve even peed on a stick.”

I shook my head, even though I told her to bring the tests. It was a knee-jerk reaction to the thought that dysgeusia was a pregnancy symptom, a logical next step. But now that Ruby was here, and it was time to find out if I was actually pregnant, the possibility was suddenly too big, too overwhelming. I felt like I couldn’t even take a deep breath.

“I can’t be pregnant,” I murmured.

Ruby moved to stand in front of me, stopping my pacing. “Okay, let’s talk this out. Yeah, you’re on the shot, but nothing is one hundred percent effective. Even if you’re never late getting an injection, there’s a chance of getting pregnant. You wouldn’t be the first woman I’ve seen it happen to.”

I knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to wrap my head around this.

“What about other symptoms?” Ruby asked. “Anything come to mind?”

I frowned as I thought about it. I didn’t usually have a period because of the birth control shot. My breasts weren’t tender. I hadn’t been nauseous.

“I’ve been tired,” I said with a shrug. “But I work in the emergency room. That can be exhausting.”

“Growing a human is also exhausting.”

I let out a groan and snatched the bag from her hand. “What kind of best friend won’t even let me live in denial for a while?”

Ruby chuckled. “The good kind. Now, get into that bathroom and let’s find out if I’m going to be an honorary auntie.”

Ten minutes later, I was back in the living room, staring at two positive tests sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

“This wasn’t the plan,” I said weakly. As if it mattered. As if the plan I had for my life had anything to do with the reality of my situation.

Ruby sat beside me on the couch, and she reached over to take my hand. “How do you feel about this?”

I let out a humorless laugh. How do I feel?

“I have no idea how to answer that. I-I feel like an asteroid just hit Earth. Or like I was just hit by a bus. I don’t know…”

“That’s some violent imagery,” Ruby said, squeezing my hand.

“I’m just saying, my entire life just changed. I’m going to be a mom. Just this morning, I was a nurse in a complicated relationship and a wide-open future full of possibilities. I didn’t even know if I wanted kids at all. Now, I’ve got nine months to learn how to be a good parent.” I let out a shuddering breath. “Fuck, Ruby. How am I supposed to know how to do that? It’s not like I had good examples growing up.”

“But you won’t be alone. You’ll have me and your brothers to help you. And what about Ford?”

That was a good question. I’d have to tell him, of course, but how would he react to this news? We hadn’t even talked about a future together because the last six months had been made up of stolen moments and quiet evenings at home. I always felt as if we were waiting for the promotion to go through, and then we’d discuss where things were going between us.

Despite that, I’d completely fallen for him. I loved the man, and I had for a while, even though I’d never said it.

“I’ll have to talk to him, to see where his head’s at,” I said, placing a hand on my stomach.

I needed to tell him about the baby and about my feelings for him. It was time.

“You guys will figure it out,” Ruby said.

“Thanks for being here. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

Ruby pulled me into a hug, and I let myself sink into it for a moment. I was lucky to have a friend like her, someone who would rush to my side and hold my hand as my life completely changed.

“Do you want to order takeout and watch a movie?” she asked, and I nodded. I needed a little bit of normal right now.

Ruby recommended rinsing my mouth with warm saltwater before eating, and it helped neutralize the metallic taste enough that I was able to enjoy my food while we laughed at the antics of a couple of enemies falling in love on the TV screen.

My pregnancy lingered in my mind, as well as the worry that came along with it, but I tried to enjoy myself and take comfort in Ruby’s presence.

It was just after eight o’clock when she left my apartment, but I was already thinking about going to bed. Unlike the last couple of weeks, I knew that I wasn’t just tired because of working all day. The child growing inside of me was the reason.

I tried to imagine what it would feel like to hold my child in my arms, but it was impossible to imagine. Other than a brief rotation I did in the labor and delivery unit when I first started at Lakeview, I’d never spent much time around babies.

I wasn’t sure what it said about my ability to be a good parent that I had no desire to stay in that department the way that Ruby did.

Sighing, I picked up my phone to call Ford. Not to tell him about the pregnancy—that was a conversation that needed to happen in person—but because in the last couple of months, we rarely slept apart, and it felt strange to imagine going to bed without him. I wanted to hear his voice.

But as I unlocked my phone, a text came through from Ruby with a picture attached. My heart dropped to the floor as I took in the screenshot she sent me.

It was as photo Delilah had shared on her social media page with no caption. It was taken tonight, I recognized the navy blue shirt and black tie that Ford was wearing as the clothes he had on when I went to his office this afternoon.

The picture was taken in a restaurant and there were several board members present, just like Ford said there would be. But what he neglected to mention was that Delilah would be there. I zoomed in on the picture until my phone screen was filled with her face right next to Ford’s. She was leaning into him, which was easy because she was seated right next to him at the table. Her hand was on his arm and her head tilted toward him so that, even with six other people at the table, they appeared to be together.

God, they look like a couple.

So far, I hadn’t had any sign of morning sickness, but the sight of this picture made my stomach roil.

I knew it was just a snapshot, a single second in time that might not accurately portray the reality of the situation, but all I could think about was the way he’d seemed uncomfortable and guilty in his office when he told me he couldn’t come over tonight.

Was it because he knew that Delilah would be there, trying to get as close to him as possible, the way she always did?

He never truly set boundaries with her the way he should, and I’d always accepted it as necessary for staying in her dad’s good graces—always thought about it as temporary, just like the secret status of our relationship.

For the first time, I felt doubt about that. For the first time, I wondered if there was more to his decision not to firmly put her behind him.

I didn’t think Ford was truly cheating on me, even emotionally. He wasn’t that kind of man, but maybe there were unresolved feelings that he didn’t want to even admit to himself.

Or maybe my hormones were making me crazy.

All I knew was that I needed to see him. Tonight.

Without stopping to think about it, I shoved my feet into my tennis shoes and grabbed my keys.

The drive to his house only took fifteen minutes. I’d always liked that we lived so close to each other, and it came in handy tonight.

Ford’s house was a newer build in a community with an HOA and neighbors that always waved hello. It was a nice place to live, and as I pulled into the driveway, I found myself thinking about what it would be like to raise a child in a neighborhood like this for the first time. Then, I remembered that picture of him cozied up to Delilah.

We needed to talk about a few things before I told him about the baby.

Ford had a doorbell, but I pounded on the door with my fist. His car was parked in the driveway, and the lights were on in his living room window, so I knew he was home.

He answered the door with damp hair and pajama pants on. Nothing else.

His wide chest was on full display, and I’d normally let that distract me, but tonight was different. Our sexual chemistry wasn’t going to gloss over our issues anymore.

“Zoey? What are you doing here?”

Ouch. His less-than-welcoming words hit harder as he frowned at me.

“I need to talk to you,” I said, raising my eyebrows when he didn’t immediately step back to let me into the house.

“Okay, yeah. I just wasn’t expecting you.”

He finally opened the door wider and let me inside, but I didn’t miss the way he made sure there was plenty of space between us as I passed.

Like he didn’t want to touch me.

Frustrated, I took two steps inside and turned to face him with my hands on my hips.

“Ford, what’s going on? You’re acting weird. I can tell that something is suddenly… wrong between us.”

He let out a sigh as he closed the door, and stood facing it for just a second, his shoulders squaring like he was preparing himself for battle.

I didn’t realize we were in a war.

When he turned to me, I felt like I was looking at a stranger. On the surface, he was still Ford, but his eyes were dead. A chill ran down my spine before he even started to speak in a cold voice.

“I was hoping I’d have a little more time to do this, you know. I tried to act like everything was fine at the hospital today, but you saw right through it didn’t you?”

The lack of expression on his face was eerie. It was like every bit of his personality had been wiped clean.

“I don’t understand,” I said, unable to resist taking a step toward him. I felt like if I could just touch him, connect in some physical way, I could break through the walls that suddenly seemed to be up between us.

But he moved out of my reach, shifting to the side since the door was right behind him. I felt like I was being punched in the gut as he walked to the other side of the room, giving me a wide berth.

He stopped in front of his coffee table, picking up a glass of whiskey that he must’ve been working on when I arrived. I watched him swallow the last bit of it, my stomach in knots. Silence was thick in the room, but I didn’t dare break it. I didn’t understand the tension between us, but it felt like a rubber band about to snap.

“I made a decision today, Zoey. I wasn’t sure how to tell you, but you’ve forced my hand.” He set the empty glass down with a thunk that seemed as loud as a gunshot. “I can’t keep doing this.”

I wanted so badly to believe that he was saying he couldn’t keep dating me in secret, that he was as fed up with it as I was, but I was never the type to cling to foolish hope.

“What are you saying?” I needed to hear the words straight from him.

He turned to the window and looked out at the street as if it was more worthy of his attention than me, his hands shoved into his pockets.

“I had a wakeup call today. Dr. Serrano saw us leaving the greenroom together at the gala. He suspects that we’re dating, and when he confronted me today, I realized that we can’t keep doing this. We can’t let this thing between us jeopardize everything.”

This thing?

That was what he called our six-month relationship? I loved this man, and he was referring to the time we spent together like it was nothing. He was throwing us away so easily.

The ache in my chest felt like it should’ve made speaking impossible, but I managed to choke out a weak response.

“No… you don’t have to…” Tears swam in my eyes, and I was glad that he wasn’t looking directly at me. I was sure my devastation showed on my face. I swallowed hard and continued in a slightly stronger voice, “Being with me doesn’t have to affect your job.”

He sighed, like he was annoyed by the way I was practically pleading with him not to do this. It was another dagger to the chest.

“Have you forgotten why we haven’t told anyone about us? We knew it wouldn’t be good for either of our careers.”

His career. We both knew that he was the one that made that decision, and it was to protect his own ambitions.

I wanted to argue more, wanted to remind him that if he got the promotion, he’d no longer be in the same department as me, and our dating shouldn’t be a problem. But there was something about this that felt wrong to me, and not just because he was crushing my heart under his heel. Being with me was a risk to his promotion all along, and I had a hard time accepting that he was ending things now just because the chief of medicine found out. It felt like there had to be something more to this.

“Is it Delilah?” I asked, swiping the tears from my cheeks just before he turned to look at me. “Are you really doing this because you want to be with her again?”

Everyone else thought that he wanted to get back together with her. It felt like I was the only person in the hospital that didn’t think it was true, and that was because I trusted him. Looking at his indifferent face, I had to wonder if I was a complete fool for that.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer.”

It wasn’t a denial. I would never forget that.

“I guess there’s nothing else to say, then.”

Two positive pregnancy tests flashed in my mind, and I knew what I said wasn’t true at all. There was plenty more to talk about, but not tonight. I couldn’t.

I needed to get the hell out of here before I had a complete breakdown and begged him not to do this.

Ford had broken my heart, but I was determined to hold onto my pride with both hands. Turning away from him, I walked back to the front door. With every step, I silently wished that he’d stop me. If he’d just take it all back and explain why he did this before I left, I knew I’d forgive him. We could work through whatever made him choose to end us and come out stronger on the other side.

But he didn’t say a word.

And I didn’t look back. Even as I got into my car and drove away, I didn’t check to see if he was still at the living room window.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened. After months of accepting a secret relationship and hoping for more one day, this was what I got. He didn’t even try to work things out or come up with a solution. And I still couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t completely honest with me. Whether that was because of Delilah or something else, I figured it didn’t really matter.

It was over. Done.

As I drove off into the night, swiping tears from my cheeks, I promised myself to never settle for less ever again.

Chapter Five: Zoey

Ilifted the shade over the plane window, looking out at the endless blue waves below. The pilot just announced that Sirona Isle was visible from the left side of the plane, and I could see it in the distance.

I’d looked at pictures online when I heard where Ryan’s wedding would be taking place, but nothing on a computer screen could compare to the beauty of the place in real life. A cloudless sky stretched over a constantly moving ocean in shades of blue ranging from navy to turquoise. White sand circled the edge of the teardrop-shaped island on all sides, and the land itself was largely covered by a rainforest. There was also an extinct volcano on the southern tip of the island.

“Whoa. That’s so beautiful. I can’t believe that your dad is paying for all of us to spend a whole week here,” Angela, one of the bridesmaids, said from the seat beside me.

It was Monday afternoon, and I was flying to the island with most of the wedding party. The bride and groom had taken an earlier flight with some of the family members that would be joining us for the week, including Jake. Ford also flew down with them, and I was glad.

It had been a week since Ford broke up with me, and I was a mess. I missed him all the way down to my soul, and I’d soaked my pillow with tears more than once.

But the worst part of it all was that I still had to work with him. There was no avoiding it. The ER was a busy place, and we all had to take patients as they came. I couldn’t choose which patients I saw or which doctors I was alongside.

So, I quickly became good at keeping my face blank and not looking directly at him. When we spoke, I focused on a spot just beyond his left ear and never talked about anything other than the job.

It was easy, because Ford didn’t try to talk to me about anything personal either. We both seemed to agree that it was better to just stay as professional as possible and get through our shifts at the hospital.

I hoped more than ever that Ford would get the promotion he wanted so badly. Then, he’d be in a cushy office two floors above the ER, and I’d rarely have to see him at all.

Until the baby was born.

My hand started to move toward my stomach, but I stopped myself at the last second. No one but Ruby knew about the pregnancy, and I wanted it to stay that way for now. This week was about celebrating Ryan and Leanne, and I didn’t want to take away from that by revealing my pregnancy.

Besides, despite everything, I knew that Ford should be the first to know, and I just wasn’t ready to tell him.

I would, eventually. When the idea of talking to him didn’t hurt so much. When I thought I could handle discussing how we were going to co-parent without breaking down in tears.

I just needed some time.

It was too bad that Ford was in the wedding party because a week away from him would have been much better for healing my broken heart. Instead, I was going to have to act like everything was fine so that my brothers didn’t find out about us.

“Zoey? You okay?”

I blinked and looked at Angela again. “Sorry, I spaced out for a second. I guess I really need this vacation.”

Angela laughed. She was a friend of the bride, and I didn’t know her well, but she’d been open and friendly for the entire four-hour flight.

“I hear that,” she said, glancing out the window again. “I need some sunshine and saltwater to get to my happy place. My sister is like that too. Heather was just going to come on Saturday for the wedding, but Leanne said she’s more than welcome to join us on the island a few days early. So, she’ll be here tomorrow.”

“You’re twins, right? Identical or fraternal?”

“Identical, but people can always tell us apart because Heather dyes her hair funky colors while I just keep mine brown. Right now, she’s got streaks of pink.”

“Are you talking about Heather?” Jess, the maid of honor asked as she turned around in her seat in front of us. She was sitting with her husband Cody, but he had headphones on, so he didn’t join our conversation. “Did she decide which university she’ll be attending in January?”

Angela shook her head. “Not yet. She’s been accepted to three different colleges, and they are all in different states, so it’s a big decision to make.”

“Your sister’s going to college?” I asked curiously.

“She’s already an engineer, but she’s going back for her doctorate.”

“Impressive.”

“Yeah, those colleges think so too. Unfortunately, none of them are in Chicago.”

Angela’s tone was light, but there was a flash of sadness in her eyes. I couldn’t imagine how she felt at the idea of her twin sister moving away. My brothers had always been in my life, and I had a pretty good relationship with them, especially Ryan. As the oldest child, he looked out for me as much as he could when we were growing up, even though he was only five years older than me.

He really didn’t have much of a choice since our mom abandoned us when I was just a toddler and our dad never found it within himself to prioritize his children over his job, no matter how much we needed him.

As the plane touched down, I firmly shoved all of my own heartbreak and drama to the back of my mind. Ryan deserved to have a great week, and if he noticed I was unhappy, it would get in the way of that.

So, I was going to put a smile on my face and enjoy myself, one way or another.

At least, I didn’t have to worry about my room being next to Ford’s, as we originally planned. Angela was right about my dad paying for everything this week. It was his way of pretending that he cared about his kids. He’d throw money at us, as if that was more important than showing up.

But this time, it worked in my favor because I called my father a couple of days after Ford dumped me and asked if he would mind upgrading my accommodations for the week. He agreed without question, in a hurry to end the call because he was at work and couldn’t be bothered with my problems.

That was how I ended up with a beachfront bungalow instead of a regular room at the resort where the wedding party and family members were staying. I’d just gotten my key from the front desk clerk when I heard my name being called across the lobby.

“Zoey!”

Turning, I found Ryan striding toward me, his dark hair windswept and a bright smile on his face. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks, so I wasn’t surprised when he hurried forward and wrapped me up in a hug, even lifting me off my feet for a few seconds.

He set me down and glanced around the lobby, where everyone that flew in with us was milling around. “It looks like everyone made it.”

Neither of us mentioned our dad. Despite the fact that aunts and uncles and cousins from our family were here to spend the week with us leading up to the wedding, he wasn’t coming until Saturday for the wedding ceremony. He was even going to miss the rehearsal dinner the night before, telling Ryan that business doesn’t stop just because someone is getting married.

Nevermind that it was his own child getting married, and he had more than enough executives to run the company for a few days if he really wanted to be here. Ryan and I had accepted a long time ago that our dad wasn’t capable of being the kind of father we wanted him to be. He cared about making money more than he cared about us, even though he was already an obscenely wealthy man.

Jake still struggled to accept that at times. No matter how much our dad let us down, I knew there was a part of Jake that clung to the hope that someday, he would show us that we did matter.

It made me sad for him.

“Why does your key look different from everyone else’s?” Ryan asked.

I grinned and shrugged. “I upgraded to a bungalow. I figured it was okay to treat myself since I haven’t been on a vacation in years.”

And I didn’t want to even breathe the same air as Ford. When we planned to have rooms next to each other, the idea was that it would be easy to sneak into each other’s beds without anyone else having a clue.

That obviously wasn’t going to happen, and I was better off alone in my bungalow.

“Leanne and I are treating ourselves to one of the overwater villas, but not until Saturday night. We want the wedding night to be special.”

I wrinkled my nose and held up my hand to stop him from speaking. “Enough about that. I don’t need to think about how my brother is planning to celebrate his marriage in his fancy villa.”

Ryan laughed. Another groomsman, Damien, approached Ryan, and I slipped out of the resort while they chatted. I wanted to get to my bungalow and rest a little before the bonfire tonight.

But I’d only made it a few steps outside of the resort when another voice called out my name. This one was much less welcome.

“Zoey, wait,” Ford said, and the rush of pain I felt just hearing my name on his lips locked up my muscles and stole my breath. He came from behind me, apparently having followed me from the lobby, even though I didn’t see him there.

I tightened my grip on the handle of my rolling suitcase and narrowed my eyes at him. “What can I do for you, Dr. Whitmore?”

Ford flinched at my use of the formal title, and it might have been satisfying if the sight of him didn’t hurt so much.

“I want to talk to you.”

He’d caught me off-guard, and I was looking at him for the first time in a week. I was startled to see that he looked like hell. There were dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping well, and he was pale. He didn’t hold himself with his usual confidence, his shoulders slumped as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Infuriatingly, my first instinct was to pull him into my arms and comfort him. Seeing him look beaten down like this touched a part of my heart that still belonged to him, even though it was broken.

“Where are you going?” he asked when I said nothing to his declaration that he wanted to talk.

“I’m headed to my bungalow,” I said as I stepped around him and continued down the sidewalk that led to the beach.

For a moment, I thought he would take a hint and leave me alone, but then, he was right beside me, matching my quick pace. I kept my eyes focused ahead, falling back on my plan not to even look directly at him, but I could feel his gaze burning into the side of my face.

“You rented a bungalow?” There was something close to accusation in his voice, and I ground my teeth together as my anger spiked. “You’re staying away from everybody?”

“I’m attempting to stay away from you,” I snapped. Surely, he’d agree that it was a bad idea to stay in rooms right next to each other.

Frankly, I didn’t understand why he was talking to me at all.

“I deserve that,” he muttered in a small voice. “But Zoey, that’s what I need to talk to you about. Can we speak in private?”

I laughed, but there was no warmth in it. “I’m afraid not. I’m tired of being treated like your dirty little secret. That time has passed.”

He placed a hand on my arm, pulling me to a stop and moving to stand in front of me again. There were other people on the sidewalk, and they had to shuffle around us.

He was almost making a scene.

“You’re not a dirty little secret. I never should’ve…” He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was deep regret that I was seeing on his face. “I don’t want to keep hiding our relationship.”

My jaw dropped as his audacity hit me.

“Relationship?” I repeated, my voice shrill. “We don’t have a relationship anymore. You made sure of that a week ago.”

Yanking my arm out of his grip, I started to walk again, more eager than ever to put distance between us.

Relationship. He had to be out of his damn mind.

Then, he proved me right by falling into step beside me again. “I made a mistake, angel. I swear, I was trying to do the right thing, to make the best decision for both of us. But I’m weak, and I can’t stand this. I miss you so damn much.”

The best decision for both of us? I didn’t know what the hell that was supposed to mean, but it just pissed me off even more.

“Leave me alone, Ford. You’re good at that.”

“I can’t. I already tried that, and it’s been the worst week of my fucking life. I can’t walk away from you, Zo. You’re too important to me.”

I scoffed. “Not as important as your potential promotion.”

We’d reached the bungalow, and I stepped up to the door. It was a cute little building with what looked like bamboo panels on the outside and a deck along the back, facing the beach. There were palm trees between it and the dwellings on either side.

Just as I unlocked the door, Ford reached for me again, but I jerked away before he could touch me. Didn’t he understand that his touch hurt, no matter how gentle it was?

The movement made my purse slip off my shoulder and fall to the ground. It wasn’t zipped up all the way, so the contents spilled out onto the concrete pad in front of the door.

“Damn it,” I muttered, bending down to shove everything back into my bag. Ford did the same, and I wanted to yell at him now, to tell him that I didn’t need anything from him, but before I could say a word, his hand closed around a white pill bottle. My breath caught as he looked down at the prenatal vitamins in his hand.

Then, his eyes met mine, widened with shock and something darker, more desperate. It scared me with its intensity.

“Zoey… is there something you want to tell me?”

Chapter Six: Ford

I’m an idiot.

I already came to that conclusion over the course of the last week, as I tried to force myself to adjust to life without Zoey. I told myself that I could do it, could just go back to being the man I was before we started dating.

But that man didn’t exist anymore. Zoey had imprinted herself onto me in such a way that I was completely lost without her. I needed to hear her voice to feel like the world was spinning the right way.

The night I ruined everything, I felt like someone reached inside my body and scooped everything out, leaving me hollow and numb.

I should’ve never broken up with her. I was foolish and overwhelmed and clearly not thinking straight. That day, I was hit with an uncomfortable truth about the price we could pay for our relationship, and I convinced myself that the best thing to do was to end it.

Zoey didn’t fully understand my reasons, and that was another misstep on my part. I already didn’t treat her like an equal partner when I spent half a year hiding her in the shadows of my life. Choosing to end our relationship without talking to her about my doubts was just another way I disrespected her.

I knew I had a lot to make up for, and I’d been thinking about how to do it for days. I didn’t want to approach her at the hospital. We’d already blurred the line between our personal and professional lives, and I could tell that working with me wasn’t easy for her after that terrible night.

I knew how important Zoey’s job was to her. She didn’t do it because she needed the money. She had a trust fund that she could live off of if she wanted to. She chose to work, and her compassion led her to nursing. It meant something to her. She wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, and she chose the emergency department because she thrived on the intensity of it.

In the past week, she’d been as professional as ever at the hospital, doing her job well and speaking to me only when necessary. She wouldn’t even look at me. But she didn’t have to in order for me to see the hurt that lingered in her eyes. The way that she tried to avoid me as much as possible was killing me.

And I deserved it.

I’d made a stupid, rash decision when I ended our relationship, so I was determined to make things right. That was why I waited until we were here on the island.

I knew it would be a perfect, romantic getaway and even with friends and family surrounding us, I was sure I could get time alone with her to make up for my mistake.

But I didn’t realize just how massive that mistake was until I picked up this bottle of prenatal vitamins. There was only one reason that Zoey would be taking these.

She stared at me with wide eyes, not saying a word.

“Are you pregnant?” I asked, my throat tight.

I didn’t move—didn’t breathe—as I waited for her answer. Zoey’s eyes shifted to the ground, and she let out a long shuddering breath.

“Yes.”

That one word changed my center of gravity. She was pregnant. My woman was carrying my child. The reality of that was too huge to fully comprehend. At the moment, all I could process was a primal rush of satisfaction.

I surged to my feet, the pill bottle still in my hand as I wrapped my arms around her. Something tight that had lived in my chest for a week loosened as I inhaled the scent of her floral perfume. God, I missed this so much.

What the fuck was I thinking, breaking up with her?

I was so relieved to be close to her again that I didn’t immediately realize that she was stiff against me. It was when she shoved against my chest that it hit me that she wasn’t hugging me back. She wasn’t really strong enough to push me away, but I stepped back anyway, my hands running down her arms and grasping her hands. My thumbs ran over her knuckles as I searched her face.

She was frowning, but it was the anger in her eyes that made my heart drop.

“What are you doing?” she asked furiously, yanking her hands free from my hold.

I blinked. “Zoey… I’m sorry. I never should’ve tried to end things between us…”

“Tried?” She scoffed and reached for the handle of her suitcase. “You didn’t try to end things. You succeeded. Me being pregnant doesn’t change that.”

She shoved open the door to her bungalow and dragged her suitcase in behind her. I followed before she could shut the door in my face.

I quickly took in the fact that we were standing in a small living room area with white furniture and beachy decor. There was a kitchen to the right, a closed door to the left, and across the room, sliding doors led out to a deck facing the ocean.

It was nice, but I didn’t like that she was staying here alone, away from everyone else. Away from me.

“It’s not just about the baby,” I said.

Oh my God. We’re going to have a baby.

“I knew I screwed up days ago.”

Her eyes narrowed, and I had the feeling that I just made things worse. “How many days ago? Was it last Tuesday, when I had to listen to other nurses gossiping about you and Delilah looking cozy at dinner?”

“What?”

“The picture she shared the night you dumped me.” I flinched at the reminder. “Everyone in the hospital has seen it, and I’ve had to listen to all sorts of speculation about the two of you together.”

“Delilah doesn’t mean anything to me-”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever believe that, considering that you went from dinner with her to breaking up with me so quickly.”

“It was dinner with the board and she just happened to be-”

“Or did you realize that you made a mistake on Thursday, when I called my father to ask for a bungalow because the idea of spending a whole week in the room next to you sounded like torture?”

Ouch.

I realized that I was getting a well-deserved verbal lashing, but I didn’t like how flushed she looked in this moment. I was upsetting her.

“Or how about Friday?” She stepped closer to me, poking me in the chest with the tip of her finger. “That’s when I went to my first OB appointment alone.”

“You went to the doctor already? What did he say? Are you doing okay?”

She shook her head and turned away, throwing her arms out at her sides and letting out a frustrated groan that I would have found pretty cute under different circumstances.

“She said that I’m fine.”

I smiled again, even though I knew it was dangerous while she was this upset. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at me.

“Good. That’s… really good.”

But she was right. I should’ve been with her at that appointment.

“I can’t believe we’re having a baby. I swear, I won’t miss anything else. I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”

Zoey looked at me with something that might’ve been pity. “Ford… it’s not that easy. Things have changed.”

“Don’t do this, Zo…”

“You did this. First, you insisted that we keep our relationship a secret. I never liked it, but I agreed because I wanted to be with you that badly. Until you suddenly decided I wasn’t worth it.”

“No.” The word came out choked, but I pushed through it. “You’re worth everything. I’ll show you, okay? We’ll go public with our relationship.”

That would cause problems at the hospital, but I’d figure out how to deal with that later. All I could focus on at this moment was getting Zoey back.

“It’s too late for that. There’s no relationship anymore.”

She’d moved away from me while we talked, and I took a step toward her, desperate to pull her into my arms again. She stopped me by raising a hand in front of her.

“I’m too tired to continue this conversation right now,” she said. “I want to rest before the bonfire.”

The last thing I wanted to do was walk out of this bungalow, but how could I argue with that? She was pregnant with my child, and I knew that most women needed more sleep in the first trimester.

“I’ll go so you can take a nap,” I said, fighting the urge to kiss her before I left. She definitely wasn’t going to go for that. “I’ll see you tonight. Text me if you need anything, okay?”

She didn’t agree or disagree as she watched me walk out of the bungalow, and the distance I’d created between us felt impossible to overcome.

But I wasn’t going to give up. I’d already decided to do whatever I could to get her back, and now that I knew about the baby, I was even more determined.

My mind lingered on Zoey as I walked back to the resort.

This place was beautiful. White sandy beaches and crystal-clear water and palm trees that swayed in the breeze. I strolled past an infinity pool surrounded by bright tropical flowers and through the glass doors into the tall building.

My room was at the end of the hallway on the third floor, and I felt a pang in my chest as I glanced at the door next to mine. That was where Zoey was supposed to stay…

No.

She should’ve been planning to stay with me all along. That was part of the problem, wasn’t it? Zoey wasn’t just upset that I made the colossally stupid decision to break up with her. She was always unhappy about the secret nature of our relationship.

I knew it, and I was never happy about it either, but I convinced myself that it was a sacrifice worth making to reach a career goal of mine.

It wasn’t. Not if it made her think that she wasn’t important to me.

I had two hours to kill until the bonfire on the beach, and I spent all of that time reading about pregnancy. I already knew more than the average man, of course. As an ER doctor, I needed to have a broad range of knowledge about any condition affecting the human body, but pregnancy-related issues weren’t something I saw often in the emergency room. There was plenty I needed to learn if I wanted to make sure that Zoey had a safe and healthy pregnancy.

And that was what I wanted more than anything. Zoey and our baby were at the top of my list, whether she’d believe that or not.

The sun had just set when I left my room. I was staring at my phone as I waited for the elevator, willing Zoey to respond to the message I’d sent asking how she was feeling.

“You okay, Ford?”

I looked up and realized the doors had opened and Ryan was standing there with Leanne. They were holding hands and looking at me expectantly.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, stepping onto the elevator as I shoved my phone into my pocket.

“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Leanne said while bouncing on the balls of her feet as we rode down to the first floor. She turned a blinding smile on Ryan. “We’re going to be married at the end of the week!”

Ryan chuckled indulgently and brushed his lips against hers. The open display of affection made regret rush through me.

Zoey and I could have been like this all along. I wanted that.

I wanted to take her out on dates. I wanted the nurses in the hospital to talk about how sickeningly cute we were together instead of speculating about my feelings for my ex. I wanted to go to her at the bonfire and wrap my arms around her in front of all these people that we knew.

I wanted to open my mouth right now and tell Ryan that I was nuts about his sister.

But I bit my tongue because I was positive that Zoey would be furious if I did that. The time to tell everyone what she meant to me would have been before.

The bonfire was already lit by the time we stepped onto the beach. Flames stretched out toward the dark sky, casting a dancing circle of light onto the crowd gathered on the sand. Music played from speakers that looked like rocks and people in polo shirts were bringing drinks to the guests from a tiki bar by the outdoor pool.

I spotted Zoey just as someone handed her a bottle of water. The dress she wore wasn’t especially revealing, just light blue cotton that hugged her chest and flowed loosely down to her knees.

But she was beautiful.

She’d pulled her brown hair into a messy bun at the top of her head and loose tendrils fell around her face. Even from thirty feet away, my fingers itched to brush them back behind her ear.

Ryan and Leanne were pulled into a conversation with Damien, the best man, and I headed toward Zoey. She was chatting with someone I didn’t know, a woman that looked like she might be in her early twenties. As I got close, Zoey laughed at something the other woman said, and the way the sound slid under my ribs was pleasant and torturous at the same time.

Then, she saw me coming.

Something hardened in her eyes. Turning to the other woman, she said something and walked away before I could reach her.

Damn it.

Before I could follow her, the woman she was speaking with moved to stand in front of me.

“You’re Ford, right?”

My eyes had been locked on Zoey’s retreating form, but I shifted my eyes to the young woman. Now that I was closer, I saw that she had the same nose as Zoey.

“Yeah,” I said. “And you are?”

“Kirsten. I’m Zoey’s cousin.” This wasn’t exactly a friendly introduction. Her eyes studied me and there was a slight frown on her face. “Funny how she rushed away when she saw you coming.”

There wasn’t a question in there, but she was obviously trying to figure out what was going on between us. She wasn’t going to get the answer from me.

“What can I say? I have a winning personality.”

Kirsten didn’t look amused but before she could say anything else, one of the bridesmaids stumbled into her, creating the perfect opportunity for me to slip away. I passed Damien heading toward the clumsy woman, laughing.

“I swear, Kels, I can’t take you anywhere…”

For the next hour, I tried to get close enough to Zoey to have a conversation, mostly just to check that she was feeling okay. I didn’t know if she was having morning sickness or any other unpleasant early pregnancy symptoms. But she was skilled at avoiding me.

By the time the party came to an end, I was frustrated, but if she thought I was going to give up, she was wrong.

Zoey was meant to be with me, and I had a whole week on this tropical island to remind her of that.

Chapter Seven: Zoey

I’m sorry to miss the winery, but I’m not feeling well. See you at dinner!

I tried not to feel guilty as I sent the text to Leanne. Sure, I was missing one of the first events planned for this week-long celebration, but I figured it was smarter to skip it. The women in both families and the wedding party were supposed to go to a winery located on the island to help Leanne choose one to serve at the wedding on Saturday.

If I went, someone was bound to notice that I was the only woman not sampling the alcohol, and I couldn’t think of a reason I could give them without admitting I was pregnant.

So, I decided to enjoy my first full day on the island by doing morning yoga on the beach in front of my bungalow and lounging on the deck in the shade while reading a fantasy book I’d been meaning to check out for a while but never found the time.

The morning passed in peace, despite the barrage of texts I received from Ford.

How do you feel today?

It’s hot out. Make sure you stay hydrated.

You looked beautiful last night.

Have you eaten today?

Most of them were questions and advice related to the pregnancy. A few of them were compliments or apologies.

I was surprised he sent so many messages. Ryan and the rest of the guys were supposed to be out on a fun boat excursion today. I would have thought he’d be too distracted to blow up my phone.

I responded to a few of the questions but largely ignored the rest.

He needed to understand that what we had before was over. We were going to be parents, but that didn’t mean we were getting back together.

I understood that he was sorry, that he wanted me back, but it felt like it was too late for all that. As much as I missed him and had been devastated since he broke up with me, I couldn’t help thinking we might’ve been doomed from the beginning.

What kind of relationship could last when it started out as a secret?

As the afternoon turned to evening, I headed inside to start getting ready for dinner. Everyone was supposed to meet at a seafood restaurant inside the resort, and I figured it would be okay to go if I told everyone that I was feeling better. They’d probably all just assume that I was hungover this morning.

That thought made me chuckle as I stood at the bathroom mirror, putting on a little makeup. I told myself I wasn’t making myself look good for anyone other than myself, but I couldn’t help thinking that Ford would like the red sundress I was wearing. He’d always liked that color on me.

That thought brought to mind the memory of the first time we slept together. I’d been wearing red lingerie that night, and his eyes had burned with desire when he stripped me down, running his hands over my curves reverently. Then, his tongue.

When he sank inside of me that first time, I felt something more than physical pleasure. It was like coming home.

The shrill ringing of my phone cut through the memory, and I was glad for the distraction until I saw the name on the screen.

Dad.

My thumb hovered over the red button that would reject the call, but I looked around the nice, big bathroom I was standing in and let out a sigh.

He upgraded my accommodations. The least I could do was take his call.

“Hello?” I said, putting the call on speakerphone so that my hands were free and I could braid my long brown hair.

“Zoey.” It was amazing how just one word from him—my name, no less—could convey displeasure. “My assistant said that you haven’t responded to the invitation to next month’s gala.”

Yeah, Dad. I’m doing great. Thanks for asking.

“I forgot about it,” I said. “You remember that I’m on the island, right? For Ryan’s wedding?”

He let out an impatient sound that made my chest pinch the way it always did when I was a kid and deemed to be wasting his time.

“The invitation was sent five days ago, long before you went to Sirona Isle. The organizers need to know who will be attending, Zoey. I expect you to be more considerate.”

That’s rich, coming from you.

I held back a sigh, knowing it would just make him angry. “I’ll have to check my work schedule and see if I’m available.”

Wrapping a rubber band around the end of my braid, I picked up the phone and headed into the bedroom. Sitting on the end of my bed, I started to pull on sandals while my dad talked.

“You’re still at that hospital?”

He said hospital in the same tone that I expected one would use when talking about shit on the bottom of their shoe. Disgusted.

“Yes, Dad. You know I work at Lakeview.”

He sniffed. “I suppose that I continue to hope you’ll come to your senses and leave that job. A woman of your status shouldn’t run around in scrubs and deal with sick people.”

“I help people,” I said tiredly. We’d had this conversation so many times before, but it never changed. He didn’t approve of my life choices.

“If you want to help people, you could sit on a charity board or something. Lots of high society women do that kind of thing to keep themselves busy.”

I knew what he was talking about. The wives of his rich friends often joined charity boards, but it wasn’t really about helping anyone. It was a way of pretending to have a purpose when really, they were just interested in social status. This gala he wanted me to attend was probably being hosted by one of those women. Half the time, events like that cost more money to throw than they raised for the cause.

“I’ve told you. I don’t have any interest in living off my trust fund,” I said.

“Fine, fine. Don’t take my money. But you could find yourself a man of worth to take care of you instead of running around that hospital.”

When he said man of worth, he meant wealthy. Because that was all that really mattered to the man.

It was really no wonder my mother left when I was only three years old. She’d been married to my dad for a decade at that point, and I doubt she ever received real love from the man.

I placed my hand on my stomach and thought about the baby growing there.

Still, no matter how unhappy my mother was with him, I couldn’t understand how she left her three children behind.

“Dad, I need to go to dinner,” I said, standing from the bed. “I promise that I’ll respond to the gala invitation soon, okay?”

He gave a long-suffering sigh, as if my unwillingness to drop everything to deal with an invitation to a party a month from now was the greatest inconvenience of his life.

“I suppose that will do.”

“Great. I’ll see you Saturday, okay?”

“Yes. I’ll be there.”

He hung up without a goodbye, and I shook my head as I tucked my phone into my purse. I really shouldn’t have answered that call.

When I arrived at the restaurant, there were several tables pushed together to form a long one for our group. Between the wedding party and family members we had about fifteen people, and I knew that number would only grow over the rest of the week.

There weren’t too many people there yet, so I grabbed an empty seat beside Jess. Her husband Cody was on her other side, and my cousin Kirsten was sitting across from me. The waitress was already taking drink orders, so I requested a virgin margarita. I’d realized over the past week that citrus helped neutralize the metallic taste in my mouth, so I hoped the lime juice in the margarita would do the trick tonight.

I picked up my menu when the empty chair to my right was pulled out. I didn’t even think of trying to snag a spot between two people that were already here, and I regretted that decision as I turned to see Ford lowering himself into the chair.

I couldn’t stop the frown from appearing on my face. He was being quite ridiculous. When we were dating, he wouldn’t have sought out a seat beside me in a social setting like this, so it made no sense for him to do it now.

Seemingly unbothered by my unhappy expression, Ford grabbed one of the pitchers of ice water in the center of the table and poured some into my glass, then his own.

“Need to stay hydrated,” he said, picking up his own glass and taking a sip. He looked pointedly at mine, and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, I got your text about that,” I said.

But he wasn’t wrong, so I took a sip of my drink as well.

“How was your day?” he asked while flipping open his own menu.

“It was fine. I really love the beach, but I haven’t been to one since my last vacation. I went to the Florida Keys.”

“How long ago was that?”

I thought for a minute. “It was a celebration after graduating nursing school, so five years ago, I guess.”

“That’s quite a while.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been focused on my career. But Ryan having his wedding here gave me the perfect excuse to take some time off. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have my own wedding in some exotic location someday.”

“Beaches are overdone,” Kirsten chimed in from the other side of the table. “You should do something unique. I once heard about a couple that got married in a cave in Virginia. Pretty rock formations and stalactites and all that.”

I tilted my head to the side. “A cave? That’s interesting.”

Ford shook his head. “Caves freak me out. I went on a field trip to Missouri as a kid, and I was the only kid that wouldn’t go into the cavern. I was too scared it would cave in.”

“I guess she’ll just have to leave you off the guest list,” Kirsten said with a smirk.

Something dark flashed over Ford’s face, and I didn’t want to think too much about why he would be upset by that.

The conversation moved on until Jess and Kirsten were debating if it would be better to get married while skydiving or scuba diving. Both seemed silly to me, but I figured that was the point.

The waitress arrived with my drink, and I thanked her with a smile. She took Ford’s drink order before moving on to others that had recently arrived, and I lifted the glass to my lips. I’d just licked salt off the rim when I felt a prickle of awareness run over my skin.

Ford was watching me intently.

“That’s not alcohol, is it?”

I shot him a dirty look. “Seriously, Ford? You think I’m drinking alcohol?”

He cringed. “No, not really. It’s just… you might’ve forgotten.”

I glanced around to make sure that no one was paying attention to us. Everyone seemed to be wrapped up in their own conversations. Still, I lowered my voice.

“Trust me, I haven’t. I know that you’re still wrapping your head around all this, but I’ve known about it for a week.”

“A week?” His voice was faint. “You mean…”

I nodded. “Yeah. I found out that day.”

Ford’s spine curved as his chin dropped and he let out a long breath. “Fuck. Just when I think I understand how big of a screw-up I am…”

I knew that he didn’t deserve my sympathy, but I couldn’t help feeling it anyway.

“It’s a mocktail,” I said, lifting my drink to my lips again. “I am a nurse, you know. I have a pretty good idea what I can and can’t consume.”

His eyes shifted to the menu in front of him, and I could see that he was holding something back. He bit his bottom lip and fidgeted in his seat.

“What is it?” I asked, more amused than I wanted to admit.

“Don’t get mad. I just… I don’t know if you’re aware of how much mercury is in the king mackerel. When I saw it on the menu, I just wanted to make sure you knew not to order it.”

I pointed to my own menu. “I was going to get the grilled mahi-mahi.”

He nodded. “Good choice.”

I couldn’t help chuckling. “Are you going to be a pain in the ass for the next eight months?”

His eyes lit up. “Probably. Speaking of timelines, did the OB do an ultrasound?”

“Yes. The measurements show that I’m six weeks along.”

His smile was soft, and I felt it chip away at some of the ice around my heart.

“And how do you feel, Angel?”

“Ford,” I hissed. I glanced around again to make sure no one was listening, and it didn’t seem like they were, but I still leaned in closer to him. “You can’t call me that.”

It was bad enough that his nickname for me made my stomach flip every time I heard it. If someone else heard him use it, we’d be the talk of the week. I didn’t want to steal attention from Ryan and Leanne.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “But how are you feeling?”

“Not bad. No morning sickness, thank God. I’ve been tired and there’s a nasty metallic taste in my mouth most of the time.”

Ford’s eyebrows popped up as I sipped my drink. “Ah. Dysgeusia. That’s why you went for the margarita.”

Sometimes, it was disconcerting how well Ford understood me. It’d always been like this, since the beginning of our relationship. We just clicked.

But I didn’t want to think about that.

Straightening in my chair, I noticed Jess looking my way out of the corner of my eye. When I turned toward her, her eyes were focused on her menu, so I figured I might have imagined it.

Ford didn’t mention the pregnancy again during dinner, but he refilled my water glass twice. No one else seemed to notice, but each time, I felt a warmth spread inside of me.

It was nice to be taken care of.

But when dinner ended and he offered to walk me back to my bungalow, I told him no in my firmest voice. One attentive dinner didn’t change things between us. It didn’t erase the hurt I felt when he hid me from the world or when he broke my heart. I couldn’t forget it.

That was what I told myself, but during my lonely walk back to the bungalow, I wished he was with me. All I wanted was to stay angry with him, to act like I didn’t want him back until it became true. But if I were honest with myself, I missed him more than ever.

Chapter Eight: Ford

Leanne and Ryan planned things for us to do every day. But Leanne was thoughtful and realized that Wednesday might be a good day to take it easy. So, the only thing planned for today was an afternoon at the beach.

I was eager to get there and see Zoey.

I wasn’t sure, but I thought that I might’ve made some progress at dinner last night. We talked a little and even though she refused to let me walk her back to her bungalow, we parted ways without any anger or pain between us.

Progress.

I pulled on my swim trunks and picked up my phone. Just before I could tuck it into my pocket, it went off with a text message. I opened it, my mouth turning down as I saw that it was from Delilah. She’d been reaching out to me more lately, especially after that dinner with the board members.

That damn dinner.

I never should’ve gone. It was just another mark against me.

I didn’t think much of it when Delilah handed her phone to a waiter and asked him to take a picture of the group. My mind was occupied with my conflict over my relationship with Zoey all evening, and I wasn’t my usual social self. I barely managed to force a smile just as the picture was taken, and I never thought about it again until Zoey mentioned it.

Delilah’s texts since that dinner had been mostly about how good it was to spend time with me—as if we were on a date that night instead of her just tagging along with her dad to a dinner that was supposed to be good for my career—and offering to help me prepare for my interview with the hospital board, which would be taking place next week, the day after I returned to Chicago. I’d been politely distant with her, still trying to walk the fine line between being honest about my lack of feelings for her and staying on her good side so that her dad would be more likely to vote my way.

It was exhausting.

I read her text just before leaving my room.

I’d love to see the island. Maybe you can show me on a video call today?

I had no idea why she would think I’d want to do that. We hadn’t even talked on the phone in years, and we’d never done a video call. It seemed that the more time passed, the bolder Delilah got. I never encouraged it, and I hoped she’d eventually take a hint.

But a small voice whispered in the back of my mind that it was my fault for not being direct with her about it.

I didn’t respond to the message. Instead, I put the phone away and shoved Delilah to the back of my mind. She was the least of my concerns this week.

When I reached the beach, most of the wedding party was already there. The only people missing were Kelsie and Leanne. According to Damien, there was some kind of wedding veil emergency that needed to be handled, although I couldn’t imagine they’d find a replacement here on the island.

Angela and Jess were lying on towels in the sand, working on their tans, while Leanne’s mom and aunt sat in lounge chairs under a huge umbrella, reading in the shade. Cody, Ryan, and his cousin Gordon were in the water already, and most importantly, Zoey was walking along the shore. She held her flip-flops in her hand and looked down as the water lapped over her feet. Her brown hair fell in the loose waves halfway down her back, blown around by the breeze coming off the water.

Her bikini was black and barely covered her. Strings tied at the hips, back, and neck held the thing against her body, and all I could think about was untying each of them with my teeth.

Zoey was beautiful, with dangerous curves and a smile that usually reached her brown eyes. Even the burn scar on her forearm was beautiful because it showed how strong she was. I craved her touch, her taste. My eyes locked onto her legs, and I wanted them wrapped around me while I pinned her to a wall.

Suddenly, my view of her was blocked as Jake stepped in front of me.

“Good, you’re here. I need a wingman.”

“No way,” I said without even thinking about it.

“Don’t say that until you see the girls. It’s a blonde and brunette, both smoking hot.”

I glanced over his shoulder to see that Zoey was still walking along the beach, but I didn’t let my gaze linger too long. I knew that she wouldn’t want Jake to figure out there was a connection between us.

But still, I wasn’t going to help him pick up women. I had no interest in anyone but Zoey, and I needed to find a way to show her that.

“Come on,” Jake said. “I want the blonde, but she won’t come back to my room unless I find someone to keep her friend entertained.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, man. You’re on your own.”

“You’re no fun.”

I didn’t argue that point with him. Ryan was my friend, but I didn’t know Jake well. Based on the knowledge I did have about him, I doubted we had the same definition of fun.

Jake was a player. He wasn’t manipulative or hateful toward women, from what I could tell, but he lived for the casual hookup.

That had never been my thing. Even back in high school, my friends used to lightly tease me for being a romantic. I didn’t need to be in love to have sex, but I preferred to be in a relationship. I liked having an emotional connection to my partners. So, even if I didn’t already belong to Zoey, I wouldn’t have taken Jake up on his offer.

So, Jake moved on to try to find someone else to help him, and I went into the water. I would’ve rather tried to talk to Zoey again, but while Jake distracted me, Leanne and Kelsie arrived. Zoey was chatting with them now.

I loved to swim. It was good exercise, and I paid a lot of money every month to be a member of a private athletic club back in Chicago because they had an Olympic-sized indoor pool.

Swimming in the ocean was a completely different experience. The pool I was used to was heated and full of chlorine. This turquoise saltwater was cool against my skin and punching through the waves was a hell of a lot harder than moving smoothly through still water.

I found that I got tired quickly, and I headed back toward the shore just as most of our group started to gather around a volleyball net set up on the beach. I shook the water out of my hair, knowing that the sun would dry me off in no time, and headed toward the others.

Ryan grinned when I reached them. “Perfect! Ford is on our team.”

The group had split, so I went to stand next to Ryan and Leanne. Jake was standing with the other group on the other side of the net, holding a volleyball.

“I can’t believe you want to do this again,” he said, eyes locked on Ryan with a challenging look. “You remember when we visited Aunt Cathy in Malibu? I kicked your ass at beach volleyball.”

Ryan scoffed. “That was fifteen years ago. We were kids.”

“And I’ve only gotten better with age.” He tossed the volleyball into the air and caught it with a smirk on his face.

“Should we put some money on it?” Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Why do you two always have to turn everything into a bet?” Zoey asked with one hand on her curvy hip. She was standing next to Heather and Kelsie, like she was planning to play.

Oh, hell no.

Without thinking, I ducked under the net and marched right up to her. “What are you doing? You’re not going to play volleyball.”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on us, but for once, I didn’t care. There was no way I was going to let this happen.

“You don’t get to decide that, Ford.” Zoey rolled her eyes, as if I was being ridiculous.

“You didn’t feel well last night, remember?” I chose my words carefully, aware that she probably didn’t want anyone to know about the pregnancy yet. Most women waited a while before sharing news like that. “I think you should sit this one out.”

“You sick, Zo?” Ryan asked.

“No,” she said, her eyes still on me. I could see the anger simmering there. “But even if I was, I’m a nurse. I can take care of myself.”

Okay, I understood what she was saying. She was a competent medical professional, and she probably did plenty of research about pregnancy and what was safe.

Hell, I did that too, and my rational mind told me that I was overreacting. Zoey was in good shape already, and some light exercise wouldn’t hurt this early in the pregnancy.

But I was finding that it was difficult to be logical when it came to her. It was too hot out. She could overheat. And there were too many people playing. She could collide with someone and get hurt.

“And I’m a doctor,” I said, my voice a little harsher than I intended. “So, go sit in the shade.”

“We’re not at the hospital. You’re not my boss here, Ford.”

I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her away, preferably up to my room where I could peel that swimsuit off of her and show her just how bossy I could be.

But I was pretty sure I’d get a knee to my nuts for that. So instead, I took a hold of her elbow and led her away from the volleyball net. She was stiff and grumbling under her breath, but she didn’t fight me as I guided her back to the nearby resort. It was probably because she didn’t want to make even more of a scene in front of everyone else, and I was going to take advantage of that.

“You’re a real piece of work,” she snapped once we were away from everyone else. She pulled her arm free and stopped on the wooden planks that made a walkway from the resort to the beach. “I would have been fine playing a simple game of volleyball. I wasn’t going to dive into the sand or anything.”

I sighed, knowing that she was right.

“Come to the tiki bar with me,” I said, gesturing to the outdoor pool behind the resort. “Just sit with me for a few minutes and talk. Please.”

Maybe it was my pleading that softened her. Or maybe she wanted to talk to me just as much as I wanted to talk to her, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

I didn’t really care why she walked to the tiki bar with me. I just pulled out a chair at one of the little metal tables, urging her to sit down and then opening the umbrella above the table to make sure she had shade.

She looked flushed again, so when a waiter approached the table, I ordered us two bottles of water. Zoey’s lips thinned as she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. I tried not to notice how it pushed her breasts together, but it was impossible to ignore.

She was so sexy that I could barely think. And apparently, that was becoming a real problem for me lately.

“You know, this whole overly concerned thing you have going on was a little cute at dinner, but now, the act is getting old.”

Her words burned in a way that I knew was my own fault. If I hadn’t hurt her, she wouldn’t doubt me so much.

“It’s not an act,” I insisted. “I know that I shouldn’t have done that on the beach. I just… I think that I’m feeling overprotective because of our situation.”

She snorted. “Situation. That’s one way to put it.”

“I think I worry more than I should because I don’t know what’s going on with you. How you feel physically or emotionally. You’ve shut me out.” I raised a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “And I know I brought that on myself. But I can’t help how I feel.”

“Neither can I. And right now, I feel annoyed.”

The waiter brought our waters, and I relaxed a bit when she gulped down half of hers.

“I’m sorry,” I said, suddenly embarrassed by my reaction on the beach. “I’ll try to tone it down, okay? But I don’t think I’ll be able to stop worrying about you. I just want to take care of you and our little sweet pea.”

“Sweet pea?”

My cheeks felt warm, and I shifted my gaze to my water bottle, my fingers pulling at the paper label. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been calling the baby in my mind. When I did some reading about pregnancy, I learned that’s how big it would be at six weeks. The size of a sweet pea.”

Zoey’s annoyance melted away, and she smiled at me with soft eyes. “Wow. That’s… really cute.”

I chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It was.” She took another sip of her water. “But when you say you were reading about pregnancy…”

“You know obstetrics isn’t my specialty. So, I had to do a little research to brush up on anything I need to know.”

“Anything? So… all the things that can go wrong?”

I shrugged. “Sure. The good and the bad. As the father, I think it’s important that I’m informed.”

Understanding flashed across her face. “Ford, you know how it drives us crazy when a patient uses Google to research their symptoms and then comes into the ER thinking they’ve got the bubonic plague when it’s actually a cold?”

I nodded.

“That’s basically what you did. You read all about pregnancy and got it into your head that a million things could go wrong.” She lifted her bottle of water. “I’m not going to get overheated or dehydrated. I can do light exercise. I’m healthy.”

She was right. Sliding my hand across the table, I took hers, squeezing her fingers. “I get it. Just promise that you’ll tell me if anything concerning happens, okay?”

“Of course, I will.”

She said it so easily, and it hit me that I hadn’t lost all of her trust, despite my despicable actions.

More progress.

“So… it’s a sweet pea, huh?” Zoey’s free hand went to her stomach, and I imagined her with a baby bump. It was a more satisfying mental image than I ever could have expected.

“For now.”

“So, does that mean you’ll change the nickname as it grows?”

I grinned. “Why not? We can do raspberry at eight weeks and plum at twelve weeks. Avocado at sixteen weeks.”

Zoey laughed. “I’m not so sure about that last one. But I am impressed that you memorized so much about the size of the baby.”

“I might be a little obsessed.” I looked into her brown eyes. “I hope the baby looks just like you.”

To my surprise, Zoey’s smile slipped away, and she pulled her hand away from me. Her shoulders hunched, and her eyebrows pulled together.

“Don’t do that, Ford.” Her voice was so sad that I felt like my heart was being squeezed by a fist. “Keep focusing on the baby, but don’t make it about us. We’re not together, but we can be good parents anyway. You can be involved with the pregnancy and the birth, and we’ll figure out custody after the baby is born.”

Something desperate and overwhelming moved through my body. I couldn’t let this happen, couldn’t allow Zoey to shut me out of her life. I needed her. I loved her, and I hated myself for never saying it before I ruined things.

I had to make this right.

Panic driving my actions, I didn’t allow myself to think about what I was doing as I slid from my chair and onto one knee beside the table. I grabbed her hand again and looked into her wide eyes.

“It doesn’t have to be like that, Zo. We can have it all. Will you marry me?”

Chapter Nine: Zoey

“Are you out of your damn mind?” I jerked back in my seat, pulling my hand free of Ford’s grip with a gasp.

Did that really just happen? Did Ford just propose to me?

He was frozen in place, still on one knee on the concrete, and he looked just as shocked as I felt. Whether that was because of my reaction or his own insane decision to propose, I didn’t know. And I wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

Everyone in the outdoor bar and pool area was staring at us, most of them giving me judgmental, disapproving looks. As if I was a monster for rejecting Ford’s proposal.

If only they knew that this was the unplanned action of a man who was freaking out because I refused to forgive him. Would they look at me differently if they knew he’d dumped me out of nowhere last week? That he broke my heart first?

It didn’t matter.

I shoved my chair back and sprang to my feet. As I turned away from him, my entire body felt cold, and it had nothing to do with the temperature out here in the sunshine. My teeth were gritted together as I hurried away, the world blurring around me as I headed in the direction of my bungalow.

It was the tears stinging my eyes.

Why did he have to do this? It was hard enough to deal with the fact that he ended our relationship for the sake of his career, and every interaction we had since then prodded at my wounded heart.

But to propose to me now?

God, it hurts.

Because not so long ago, I believed that we’d eventually get to that point. I saw a future with him, despite the fact that we’d never planned one, despite the secretive nature of our relationship. I dreamed of a real proposal. One that was planned—with a ring in his hand—and not something he was doing simply because I was pregnant.

“Zoey, wait!”

I knew he’d follow me, but my heart plummeted anyway. I didn’t want to talk to him anymore, not right now.

But then, he was in front of me, his face a gut-wrenching mix of yearning and regret and fear.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t… I didn’t think that through.”

My laugh was loud and devoid of all warmth. “No shit.”

He reached out for me, but I took a step back.

“That proposal was an insult,” I said, barely recognizing my own venom-filled voice. “I deserve better. I deserve a man who’s proud to be with me instead of hiding me.”

“I know.” He dragged his hand down his face, looking destroyed. I wanted to be petty, to find satisfaction in his suffering because he’d hurt me. But to my dismay, my heart clenched with guilt. No matter what, I still cared about him, and I didn’t want to cause him pain. “And I know that apologizing isn’t enough. What can I do to make things right?”

If only I had an answer for that. I’d love to be able to make both of us happy. But it wasn’t that simple.

“I don’t think we can go back to the way things were. Now… I need some space. Just leave me alone, Ford.”

His face went pale and, for a moment, I thought he might refuse. But he shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded.

Neither of us said anything else. I stepped around him and continued to my bungalow, my heart sitting heavy in my chest.

As I got close to my bungalow, another woman was walking in the same direction while talking on her phone. I wasn’t paying much attention to her, but I caught a snippet of her conversation.

“Grey chose a beautiful island for our vacation. And you should see the bungalow. It’s right on the beach. That man knows how to treat his wife right…”

I picked up my pace, not in the mood to hear about this woman’s happy marriage after what just happened with Ford. As I reached my bungalow, I saw that the woman was strolling toward the one next to mine.

So, I was right next door to the happy couple. Great.

I didn’t like this bitterness enveloping me, but just like I didn’t know what Ford could do to make things right, I didn’t know how to stop feeling this way.

Walking straight through the living room, I went out the sliding back door of the bungalow and onto the deck. Standing at the rail, I looked at the ocean, breathing in the salty air and listening to the endless rhythm of the waves.

It was peaceful, but it didn’t take away my problems.

The worst part was that despite how ridiculous that proposal was, my traitorous heart lurched for just a second. I wanted it. I wanted that future I dreamed of with him.

Letting out a sigh, I started to turn away to head back inside when the sliding door of the bungalow next to mine slid open and a familiar figure stepped out.

The pink streaks in Heather’s hair distinguished her from her twin, and right now, those colorful locks were a wild mess around her head. The sundress she was wearing earlier was inside out now, and she was in such a rush that she stumbled and nearly fell down the deck’s wooden steps. She barely caught herself by gripping the railing, and I took a step in her direction automatically.

A board on my deck creaked under my foot, and Heather’s head snapped up. When her eyes met mine, her cheeks turned red, and she bit her bottom lip.

“Uh… is there any way that you can pretend you didn’t see me?” she asked in a low voice. There wasn’t much distance between the decks, but I could barely hear her.

My eyes shifted to the bungalow she had just snuck out of, and I thought about the woman I passed on the walkway. Immediately, I took issue with what she was doing. She’d obviously just gotten physical with someone inside that bungalow, and with that woman talking about her husband…

It was easy to assume that Heather had just crossed a major line. I frowned, my eyes now taking in the discoloration on her neck that was clearly a hickey and her slightly swollen lips.

“What did you do? Isn’t the guy in that bungalow married?”

Something hardened in her expression. “It’s not what it looks like.”

I wasn’t sure if she was trying to justify something terrible or if I really didn’t have the whole story. Then, I thought about the people who stared at me at the tiki bar, judging me because I loudly rejected Ford’s proposal. Those people had made some assumptions too.

“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “You were never here.”

I hoped I wasn’t aiding in adultery, but somehow, I didn’t think I was. I didn’t know Heather well, but she didn’t seem like someone who would do such a thing.

She took a moment to slip on her sandals and quietly thanked me before hurrying away. I stood outside a little longer, turning over everything that happened today.

In the end, I decided to skip dinner with everyone else tonight. I was tired and emotionally wrung out.

So, I ordered room service to be delivered to the bungalow. After eating, I headed into the bathroom, where there was a deep jacuzzi tub.

Nothing sounded better tonight than a nice, lukewarm bath. There was lavender bubble bath in the cabinet, so I poured some in and filled up the tub. Sliding into the water, I let out a long sigh and relaxed. This was exactly what I needed.

I hummed to myself as I washed my long hair. I’d just rinsed out the shampoo when I heard something that sounded an awful lot like a footstep just outside the bathroom. I froze in place and looked toward the door. Then, the doorknob started to turn.

Chapter Ten: Ford

Inever used to be a man who worried. Part of what made me a good doctor was that I was skilled at identifying problems and solving them. In work and in my personal life.

After a somewhat chaotic childhood, it was important to me to have a plan whenever possible. When something went wrong, whether that was a leaky roof or a conflict with a friend or a sick patient needing help, I shifted immediately into fix-it mode.

There was no room for worrying. No point in it.

Then, I broke something that couldn’t be so easily repaired. And how unfortunate for me that it was the most important thing in my life.

“Where’s Zoey tonight?” Jess asked, taking a seat beside me.

I was already watching the entrance of the restaurant, waiting for her to appear. I’d texted her when I arrived fifteen minutes ago, but she hadn’t replied. That had become common over the last couple of days.

“Why are you asking me?”

She gave me an amused look. “No reason.”

Jake settled into a seat across from me, looking more tense than usual. “I just talked to Damien. He says that Kelsie’s going to be okay.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Jake and Kelsie had a collision during our volleyball game,” Gordon said. “She took an elbow to the temple.”

“The game ended after that,” Ryan added. “None of us felt like playing anymore.”

Jake’s jaw was locked tight, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “It was an accident.”

Jess gave him a kind smile. “Everyone knows that. Don’t feel bad. She’ll be fine.”

Jake didn’t say anything, but he signaled to the waitress and ordered a strong drink. I could see that he felt bad about what happened to Kelsie, but all I could think about was that I was glad I stopped Zoey from playing. The idea of her getting hurt made my ribs feel too tight.

I glanced toward the entrance of the restaurant again.

She probably wasn’t coming. I understood her wanting to avoid me after my disaster of a proposal.

I needed to stop reacting to situations with her and start thinking through what was the best course of action. Because that was something I’d failed at from the beginning.

Falling for Zoey was never a part of my plan, so when we started to have feelings for each other, my first terrible decision was asking her to keep it a secret. At the time, I’d just found out about the potential promotion, and I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt my chances. So, I reacted without thinking about the long-term implications for us.

When Dr. Serrano cornered me at the hospital with his suspicions and threats and demands, I reacted to that by deciding to break up with Zoey without considering how miserable it would make both of us. Even worse, I did it without discussing it with her first. This was particularly problematic because she was under the false impression that I did this only to protect my own career.

I needed to give her the full truth about how my conversation with Dr. Serrano went, and I probably already would have if the break-up was the only obstacle in my path.

But it wasn’t. I knew now that the problems between us started at the very beginning. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but my insistence on keeping the relationship a secret made her feel like she wasn’t important to me.

Zoey was right; she deserved better.

And damn it, I was going to give it to her. I was done making stupid decisions that affected Zoey without stopping to think about what she wanted.

I needed to stop worrying about losing her for good and make a plan to prove myself to her.

As dinner went on, I made small talk and was relieved to realize that the drama of Kelsie’s injury made most people forget about my confrontation with Zoey at the volleyball game. Except maybe Jess, who kept shooting me sidelong looks full of suspicion. I ignored them and chatted easily with everyone else. If she suspected something was going on between us, I’d leave it up to Zoey to confirm or deny that. And whatever decision she made was fine with me.

As dinner wrapped up, the waitress came to the table to tell us about a dessert special. Chocolate cheesecake.

Zoey would love that, and I ordered a slice to-go, having already decided to swing by her bungalow before going back to my room. I knew she said she needed space, so I didn’t plan to linger, but I wanted to check on her since she didn’t show up at dinner. I knew she was upset when we parted ways earlier, and that didn’t sit well with me.

My protective side demanded that I check in on her and drop off a sweet treat that I hoped would bring a smile to her face.

It was a nice evening, as they all had been so far, and I headed around to the back of the bungalow to see if Zoey might be sitting on the deck. Now that I knew she loved the beach, I figured that she was probably loving that she got to stay here. I had a great view from my room, but nothing could beat being close enough to hear the water lapping at the shore and inhale the briny air.

The deck was empty, but just as I was about to go to the front to knock, I noticed that the sliding door was ajar. I glanced around the beach, wondering if she might be out there in the dark and not liking it one bit.

The inside of the bungalow was dim, with just the golden glow of the lamp in the living room providing enough illumination to see that she wasn’t sitting on the couch.

So, where was she? In the unsecured bungalow or out on the dark beach?

Neither of those was a good option. Concerned, I went to the door and slid it further open. To-go container in hand, I stuck my head inside and looked around. From here, I could see the kitchen, dark and empty.

“Zoey?” I called out.

There was no response. I only hesitated a moment before I stepped inside.

I knew that she wasn’t thrilled with my overprotectiveness, but there was no way in hell that I could just leave without knowing where she was.

Closing the door firmly behind me, I moved to the two doors across from the kitchen. The one closest to the entrance turned out to be a coat closet. The other was the bedroom.

There was a lamp on in here too, but no sign of Zoey. But there was a door on the other side of the room with a light peeking out from beneath it.

I didn’t hesitate this time. I needed to lay eyes on her, and if Zoey was on the other side of that door, I was opening it.

I should’ve realized it was probably a bathroom.

Pushing the door open, I was met with a shriek that made me flinch and drop the cheesecake.

“Ford?” Zoey’s voice was filled with a unique combination of relief and anger. “What the hell are you doing here? Are you trying to scare me to death?”

My own heart was racing as I took in the sight of her sitting up in the bathtub, surrounded by bubbles with her hand clutching her chest. Her bare chest.

The adrenaline rush from being startled shifted into something more heated so quickly that I felt light-headed. Zoey glared at me.

“Damn it, Ford. Is this how you give me space?”

“No, I…” My thoughts drifted to the sliding glass door, and I frowned. “You left your door open while you’re in the bathtub?”

As if my words reminded her that she was naked, she sank lower into the water, until bubbles blocked my view of her full breasts.

“What are you talking about?”

Bending down, I scooped the cheesecake off the floor. The container didn’t pop open, so it should have been fine. “How do you think I got in here? I brought you a dessert since you weren’t at dinner, and your sliding glass door was open.”

She cringed. “Oh. It must not have latched when I came in earlier.”

I set the dessert on the counter and moved closer to the tub. “I don’t like that you’re staying here alone.”

One eyebrow lifted. “And I suppose you’re saying I should let you stay with me?”

“That wasn’t what I was saying, but if you’d be open to it…” I gave her a teasing grin.

“Nice try. That would defeat the purpose of the bungalow.”

I sighed, then took a seat on the edge of the bathtub. I watched her closely to see if she looked uncomfortable with my closeness, but what I saw instead was the way her eyes grew darker as she squirmed beneath the bubbles. Sexual tension radiated from her, and for the first time over a week, I saw a way in, a connection between us that even my stupid actions hadn’t ruined. I reached out and skimmed the surface of the water with the tip of my finger.

“You know, I hoped to have you in my bed every night that we were here,” I said, my voice dropping to a low rumble. “There’s nothing quite like hotel sex. Do you know why?”

She shook her head, her teeth digging into her bottom lip.

“It’s dopamine. The new environment triggers a release in the brain.” I leaned toward her, so that my chest brushed the towering bubbles and my face was only inches from hers. Our breath mingled. “And that dopamine increases excitement. And…” I brought my wet finger to her mouth, pulling her bottom lip free of her teeth. “…anticipation.”

We were so close now, and my body remembered how she tasted, how she felt. My cock throbbed as it pressed against the front of my pants, desire seeping into my very bones.

Yes, this was the thing that had drawn us together from the beginning. Carnal attraction and undeniable hunger.

I allowed my finger to trail down along her jaw and down her neck, a light touch that made her shudder.

“Ford…”

“Shh.” I could see the conflict in her expression. She wanted this, but she wasn’t ready to let me fully back in. “I know, Angel. This isn’t forgiveness. But please, just let me touch you. I’ve missed you so damn much.”

I wasn’t above begging. I never had been when it came to her.

But it wasn’t necessary before. Zoey and I were combustible, both of us unable to keep our hands off each other.

She said nothing else, just watched me with hooded eyes as my touch became bolder. I ran my fingers along her collarbone and down her chest. She arched her back, letting out a low moan as I pinched one of her peaked nipples.

“You’ve got perfect tits, Angel, do you know that?” My forehead was pressed to hers, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her cheeks were rosy, and her big brown eyes burned with need. “I love burying my face between them. Fuck.”

My erection jerked, my need for her making me ache.

But this wasn’t about me.

My hand continued to move lower, trailing over the place where my child would grow. Zoey’s thighs parted for me, and I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as I slid my hand over her pelvis. Her clit was a swollen bud, and her entire body jerked as I circled it with my fingers.

“Oh God,” she cried out, leaning back against the side of the tub. Her hands came to the edges, holding on as she undulated her hips against my hand.

She was beautiful like this. Eyes closed tightly, lips parted, and chest heaving. My own intense lust took a backseat to giving her pleasure, as I slipped two fingers deep inside of her. She clenched around me when the palm of my hand ground against her clit.

The bubbles shifted, and I could see her breasts again. Her dark nipples poked out of the water, and I ran my tongue over my teeth.

“Ford, I’m going to…” She trailed off on a moan, and I couldn’t hold back another second. Slamming my lips against her, I kissed her for the first time in over a week. My tongue tangled with hers as she came, her pussy quivering around my fingers.

A rush of gratification moved through me, and I broke our kiss to look into her eyes. She was trying to catch her breath, and I had the sudden urge to mutter three little words that I’d never shared with her before.

But if my impromptu proposal this afternoon taught me anything, it was that I needed to pick the right time to make grand declarations. Zoey wasn’t ready to hear how I felt about her, not yet.

I pulled my hand out of the water and smirked. “We still have our chemistry, Angel. That has to count for something.”

With a huff, Zoey stood up. My mouth went dry as I watched the suds slide off her naked body, and my dick would probably explode if I touched it.

Instead, I held out my hand to her. Once Zoey was out of the tub, she wrapped a towel around herself and I could see her second guessing what we just did.

It was in the way she didn’t look directly at me, and her stiff movements as she strode out of the bathroom. I followed her, and she went straight for the front door of the bungalow.

“Look, Ford. This was…”

“Amazing,” I supplied. Her lips twitched, but she got serious again quickly.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was. But I didn’t invite you here. So, I need you to go.”

Stepping closer to her, I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. I ran my thumb over her cheek. Her skin was so soft.

“Okay, I’ll leave. But don’t forget to eat your dessert, okay? I bet the Sweet Pea will love it.”

She didn’t suppress her smile this time. “I will.”

There were a million things I wanted to say to her, but I’d thrown enough at the woman for one day. So, I held it all in.

“Sleep well, Angel.”

With that, I walked out of the bungalow, leaving my heart behind.

Chapter Eleven: Zoey

Being pregnant changed the way I thought about a lot of things. Even being just six weeks along, I had to consider how each activity that Leanne planned might affect me.

Today, it was a trip to the spa.

I’d been looking forward to this for a while, but a pregnant woman was limited in the treatments she could enjoy. No hot tubs or saunas. No deep tissue massages. No chemical peels.

It was a little disappointing when I checked the list of treatments available and realized how few options I had. In the end, I chose a head and neck massage and a hydrating facial.

The others chose things I couldn’t do—mud baths and massages and aromatherapy—except for my cousin Kirsten.

We were both in fluffy white robes as we followed the spa employee down a hallway. I wasn’t particularly close with Kirsten. I remembered spending a lot of time together when we were kids, even though I was six years older than her.

Back then, our dads—who were brothers—worked together at the family company. Then, ten years ago, a new branch of the business was opened in Washington, so Uncle Mac moved to Seattle to run it. He took Gordon and Kirsten, and I only really saw my cousins during big family events.

Unfortunately, Uncle Mac was too much like my father and hardly ever pulled himself away from work even for the big events. He’d be here on Saturday for the ceremony as well, but at least his kids came to celebrate with all of us in advance.

“Are you having fun here on the island?” I asked as we entered the room where we’d receive our head and neck massages.

Kirsten wasn’t easy to read. She wasn’t the type to smile much or fill the space with small talk. She used to be more outgoing as a child, but I supposed that a person could change a lot in a decade.

She shrugged. “Sure. I mean, it’s not exactly spring break in Cancun, but it’s nice.”

My eyebrows popped up. “Not much impresses you, huh?”

“I’m just happy to be out of Seattle. My friend Lewis texted me, and guess what? It’s raining today.”

I chuckled. Okay, so she had a bit of an acerbic sense of humor. I could work with that.

As we settled into side-by-side cushioned chairs, we fell into easy conversation. She told me about going to an edgy club inside an old industrial warehouse to celebrate her twenty-first birthday a month ago and spending her weekends at a skate park.

I told her my much less exciting stories about attending the recent hospital gala and a weekly yoga class. We were very different people, but it was still nice to reconnect with her. Then, the massage began, and it was amazing.

The chairs reclined, and we each had a masseuse sitting on rolling chairs at our heads. There were cucumbers on my eyes and a diffuser filled the room with the scent of lemongrass. The world outside of this peaceful room disappeared.

A low groan slipped from my lips as the masseuse’s fingertips glided across my scalp in interlocking circles. I could feel stress melting away in the quiet room. Thumbs sank into the tight cords of my neck and down my shoulders, and muscles I didn’t even realize were tight uncoiled.

If things were different, I would have loved to have a full-body massage, and I made a mental note to look into getting one back home after the baby was born.

Not that I expected to have much free time with a newborn.

My stomach flipped at the thought of having a real, live baby to care for. I’d mostly wrapped my mind around the idea of being pregnant, but the end result—a baby—was an overwhelming reality that I would have to face soon.

“Just relax,” the masseuse said in a soothing voice.

I let out a long breath and tried not to let my shoulder muscles tense back up.

It wasn’t that I was necessarily unhappy about becoming a mother. I hadn’t even gotten to the point where I felt excited or happy. Every time I imagined a little life being entirely dependent on me, I just felt scared.

What if I failed as a parent? Between my mom leaving and my dad neglecting me, I’d never had a solid example of what a healthy relationship could be like between a parent and child.

I wanted to believe that I could still love my child the way a parent should, but what if I was wrong? What if I was missing the building blocks required to form that attachment?

I wanted to talk to Ford about all this. I somehow knew that if anyone could make me feel better about it all, it was him. He had a way of cutting through my doubts and helping me feel confident in a way that no one else ever had.

At least, he could before. Now, I wasn’t so sure. We were broken, and I meant what I said. There was no going back.

What I still wasn’t sure about was whether there was a way forward.

As I tried to relax again, my hand drifted to my stomach. It was silly, really. I wouldn’t even begin to develop a baby bump for months, but there was something monumental about knowing that there was a life growing in there.

The massage ended, and the masseuse removed the cucumbers from my eyes. I glanced over at Kirsten to see that she was already looking at me.

Or rather, she was staring at my hand resting on my stomach. I quickly moved it away, but there was already a knowing look in her eyes.

“So… you knocked up?”

Her question startled a laugh out of me. I couldn’t even try to deny it. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“I knew something was going on with you,” Kirsten continued. “I noticed that you ordered a non-alcoholic drink at dinner the other night. And I heard that doctor friend of yours asking how you were feeling.”

“You suspected that I was pregnant from just that?”

She shrugged. “You also skipped the wine tasting. I actually thought maybe you were hiding a drinking problem. But a bun in the oven makes sense too.”

I chuckled again. It was a strange relief that someone else knew. I’d been walking around with this huge secret I was keeping from all of my friends and family on the island, and it was more of a burden than I expected it to be. Like I was hiding a part of myself from everyone.

And God, I was so tired of hiding.

“So, who’s the dad? I thought you were single?”

Maybe I should have at least hesitated to tell her. After all, I’d told Ford it was too late to go public, and we hadn’t talked about how we’d handle everyone learning that we were going to have a child.

But again… I was tired.

“It’s Ford.”

Kirsten smiled. “The hot blonde doctor? Good for you.”

“Yeah, kind of. I mean, things between us are… complicated.”

“Ah. I’ve done the complicated thing before. Some men just don’t know a good thing when they have it. Make him earn his place in your life, girl.”

I thought about last night, the way he made me moan and shudder in the bathtub without taking anything for himself. And his apologies. And the delicious cheesecake that I ate in bed after he left.

“I am.” I wasn’t sure if it would all work between us, but over the last couple of days, I’d started to realize that I might want it to.

“What does Ryan think about all this?”

“He doesn’t know yet. In fact, no one knows about this. The pregnancy or my relationship with Ford. And I don’t want them to find out while we’re here for the wedding. I’ll tell Ryan and Jake and everyone else in my own time, okay?”

She mimed zipping and locking her lips. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

I nodded, happy with that. I just had to get through a few more days on the island, and then, I’d go back to my real life and figure out how to share the big news.

Little did I know, Kirsten’s lips weren’t really zipped at all.

Chapter Twelve: Ford

“If I ever get married, my bachelor party will be epic,” Jake said, sipping his beer.

We were sitting in armchairs by the windows in the resort lounge, along with Ryan, Damien, and Gordon. There were a couple of other guys here that I didn’t know, friends of Ryan’s that had arrived today so that they could join the bachelor party and enjoy Sirona Isle for a bit before the wedding on Saturday, but they were mostly on the dance floor or at the bar.

The lounge was a low-key setting for Ryan’s bachelor party, and I liked it. It fit my more laid-back personality well.

Jake was a different story.

“You, get married?” Damien snorted. “I don’t see that ever happening.”

Jake grinned. “Stranger things have happened, my friend. But you’re probably right.” He tipped back his beer bottle again, polishing it off. “No matter. I don’t need a reason for a wild night. And on that note…”

He got up and sauntered over to the bar, approaching a group of women with the confidence of a true Casanova.

Ryan shook his head. “You know, I kind of thought he’d start to settle down by now. But he’s been a playboy for so long that I’m starting to think he’ll never get serious with someone.”

“Some men don’t have it in them to commit to one woman,” Gordon said.

“Like you?” I asked curiously.

Jake liked to sleep around, and everyone knew that, but Gordon had quite the wandering eye himself. He was more subtle about it, but I’d seen him trying to charm several women over the past few days, even a few in the wedding party.

I suspected that was why Damien didn’t seem to like Gordon much. He’d been flirting with Kelsie at dinner our second night here.

“Oh, I could easily commit, but only to the right woman. Too bad that she won’t have me.” Gordon’s easygoing nature fell away for just a moment, and I could see something brutal in his eyes. There was a story there, but I had a feeling he wasn’t going to share it with us.

Fair enough. We barely knew the guy. Even Ryan and Jake, his cousins, didn’t seem close to him.

But Gordon’s words made me think of Zoey.

Would she have me back?

I pulled out my phone to see that she’d responded to the message I sent ten minutes ago. The bachelorette party was also going on tonight, with the women all gathered at one of the resort’s indoor pools, and I’d sent a text to her asking how it was going.

I was needy as hell these days, but I didn’t care one bit.

I ignored the conversation happening around me as I opened our message thread and read what she sent.

The party is wild. Probably would be more fun if I could drink.

I smiled. Not because of the content of the message but because she’d been more responsive today. She hadn’t just replied to my messages. She’d reached out to me a couple of times.

It felt like such a big step in the right direction that I couldn’t help smiling as I looked at the phone in my hand. The alcohol I’d consumed tonight might’ve had something to do with that as well.

A couple shots of tequila did a lot to lower a man’s inhibitions.

And sperm count. But that didn’t matter because Zoey was already pregnant.

Laughter slipped out of my mouth at that thought, and Damien looked at me with his head tilted to the side, probably wondering what was going on in my head.

I just looked down at my phone again as it vibrated in my hand. My pulse jumped when I saw it was another message from Zoey.

Leaving the party a bit early. Too tired to be fun.

She followed that with a sad face emoji, and I wanted to tell her that she was wrong. She was always fun. Even when we were just watching TV together or playing chess.

But she was especially fun when we were naked.

At that thought, my dick grew thick and heavy.

God, Zoey was amazing in bed. Responsive and bold and eager in a way that made me crazy for her.

I stood before I even thought about what I was doing. My head swam for just a second, and I had the vague thought that maybe that last tequila shot had been a mistake. I was definitely drunk.

But I couldn’t be too far gone since I knew it, right?

“Where are you going?” Ryan asked, and I realized I was already walking away from the party without an explanation. I turned back to him and mumbled something about needing to make a work call, which was obviously bullshit because what kind of call would I need to make to the hospital at night when I wasn’t even in the city?

But I didn’t stick around for them to ask questions. Zoey said she was leaving the bachelorette party, and if I hurried, maybe I could walk her to her bungalow.

The pool Leanne rented out wasn’t far, and I didn’t even have to ride in the elevator or take the stairs. Which was good because I felt a little unsteady on my feet.

I was at the end of the hallway when Zoey stepped out through a glass door. She was wearing her black bikini again, a pair of shorts over the bottoms this time. My cock hardened even more, and I couldn’t help thinking about when I pulled her into the greenroom at the gala.

She’d been pissed at me that night for dancing with Delilah, but she’d also wanted me. I’d been able to get us past that argument with sex.

If only I could get us past our stupid breakup the same way.

No. Zoey deserved better than I gave her before.

With that thought locked into my admittedly cloudy brain, I hurried after her down the hallway.

“Zo,” I said when I was right behind her. She was about to push open a door to exit the building, and she whirled around to face me. The movement made her breasts sway and I couldn’t hold back my groan. “You look so hot, Angel.”

I hated how her eyes darted around to make sure no one was around to hear me say that. I’d conditioned that response by being a complete dumbass over the last six months. I was the one who was always looking around when we were together in public, making sure that no one was watching and getting the wrong idea.

No, it was the right idea. Because being with Zoey could never be anything but right.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a slight frown. “You look…”

“Drunk?”

A giggle slipped out of her mouth, and the sound made me feel warm all over. “I was going to say confused, but maybe that’s just how drunk looks on you.”

“I like how you look on me.”

Okay, that wasn’t my smoothest pickup line, but it earned me another giggle, so I didn’t regret it.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at Ryan’s party?”

“I want to walk you to your bungalow.”

A part of me thought she’d say no. She’d been trying to keep the walls up between us all week, and I wasn’t sure if I’d managed to earn this privilege yet.

But to my relief, she jerked her head toward the door and said, “Well, let’s go then. It turns out that growing a baby is exhausting and I want to go put on my most comfortable pajamas and pass out.”

“It’ll get better,” I said, pushing open the door and holding it for her. The fresh ocean air rushed into my lungs, and I felt my head clear just a little as we started to walk. “After the first trimester.”

“Let’s hope so. I need my energy in the ER.”

“You love your job.”

It wasn’t a question. I knew it.

She’d told me once that her job gave her a sense of purpose she’d always craved. I loved that about her. Hell, I loved so many things about her.

“Yeah. But some things are even more important.”

Her tone wasn’t biting, as it had been just a couple of days ago when this topic came up, but her meaning hit hard anyway. She would have chosen me over her job. I should’ve known that.

God, I fucked up.

“Listen, Zoey…” Now was probably not the best time to tell her about my conversation with Dr. Serrano, even though the fresh air made thinking a little easier, but I didn’t care. I needed to tell her everything. “When I ended things between us, it wasn’t-”

My phone vibrated in my pocket then, and I pulled it out without thinking. It was a stupid thing to do, because the only person I wanted to talk to was standing right next to me. Maybe I was still more drunk than I realized.

Especially since I opened the phone without paying attention to who had just messaged me. Delilah’s naked body filled my screen and shock made my steps falter.

What the fuck?

“Wow.” Zoey’s voice was so cold that goosebumps spread up my arms despite the warmth of this tropical island air.

“No, Angel,” I said, quickly shoving the phone back into my pocket and cursing myself for looking at it in the first place. “That’s not… She’s never sent me a picture like that before. I didn’t want it, I swear.”

“I’m not sure you know what you want. First, you were engaged to Delilah-”

“That was two years ago.”

“-and then you broke that off, but she never seemed to think it was really over. She was always all over you, and you allowed it. Then, you dated me in secret. Maybe that had nothing to do with the job. Maybe it was because you were never sure about us.”

All softness was gone from her expression, and she looked hurt. The way I’d made her look so often lately.

“You really think that?”

“I don’t know what you think anymore. I thought you lo-”

She cut herself off, shaking her head. Her arms wrapped around her body, and she shifted her eyes to the side. “I thought you cared about me. Then, you dumped me like I was nothing to you. Just decided you didn’t want me anymore. So, how am I supposed to believe that you want me?”

“I’ve been trying to prove it to you. Don’t let one stupid text that I didn’t ask for ruin it.”

But she was already backing away from me, her spine curved and her head hung low. Like she was weighed down by all the shit I put her through.

“It’s not just one text, Ford. She sent that picture because she believes that there’s a chance of getting back together with you. Because despite the fact that you’ve been in a relationship for the past six months, you’ve never told her that it’s not happening. You’ve let her think that you’re open to being with her. Honestly, she’s not even the real problem here. Because her entitlement comes from your apathy.”

With that, she turned away and stormed toward her bungalow. I wanted to follow her more than anything, to plead my case, but I didn’t because she was absolutely right. I’d left the door open for Delilah. Not because I hoped she’d walk through it but because it was easier than being honest.

Fuck.

I wanted to scream.

No, I wanted to go back in time six months and tell myself not to make so many damn mistakes. That being with Zoey was something to be proud of and to hell with the job if getting it required sacrificing her happiness.

But there was no going back. All I could do was change going forward. Because damn it, I did know what I wanted. I had a piss-poor way of showing it, but it was true.

I wanted Zoey’s giggles that made me feel lighter than air. I wanted to give her a proper proposal and have her say yes this time. I wanted to have a family with her, one that was nothing like the ones we grew up with. There would be love and support and happiness that came from being together. Not from a job.

I turned away from the resort and headed to the beach. I needed to walk and think about what to do next. Because I was determined to give both of us that future. It might have felt like it was impossible right now, but I wouldn’t give up. Not now, not ever.

Chapter Thirteen: Ford

The loud calls of seagulls woke me up, and it took about two seconds for me to realize that I’d made a big mistake last night.

Not the argument with Zoey—although that was awful.

No, my mistake was walking to the beach, sitting down in the sand to watch the dark waves and think, and then… falling asleep.

Or maybe passing out would be a better way to describe it.

There was sand in my nose, in my mouth, and down my pants. The sun was already beating down on me as I sat up, and there was a crick in my neck that made pain shoot up the back of my head when I turned it to the right.

It seemed that I couldn’t stop making bad decisions.

Getting to my feet, I brushed as much sand as possible off my clothing and stumbled back to the resort. It wasn’t far, which was good because I needed to get to my room as soon as possible for a shower and some Tylenol. Rinsing the gritty sand out of my mouth was also pretty high on my priority list.

I was glad when I didn’t run into anyone I knew on the way to my room. I didn’t want to try to explain why I slept on the beach last night.

One hour later, after a hot shower and a cup of black coffee from room service, I felt slightly more human.

My neck still hurt, but the pain relievers I took helped a bit with that. My stomach was uneasy—understandable after all that tequila—but I didn’t think I was going to be sick. It was a good thing too, because Ryan sent me a message with a reminder about the hike everyone was taking today.

Walking around in the rainforest definitely did not sound like a good time after the shitty morning I’d had, but I wasn’t going to skip it because Zoey would probably be there.

Although, I had no idea if she’d want to talk to me after last night.

I couldn’t believe that Delilah had sent me a nude photo like that. She’d never done anything like that before and while I knew she was getting bolder in her pursuit of me, I hadn’t seen that coming.

But I knew that it was my fault.

Her entitlement comes from your apathy.

Zoey’s words rang in my ears, and I knew that she was absolutely right. It was possible that I had developed a habit of trying to keep the peace with people no matter what when I was younger. When you were a teenager in foster care, it was a given that no one wanted to take you in. So, I learned to be accommodating to everyone, doing whatever it took to make my foster parents like me, even if it was at the expense of my own happiness.

Even then, I was shuffled around a lot.

So, I just became even more indulgent of other people’s wants and desires. I learned that in order to have a roof over my head and food in my stomach, I needed to make sure that I didn’t make waves, didn’t piss anyone off.

I truly thought that I had outgrown that way of thinking a long time ago. I was thirty-three years old, after all. A lot of time had passed since I was in the system.

But maybe it wasn’t so easy to let go of lessons learned the hard way in childhood.

It was no excuse, because nothing could justify allowing Zoey to be hurt, but at least if I understood my own way of thinking, I could try to do better in the future.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I opened my text thread with Delilah. Scowling, I deleted her picture right away. Then, I typed out a message that I should’ve sent a long time ago.

Don’t send me a picture like that again. I don’t want it.

I hit send, then decided I wasn’t clear enough. So, I sent another message.

We will not be getting back together. I’m already involved with someone.

I wanted to tell her that I was actually in love with someone else, but it didn’t feel right to tell anyone that before I told Zoey herself. Whether she’d want to hear it remained to be seen.

Seconds after I sent that second text, my phone rang. It was Delilah calling me. For a split second, a small voice in the back of my mind spoke up, telling me that it was smarter to stay on her good side, that I would pay for this if I didn’t make it right.

It was the voice I’d listened to many times before, but I recognized it for what it was now. An old survival instinct.

I couldn’t keep repeating the same pattern. So, I rejected the call. Then, because I knew how tenacious she could be, I blocked her.

It wasn’t a permanent solution, but I’d already gotten my message across and until I was back in Chicago, I didn’t need to deal with her further. My focus now was entirely on Zoey.

Getting dressed in jeans and hiking boots, I headed downstairs where everyone was meeting for the hike. I expected some people to skip it because they partied too hard last night, but it looked like pretty much everyone had come.

The group had grown quite a bit since our arrival on Monday, some wedding guests coming a day or two early. So, there was a large gathering in front of the resort.

I stuck close to Zoey when we headed into the rainforest. It was so different from the sandy beach that it felt like stepping into a different world. The trees were tall and blocked out most of the sunlight, but it was still hot and humid. Instead of the cries of seagulls, my ears picked up the buzzing of insects and the small sounds of animals scurrying through the underbrush.

Zoey started off chatting with Angela, and I moved into place beside them, listening as Angela told Zoey that she thought Heather was acting strange, almost secretive, which seemed to really bother her twin.

Zoey didn’t say much, and I knew her well enough to be able to tell that she was hiding something. I couldn’t imagine what it might be because as far as I knew, Zoey didn’t know Heather well.

Zoey shot me a couple of annoyed glances as I lingered, and I knew that she wasn’t past her anger from last night, but I also didn’t back off. I just stuck by her side, steady and unobtrusive. She said she didn’t know what I wanted and I was determined to show her today.

The problem was that after too much tequila and a terrible night’s sleep on the beach, even keeping up with Zoey’s easy pace was exhausting, and we were only thirty minutes into this hike. I’d heard our guide tell Ryan that we were going to a cliff and it would take a little more than an hour to get there. Cursing myself for overindulging last night, I forced myself to keep walking.

Then, Angela moved ahead to walk next to Leanne for a bit, and Zoey looked at me properly. She frowned.

“You’re not looking too good.”

I wiped sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand and gave her a smile. “I’ve always appreciated a woman who can be brutally honest.”

Zoey’s mouth curved even as she rolled her eyes. “After seeing you drunk last night, I didn’t think you’d come today. Figured you’d be sleeping it off.”

Sleep sounds amazing right about now.

“I knew you’d be here.”

She looked around, just like last night when I called her Angel. I hated it.

“Don’t worry about anyone else,” I said.

But the truth was that we didn’t need to worry anyway, because we’d somehow ended up at the back of the group. In fact, we were lagging behind by about ten feet.

“I guess we should catch up,” I said, unable to suppress the displeasure in my voice.

Zoey lifted one shoulder in a careless gesture. “We’re fine. I slowed down so that you wouldn’t have to struggle to keep up.”

I winced, embarrassed. “I had a long night.”

Zoey’s eyes flashed with a hint of the pain I’d seen there last night.

“I blocked her,” I blurted. “Delilah, I mean. I told her that we were never going to happen, that I’m seeing someone else, and I blocked her number.”

Zoey’s eyebrows drew together. “But you’re not seeing someone else.”

That was a knife to the chest.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m loyal to you, Angel. Whether you take me back or not.”

She didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and silence fell between us as we continued to walk, still lagging a little behind the others. I wanted to reach for her hand, but I didn’t think she’d welcome that, so I didn’t.

I missed when I could touch her anytime I wanted, kiss her just because I felt like it. I didn’t appreciate that when I had it and if I got it back, I promised myself that I’d never take it for granted again.

“Are you excited about the baby?” I asked, realizing that we hadn’t really talked too much about it. Initially, it was such a shock to find out that she was pregnant that I didn’t even think to ask how she felt about it.

Her eyes shifted to the canopy of leaves overhead, then to the path beneath our feet. “I’m… nervous,” she mumbled.

“Hey, talk to me. What are you nervous about?”

“I… I guess I’m not sure I’ll be a good mom,” she said, her voice hushed. We were too far back from the group for her to be worried about being overheard, so I suspected it was shame tightening her vocal cords.

“You’re going to be amazing.” I put every bit of conviction I felt into my voice. But she still looked doubtful. “Zo, you are a caring, smart, and sensitive woman. All of that will make you a great mom.”

“I hope so.” Her voice was small, diminished.

“I never told you much about my mom, did I?” I never really talked about her if I could avoid it. So, even though we were together for six months, I only vaguely told Zoey that I was taken from her when I was thirteen years old and put into foster care until I aged out. “She was a drug addict.”

Zoey gasped, her eyes asking a million questions even though she didn’t speak any of them out loud.

“It was cocaine. I don’t know exactly when it started, but some of my earliest memories involve erratic behavior from her. I have no idea who my dad is, and I suspect that she doesn’t really know either, so it was always just the two of us. She’d go through these highs and lows that I just thought were normal because she’d been like that my whole life. One day, she’d be super talkative, full of energy and restlessness, and the next, she’d crash. She’d sleep all day long, and when she woke up, she’d seem so sad, almost lost. Looking back, it’s so obvious, but how is a kid to know any better when she’d always been like that?”

Zoey reached for my hand then, seemingly uncaring about anyone seeing us as she laced her fingers through mine.

“Other people started to notice over time,” I continued. “The school. Neighbors. My friends’ parents. Eventually, CPS got involved. They took me away from her, and I had no other family, so I went straight into foster care. But the worst part is that it was made very clear to me that I would never go back to her because she wouldn’t even attempt to get clean in order to get me back. I mean, it wasn’t a great life, living with someone that was coked up half the time and blowing through all her money and suffering from depression when she crashed, but she was my mom, you know? She should’ve wanted me back enough to at least try.”

My chest was tight, and I couldn’t look directly at her because I didn’t want to see pity in her pretty brown eyes. Zoey squeezed my hand.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“You’re a good person, Zoey, the kind that would naturally put her child first. It doesn’t matter that your mom left or that your dad’s too obsessed with money to realize he has such an amazing daughter. You’re naturally good, and I know you’re going to be the best mom to our kid.”

She gave me a small smile. “We will be great parents.”

Together. We were going to be great parents together.

But I didn’t say that. I didn’t want to push her after last night.

“Yes, we will.”

I spotted a purple wildflower just to the side of the path up ahead and released her hand to grab it. Plucking it at the stem, I came back to Zoey and stuck it behind her ear.

We looked at each other and the air seemed to grow thick between us. Longing rushed through my veins and her eyes gleamed with something familiar that I had been worried I’d lost forever.

All I wanted to do in that moment was lean in and kiss her, but a voice from further down the path pulled us out of the moment.

“We’ll reach a good stopping point up ahead in about ten minutes,” the man guiding the hike called out to everyone.

Zoey let out a sigh. “I guess we really should catch up with the others.”

We’d fallen quite a bit behind, so I didn’t disagree, but I wished that I had more time to talk to her alone. It felt like no matter how close I tried to get, she ended up pulling away.

But as we rejoined the others, I couldn’t help noticing that she kept the flower tucked behind her ear.

Chapter Fourteen: Zoey

The night that Ford broke up with me, I promised myself that I’d never settle for less from a man ever again. I was ashamed of the secret nature of our relationship, and I didn’t want to ever feel small like that again.

But it was more than that. It was a vow born of fear.

I knew I deserved better than a hidden relationship, but that promise was really about trying to protect myself from further pain. Because I loved the man, despite the issues we had.

Today, when Ford shared his history with me and told me with absolute certainty that I’d be a good mother, I felt the protections I put in place fall away. The anger and hurt that I clung to didn’t matter in that moment because love rushed back into my heart. When he tucked that flower behind my ear, all I wanted to do was throw my arms around him.

That was a problem because as much as I wanted to believe that we could find happiness together, I needed to remember that this wasn’t our real life. The island was magical in a way, and it was easy to get caught up in the romantic setting and Ford’s heartwarming devotion, but on Sunday, we would be returning to Chicago, where all of the problems between us still existed. The job and Dr. Serrano and Delilah. The little moments that hurt because they made me feel unimportant and the big moment when he shattered me.

As easy as it would be to forget they all existed, I couldn’t. Because as much as it hurt to lose Ford the first time, if I let myself believe all his promises and it fell apart again, it would be even worse.

The fear was still there, and it ruled me.

So, when we sat down for the rehearsal dinner that night—after a practice run of tomorrow’s ceremony on the beach—I purposefully didn’t sit in the empty seat beside Ford. Even when Damien took the chair I wanted beside Kelsie, I refused to go to my ex.

That was how I really needed to think of him. My ex.

Instead, I sat next to Jake. The meal passed by in a blur of laughter and lively conversation, and I didn’t let my eyes stray to the other end of the table where Ford was once. Because I knew without looking that his blue eyes would be filled with regret and the deep affection that I always thought was love.

But it couldn’t be. He wouldn’t have broken up with me if it was.

That was what I told myself, and I honestly wasn’t sure if it made me feel better or worse.

“Mark my words, you’re going to end up with a minivan,” Jake said to Ryan. “First comes marriage, then kids, then you’re trading in that Mustang you love for something soccer moms drive.”

Jess pointed her fork at him. “Hey, no bashing soccer moms. They are superstars.”

Cody laughed and put his arm around his wife. “Besides, a minivan is practical when you have kids.”

I couldn’t help thinking about myself driving a minivan and driving around a little version of myself and Ford. Maybe a little girl with his blonde hair that I would take to gymnastics class or a little boy with my brown eyes with a paper mâché volcano in his lap as we went to a school science fair.

For the first time, I could see a future with my child beyond the fear that had taken root as soon as I found out I was pregnant.

I knew that was because of Ford, and for the first time that evening, I looked in his direction. Of course, he was already watching me. There was an intensity in his expression that made my breath hitch.

“Zoey?” I jolted and turned to Jake, who was frowning at me. “You okay?”

I forced a stiff smile. “Yeah. Of course.”

Just trying to figure out what to do about my secret ex and the father of my child.

“I hope everyone is ready for dessert,” the waitress said, appearing at the table with a massive tray balanced on her hand.

Since this was the rehearsal dinner, the menu had been preselected in advance. The meal was a delicious shrimp linguine, and the dessert that Leanne and Ryan chose was another cheesecake, but this one was smothered in a strawberry glaze. I didn’t consider myself to be a picky eater, but I’d never liked strawberries. So, I politely declined the dessert, but I didn’t ask for anything else, not wanting to inconvenience the woman that had such a big party to serve. Instead of making a deal about it, I hung around and continued to talk with Leanne and Ryan while everyone else ate their dessert.

Then, the waitress came back with a single plate in her hand. In the center was another piece of the amazing chocolate cheesecake that Ford had brought to my bungalow last night. The waitress set it down with a kind smile but didn’t say a word about where it came from, and I didn’t have to ask.

Glancing down the table again, I met Ford’s eyes, and he winked at me before turning back to a conversation with Gordon. I suddenly wished that I was sitting beside him.

But the fear lingered. He’d hurt me more than anyone else ever had, and anytime I thought about opening my heart to him again, a coiled tightness appeared in my stomach like a warning of what was at risk.

I took my time eating the cheesecake, savoring every bite, even while the party started to break up. Jake left the table first, heading to the nearby tiki bar for a drink.

Not long after, Kirsten and Angela headed that way too.

Leanne and Ryan left with her mom and aunt to check on last-minute details for tomorrow’s wedding, and I saw Kelsie march away from Damien in a huff. I hoped she wasn’t trying to get away from him, but he followed right after, clearly not about to let her go anywhere without him.

I wondered what was going on with those two. There was obvious tension between them the last couple of days. Not that I had any room to talk.

“So, you like your replacement dessert?”

I looked up as I put the last bite of chocolate goodness into my mouth to see that Ford was in Jake’s empty chair.

I grinned. “You spoil me, you know. Chocolate two nights in a row?”

His eyes flickered to my stomach. “Well, we need to feed the sweet pea, and I know you don’t like strawberry.”

I wished my heart wouldn’t flutter when he did thoughtful things or remembered stuff about me like that. It made it so much harder to remember why I was reluctant to be with him again.

“Can I walk you back to your bungalow?” he asked.

No. It’s a bad idea. I need to try not to love you anymore.

“Sure.” I stood and we walked off the terrace where we’d eaten dinner.

We were on the concrete walkway and had just passed the outdoor pool when my brother’s angry voice cut through the peace of the evening.

“Ford! We need to talk!”

We both turned as Jake stormed toward us, and my confusion evaporated when I saw Kirsten trailing behind him with a panicked look on her face. Shit.

“Kirsten must have told him,” I murmured. Jake was getting closer, and he looked mad, but Ford turned to me anyway. “She knows about the baby.”

Jake stopped in front of us, his glare focused on Ford. “Is this true? Did you sleep with my sister?”

“Hey! I’m standing right here,” I snapped.

“Zoey, I’m sorry,” Kirsten said, looking more upset than I’d ever seen her. “I didn’t mean to tell him. It just… slipped out.”

“I just want to know what’s going on,” Jake said, his eyes slightly softer as he looked at me. “Kirsten said you’re pregnant with his baby, but you’re not together. So, what the hell is going on here? Did you take advantage of my little sister?”

I slapped his arm. “I’m still here, Jake! Stop talking about me like I’m not.”

“I just want to know what happened between you guys. I’m trying to look out for you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m twenty-seven years old. I can look out for myself.”

“We were a couple for six months,” Ford said in a low, serious voice.

Jake’s chest expanded as he drew in a deep breath. “What do you mean, were a couple? And you said it was six months? Why didn’t I know that you guys were dating for that long?”

A memory suddenly surfaced. When I was fourteen years old and Jake was seventeen, he found out that I was being harassed by a boy on the basketball team. He asked me out, but I wasn’t interested. It turned out that he was the kind of creep that didn’t like to take no for an answer. He started waiting for me in the parking lot after cheerleading practice, saying disgusting things to me and getting handsy more than once.

I’d never seen Jake so angry before. The day that I came home crying because I was scared of how far things would escalate Jake was furious.

Ryan was away at college by then, and as usual, my dad wasn’t around enough to know or care what was going on with us. So, Jake took it upon himself to do something about my problem.

When I came out of the school the next afternoon, the basketball player wasn’t waiting for me.

I learned later that evening that Jake had confronted him. The guy ended up with a broken wrist, and Dad threw money at the problem to keep Jake out of trouble.

I stepped closer to Jake, suddenly worried about his reaction to all this. He wasn’t nearly as angry as he was when we were teenagers, but if he knew that Ford had broken my heart, he might still throw a punch or two.

Most people didn’t know that Jake had a temper, but my brother was more than just a fun-loving ladies’ man. He might have had some commitment issues, but he cared about his friends and family more than he usually let on.

He’d do anything for us.

“Jake, that’s enough,” I said firmly. “I didn’t tell you we were dating because…”

“It’s my fault,” Ford cut in when I trailed off. “I was an idiot, and I insisted that we keep the relationship a secret.”

Jake blinked a few times while he processed that. “Why? Because you’re friends with Ryan?”

“No. It was about work. I just didn’t think it was a good idea for everyone to know.”

“But that didn’t stop you from getting her pregnant.” Jake’s voice was practically a growl. “And then what? You broke up with her?”

Neither of us said a word, but the looks on our faces must’ve given Jake his answer because he cursed under his breath and took a menacing step toward Ford. I started to move into his path, but Ford was faster, squaring up to Jake with a clenched jaw.

“You need to back down,” Ford said. “Zoey might decide to give you the whole story in time, but that’s up to her, and I won’t let you pressure her.”

“You won’t let me?” Jake’s voice was incredulous. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m hers.”

A shiver ran down my spine at those two simple words. But they seemed to just piss Jake off.

“You don’t need to stand between me and my sister,” he snarled. “Move it!”

But Ford didn’t budge an inch, and before I could intervene, Jake shoved against his chest.

They were pretty evenly matched size-wise, but Jake put a lot of anger behind the move, and Ford stumbled backward.

Right into me.

I let out a surprised cry as his body collided with mine, losing my balance and starting to fall to the ground. It was only Ford’s fast reflexes that kept me from landing hard on the concrete, his strong arms wrapping around my waist and pulling my body flush against his.

“Shit, Angel. Are you okay?” he asked once I was steady on my feet again, bringing his hands to my face and cupping my cheeks. His worried blue eyes ran over every inch of me, as if I’d somehow gotten hurt even though he caught me before I fell.

“Yeah,” I said, bringing my hands up to his wrists. I felt his heart racing at the pulse point. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Zoey.” Jake’s voice was rough. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Ford whirled toward him. “Damn right, you shouldn’t have! What if she’d gotten hurt?”

Jake looked guilty, and I decided I needed to defuse this situation. It had already spiraled out of control once.

I placed a hand on Ford’s arm. “Walk me back to my bungalow. Please.”

The tension drained out of him immediately as he turned back to me. He tucked me under his arm.

“Zoey.”

I looked at Jake and felt a pang in my chest. “I’m really okay, Jake. I promise.”

I wasn’t just talking about the shove, and he knew it. His eyes still glinted with anger when he glanced at Ford, but he didn’t say anything else as we turned away. Kirsten was still standing nearby, silent and unable to hold my gaze.

Good. Even if she didn’t mean to spill the beans, I was annoyed with her for causing this mess. The last thing we needed was a scene like this the night before Ryan’s wedding. Luckily, no one was around to see it.

Ford kept me close to his side as we walked, and I didn’t try to pull away.

After the drama of the evening, I thought that maybe we both needed to be close to each other. I was shaken by Jake’s reaction. Not because I was scared of him. He wouldn’t have hurt me for anything in the world, and I knew that he probably wouldn’t have done much more than push Ford, no matter how angry he was.

It was the way that his questions dredged everything up that made me uneasy. Yet, I didn’t have the urge to push Ford away. In fact, when we reached the bungalow, I invited him inside.

Was it reckless?

Maybe.

But my emotions felt like they’d been scraped raw, and I needed the kind of comfort only he had ever provided.

“I need you,” I said as soon as the door closed behind us. My hands fisted his shirt as I pulled him in close. His lips were inches from mine. “I can’t promise more. I don’t even know if I… I just want you.”

His arms snaked around my waist, and he yanked me into his hard body. It was achingly familiar, but things had changed so much between us now that there was a rush of something new in my veins. Nerves and longing twisted together to make every part of me pulse for him.

Ford lifted me into his arms, and my legs went around his waist as he carried me into the bedroom. It was dark, but we didn’t need light for this. We tumbled onto the bed and tore at each other’s clothes until we were both naked. His hands were everywhere, cupping my tits and squeezing my ass. Tracing the curve of my side and stroking my clit.

He didn’t linger anywhere for long, and the teasing was driving me crazy.

There was something reverent about it, and the way he kissed me felt like a branding. His tongue delved deep and he swallowed my moans.

Eventually, he broke away to kiss down my neck, his teeth grazing my skin in a way that sent a shudder through me.

“Ford,” I panted, parting my legs and pulling him closer. “Please.”

His dark chuckle made my core tighten. “Tell me what you need.”

“I need you inside of me. God, I’m aching for it…”

He settled between my thighs, and I felt his erection gliding over my slit then notching at my entrance. But he didn’t push inside yet. “You’re so slick for me. That’s right, Zoey. You know exactly what you want, don’t you?”

His words were whispered in my ear, his warm breath washing over my neck. My hands glided down his back, and I sank my fingernails into his ass. He jerked his hips forward with a cry of surprise, burying himself deep inside of me.

“Oh, yeah,” he groaned. “You’re so hot and perfect, aren’t you? My Angel.”

Holding himself above me with his fists pressed into the mattress, Ford snapped his hips back and forth over and over again, his movements uncoordinated and unrestrained, taking what he needed and giving me pleasure that I craved.

My legs came up, wrapping around his waist and shifting the angle of my hips in a way that made me see stars. My blood roared in my ears, and I couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe properly.

Every bit of me was consumed by this man, and despite all of the messy emotions and doubts between us, I allowed myself to have this. I sank into the pleasure of it, broken moans falling from my lips as I came hard, my core spasming around him in a way that felt so good it almost hurt.

“There it is,” he groaned. “Come for me, baby. I want to feel you choke my cock.”

His mouth was on mine again as he reached his own peak, and the kiss was messy and desperate. Perfect.

I clung to him as we both rode out the pleasure, and by the time it was done, I didn’t think I’d ever been more satisfied or exhausted. Ford left the bed for just a moment, coming back with a warm, damp rag from the bathroom. My eyelids were already heavy, and I couldn’t bring myself to move as he cleaned us both up. Then, he slid back into the bed, pulling me tight to his side and covering both of us with the blankets.

I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew this felt right, even if it was just for tonight. Eyes closed, I pressed a kiss to his chest just before I let sleep take me.

Chapter Fifteen: Zoey

The day of the wedding was finally here, and with it came many things. Top of the list for me were excitement, stress, and my father.

Those last two were related.

“You know I really don’t understand why your brother would choose to get married here with just fifty friends and family members as his guests,” Dad said after the ceremony as we made our way from the beach to the resort’s ballroom for the reception.

“This place is beautiful,” I said, keeping my tone light, even though his complaining was starting to get on my nerves after two hours of listening to it.

Thank God he didn’t come earlier in the week.

Some people might have felt sorry for us because our dad didn’t care enough to spend any of this amazing week on the island with us, but we knew that we were better off that way. Well, Ryan and I knew it. Jake still held out hope that the man would change someday.

“Yes, yes. The ocean is always pretty,” he said dismissively. “But if he had it at a more high-profile location, like The Plaza in New York, I could’ve made a real event of it. Invited business associates to impress.”

I bit my tongue instead of telling him that this wedding wasn’t about impressing anyone. It was about Ryan and Leanne getting married because they loved each other and sharing it with people they cared about instead of our dad’s business associates.

Arguing with him was pointless.

It was just a shame that I was stuck dealing with his judgment and complaints. Of the three of us—Ryan, Jake, and me—I was the only one not in the wedding party, so keeping Dad occupied fell to me.

We stepped into the ballroom through French doors, and I smiled as I looked around. I hadn’t had a chance to see how it was decorated before now, and I was glad to wait to be surprised. It was beautiful.

Crisp white linens covered round tables with centerpieces of white orchids and pink hibiscus flowers. There were gold-rimmed plates at each place setting, and crystal chandeliers hung overhead.

Instrumental music was playing softly in the background, and there was a space for a dance floor that we could use later, after everyone had eaten.

The seating arrangement had me at a table with my father, Uncle Mac, Gordon, and Kirsten. I was still upset that she told Jake about my pregnancy last night, but this wasn’t the place to discuss it. Besides, I had enough going on with my father to deal with.

“Tell me, Zoey,” he started as he used his cloth napkin to wipe the perfectly clean silverware beside his plate, “what are your plans to find a husband? Any prospects?”

Danger! You’re walking into a minefield with that one.

“Not at the moment, no. I’m afraid I’ll need to take my time to be discerning about that. I wouldn’t want to end up with the wrong person.”

His face shifted from annoyance to anger, but it was gone so quickly that I almost thought I’d imagined it. I knew that I didn’t though. It was because what I said reminded him of my mother. After she left us in the dust, he often complained about how he’d chosen the wrong person and that he should’ve been more discerning to make sure he had a wife that could handle being married to such a powerful man.

“There’s plenty of time for all that,” I continued. “For now, I’m focused on my career.”

That was partially true, but what he didn’t know was that in about eight months, my priorities were going to shift big time. I still wouldn’t be worried about marrying someone my dad might approve of anytime soon.

He gave a derisive snort. “Your career. It’s simply ridiculous that you insist on doing that. And your brother with his firefighter nonsense. Putting his life at risk for complete strangers when he could really do the sensible thing and come work for the family company. At least Jake had the right idea, going into finance.”

Yeah, and Dad’s approval was probably the reason he did that. It was a shame that he still let our dad’s opinion influence him so much.

“I love my job.”

“You could live off your trust fund, and I’m sure you’d be perfectly happy. After all, you asked for an upgrade to a bungalow this week. That tells me you like the finer things more than you’d like to admit.”

I knew that asking him to pay for a bungalow was going to bite me in the ass.

But I wasn’t about to tell him the real reason I didn’t want to stay in my original room, so I said nothing. It was easier not to argue with him most of the time, anyway.

During dinner, he mostly talked business with Uncle Mac, and I was happy to tune out the conversation for the most part, but his words about my job and lack of a husband seemed to echo in my ears, bringing down my mood on what should have been a day filled with nothing but joy on behalf of Ryan.

Then, the dinner ended, dancing began, and Ford was suddenly standing in front of me. He held out his hand with one side of his mouth ticked up in a half smile. “Dance with me?”

I shouldn’t. Everyone will see, and it’ll just confuse your poor, battered heart.

I put my hand in his anyway. I needed to escape from my father’s side anyway, and what better place to go than into the arms of someone that I knew valued me.

The things he’d said and done this week didn’t erase the pain of the breakup, but they made me sure that I believed I was important to him.

The music had been turned up a little since we’d entered the dancing portion of the evening, and other people were already on the dance floor. I shot Ford a surprised look when I spotted Kelsie and Damien not just dancing but kissing in the middle of the floor. He chuckled and shrugged.

Then, I was in his arms.

His hands went to my hips and my arms looped around his neck. He looked down into my eyes as we moved together—nothing fancy or elaborate, just two people swaying to the music.

I couldn’t help thinking of the gala. I knew it was only a couple of weeks ago, but it felt like so much longer. As I’d watched him on the dance floor with Delilah, I’d been burning with sickening jealousy. But thinking back on it now, I could tell that he was stiff, his smile forced. There was no softness in his eyes, and she made sure to keep a little space between them.

It was completely different from what he was doing now.

Ford’s grin was the most natural thing in the world, and his eyes darkened with desire because he had my body as close to his as possible.

“You look so beautiful this evening,” he said.

I was wearing a purple strapless dress that was tight around my torso and flared out a bit at my hips, ending just above my knees. I knew it was a good look for me, but Ford’s eyes were only focused on my face.

For some reason, that made warmth bloom inside me.

It didn’t occur to me until the song ended that we’d just danced together in public for the first time. All those months of hiding what we were to each other, and now, it felt like we’d stepped out into the light for the first time.

I didn’t even think about it.

Some people might just assume that we were friends sharing a dance, but I doubted it. No matter how conflicted I felt about my feelings for Ford, even I couldn’t deny that we had palpable chemistry.

Oh well.

The time for hiding whatever we were had passed. We’d move on from that. We weren’t the same people we were even just a couple of weeks ago.

I mingled with friends and family for the next hour, and by the time the party was starting to break up, I was tired but happy. Jake ended up coming to sit by Dad after dinner, so I didn’t have to keep him company myself anymore, and I was able to actually have a good time.

I came to say goodbye to him before I went back to my bungalow, knowing that he’d leave this evening, probably taking a red-eye flight back home because God forbid he even sleep here and possibly miss out on a few hours at the office.

The man even worked on Sundays.

But I placed a kiss on his cheek and told him it was good to see him because he was my dad, no matter what. We’d never be close, but he was still the only parent I had.

As I walked through the French doors and out into the humid air, it didn’t surprise me at all that Ford followed me. I paused and looked at him.

His eyes held mine as he slowly reached out for my hand. I let him take it. There were people walking out of the reception around us, plenty of witnesses to it, but I allowed him to entwine our fingers as we headed to the bungalow without saying anything.

It was satisfying in the way that felt earned, even if it changed nothing between us.

We both knew it. But we kept walking together anyway. When we reached the bungalow, I let him come inside, but it wasn’t like the last time he was here. We didn’t rip at each other’s clothes or rush to the bedroom.

Instead, I went to the hall closet, where I’d discovered a collection of board games our first day here. There was a chess set inside, so I set it up on the coffee table for us. Ford had taught me how to play while we were together, and we’d spent many evenings challenging each other to games, sharing lighthearted smack talk, and whoever won had official bragging rights until the next time.

Tonight, it felt like we were visiting the past. This chess set was old and one of the rooks had the top broken off, but we both decided that was part of its charm.

After the game, we watched a movie together, cuddled up on the couch in a way that we always had before; his arm slung over my shoulders and my body tucked in close to his. It was… the perfect way to say goodbye to what we had.

Chapter Sixteen: Ford

Irolled over in the big bed, only half-awake as I reached for Zoey. But she wasn’t there.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head to look around the bedroom of her bungalow. After we played chess together last night, she’d fallen asleep on the couch while we watched a movie. I’d carried her to bed, intending to leave, but she’d woken up a little as I placed her on the mattress and tugged on my wrist, asking me in a sleepy voice to stay.

I’d never say no to that.

We didn’t have sex. Last night didn’t feel like it was about that. We were just together. Talking and laughing like we used to. It always came easily to us.

Spending time with her was my favorite thing in the world.

But where was she?

I pulled back the blankets and grabbed my clothes from the floor—I’d slept in just my boxers. Once I was dressed in my trousers and linen blazer from the wedding, I headed out into the living room and found that the sliding door was ajar again. This time, I could see that she was on the beach, doing yoga in the morning sun.

I stepped out onto the deck, watching her for a moment. She was on her hands and knees, back arched as she looked up at the sky. As I watched, she exhaled and rounded her spine.

She was wearing possibly the tightest clothes I’d ever seen, and my morning wood twitched in my pants. I shifted on my feet, and she must have seen movement out of the corner of her eye, because her head snapped in my direction.

I waved, and she got to her feet, picking up her yoga mat and shaking the sand off before rolling it up and tucking it under her arm. She wasn’t far from the deck, so she reached me quickly.

“Good morning.” I stepped into her, bending my head and pressing a kiss to her lips.

She didn’t stop me, but she was quick to step away.

I frowned, something twisting in my chest. “Zoey?”

She bit her bottom lip and glanced at the patio furniture on the deck. “Maybe we should talk.”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all, but I followed her to the wicker chairs. They were pointed toward the beach, but I pulled mine around to face her directly.

She ran her hand down her thighs and let out a long exhale before meeting my eyes. “Listen… I know that this week has been confusing-”

“Confusing? What do you mean? I’m not confused about anything.”

“I guess it’s just been confusing for me, then. I came here determined to make it through the week without falling apart because I knew I’d have to be close to you the whole time, and you’d broken my heart.” She didn’t look away as she spoke, so I could see the raw pain she still felt. It was right there in her eyes, evidence of my biggest regret. “And then, you show up at my bungalow and say all these things… things that I wanted you to say for so long. But it was already too late.”

“No, Angel.” I leaned forward, reaching for her hands, but she pulled them away with a shake of her head. “It’s not too late.”

“It is, Ford. I know that I might’ve sent you some mixed signals about that this week, but like I said, it’s been confusing for me. I’m not going to lie, it’s been tempting to take you back because I loved what we had together, despite my unhappiness with the secrecy of it all. But I’m not the same woman that accepted that. I need to be stronger than that, for me and for our baby.”

“It won’t be like that anymore. I’m done with the secrecy.”

She shook her head. “It’s more than just the secrecy. It’s the reason that we did it. The reason that you never put Delilah in her place and the reason that you broke up with me. It’s all about the promotion. And I know it’s important to you, but a job shouldn’t come before people. You didn’t just put it above me, you put it above yourself. You sacrificed your integrity for ambition.”

“Zoey, I should’ve told you before, but I didn’t want it to complicate things while I was trying to get you back. Dr. Serrano… he didn’t threaten my promotion that day. He threatened to transfer you to a different department.” Her eyes grew large and her breath hitched. “Yeah, I know. The asshole tried telling me it was stupid to put the promotion at risk and that he wasn’t going to let me do it. You know that his entire life is the hospital, and he thinks everyone should be like him.”

The look she sent my way said that she thought I already was.

“Don’t you see?” I said, clutching the arms of the chair to keep myself from reaching for her again. “He knew that I wasn’t like him, not really. I made some stupid decisions in my pursuit of the job, but I never would have given you up for it. I think he knew that, so he told me that if I didn’t end the relationship, he’d make the problem go away by transferring you to a different department.”

“He can’t do that.” But her voice was small. We both knew that if the chief of medicine requested the transfer, nursing management would have done it.

“I know how much you love the ER, that you bounced around several different departments before you landed there. You told me it’s where you belong, and all I could think about was how you chose to become a nurse even though your family is so wealthy, that it’s your calling and if I ended up ruining it for you, I’d never forgive myself.”

Her eyes glistened with tears, but there was fury in her expression. “You should have told me. Why in the hell would you just dump me like that?”

I held up my hands, as if I was facing a wild animal. “I made the wrong call. I just… I didn’t want you to make the sacrifice of voluntarily leaving the ER for me. It didn’t feel fair after everything you’d put up with for six months. The secrecy and Delilah and all that shit. It was a mistake, Zo. A huge mistake. I should’ve talked to you about what Serrano said and let you decide what you wanted to do.”

I could see that my words reached her, but she looked angry. I couldn’t blame her. I’d tried to handle the situation myself when I should’ve treated her like my partner and let her decide what to do. It seemed like such an obvious truth now, but at the time, I convinced myself of the right course of action and took it impulsively.

Zoey sat back in her chair, eyes shifting to the ocean behind me. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and I held my breath as I waited to see what she’d say next.

“I think… maybe you did make the right decision.”

Cold fear raced down my spine. “What?”

“I wouldn’t have chosen to end our relationship if you’d talked to me, but on this side of things, I can see that our jobs will always be an obstacle for us. I don’t think it’s fair for either of us to have to change the trajectory of our careers. You’re right. Being in the ER means a lot to me, and you’ve wanted this promotion for a long time. Dr. Serrano is the problem right now, but even if we somehow convince him to back down, what’s to say someone else wouldn’t have a problem with us dating?”

She looked defeated, but there was something about her voice that hit differently. It was almost like she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying.

“You don’t trust me anymore.”

She flicked her eyes to me for a second before looking away again, but it was enough to tell me I was right.

It wasn’t just that our jobs would be a problem, it was that she didn’t trust me to do the right thing for us when the problems arose. I knew that we could deal with anything as long as we did it together, but why would she believe that? I’d proven to her that I would let her down when there was conflict between her and my job.

No matter how much I insisted that I’d changed, she wouldn’t believe it because words were easy.

I had to try to prove her wrong.

“Zoey?” Jake’s voice came from the side of the bungalow, and he walked into view, his eyes narrowing as he saw me. “What are you doing here?”

Zoey stood. “Drop it, Jake.”

He ground his teeth together and glared at me for another moment, but then he turned his attention to her. “You ready to go?”

“What?” I got to my feet. “You’re leaving now?”

Everyone was supposed to fly back home together. Our week in paradise was over, and it was time to return to our lives.

That was why Zoey was doing this. She thought that I’d revert to my old ways when we were back home.

“My flight is in two hours,” she said. She turned to Jake. “I just have to shove a few things into my suitcase. Give me ten minutes.”

I stepped in front of her before she could go inside. “Zoey, please. We aren’t done.”

She placed a hand on my cheek, and I leaned into it. Her smile was sad. “Of course we’re not. We’re going to have a baby. No matter what, we’ll always be connected by that.”

She went inside while I stood there, feeling like she’d just gutted me. Jake followed, but he gave me a surprisingly sympathetic look for a man who was pissed off about me impregnating his sister.

He felt bad for me.

Well, he was wasting his pity. I wasn’t giving up. One way or another, I’d prove myself to Zoey. This wasn’t the end of our story.

Chapter Seventeen: Zoey

My apartment feels different when I arrive home Sunday evening.

Leaving Sirona Isle was harder than I thought it’d be. It felt like I was leaving a part of myself behind. Or maybe just the person I was when I arrived.

Only a week had passed on that island, but I felt like I’d changed in ways that were irreversible.

Rolling my suitcase into my bedroom, I heaved it onto the bed and opened it up. I knew that if I didn’t unpack right away, I’d end up walking past the suitcase for days, putting off dealing with it until I wanted to wear something inside of it.

Bundling the dirty clothes in my arms, I shoved them all into the hamper in the bathroom. On my way back to the bed to grab my toiletries out of the suitcase, I passed a chair in the corner of the room.

I didn’t sit there often, and I tended to toss my jackets or purse onto it.

What caught my eye today was a sweatshirt that belonged to Ford. I’d borrowed it the last time I stayed the night because it was an unexpectedly chilly morning when I left his place to come home. It was nothing special, just an old one with University of Illinois printed on the front, but the sight of it made a heavy weight sink into my chest.

Picking it up, I brought it to my nose and inhaled the scent of cedar and amber. Ford’s cologne.

An overwhelming barrage of emotions made my knees feel weak, and I sank into the chair with a sigh. I wanted to feel confident in my decision to reject Ford, but life wasn’t that easy. I’d gone back and forth between regret and hope all day long.

The truth was that I didn’t know what I wanted because I still loved the man, but it felt dangerous to believe in us again. I didn’t want to always worry that any happiness we found together would be paid for in pain when he made a decision that hurt me again.

It had been hard to tell him that we weren’t going to work out because last night had been nearly perfect. We recreated the best of our time together, and if I could’ve stayed on that island with him forever, existing in a bubble that real life couldn’t touch, I probably would have.

But this was real life, not a fairy tale.

Folding the sweatshirt, I stood and placed it back on the chair, telling myself I’d return it to him. Eventually.

It was hard to fully let go. After he told me about what really led to his decision to break up with me, the threat that Dr. Serrano made, I was actually touched by his concern for my career. It meant something to me that he understood how important my job was to me.

But I couldn’t just forget everything else. The shame of being kept a secret and the pain of the breakup. While I could understand that he was trying to protect my job, he took away my choice in the matter. I wasn’t okay with that.

Yet, my doubts lingered. Did we truly have no future together?

I honestly didn’t know. I felt like I needed something to happen, a way to trust him again. But I couldn’t think of anything that would give me that.

Refusing to keep dwelling on my tragic love life, I got back to the task at hand. Once I’d finished unpacking, I left my room and walked down the hallway.

This was a two-bedroom apartment, but I only ever used the other room for storage. I didn’t need it for anything else.

Until now.

Standing in the doorway of the second bedroom, I took in the boxes of holiday decorations and old stuff that I’d been meaning to donate to charity for way too long. Then, I tried to imagine what this space could be. Maybe I’d paint the walls light blue and put a crib against the wall opposite the window. A rocking chair could go in the corner and there was a short stretch of wall by the closet that would probably be the perfect place for a changing table.

I could see it all. A beginning for my little blueberry—since I was now seven weeks along, I’d swapped the nickname in my mind.

The idea of having a baby was still a little daunting, but I didn’t feel so scared now. Instead, I had a fierce determination to do better than my parents before me. No matter what happened with Ford or my job or how pissed my brother was at the father of my child, I knew that we were all going to be just fine. This baby would be loved.

Chapter Eighteen: Ford

I’d waited for this day for months.

When I first heard that the previous director of residency was going to retire, I immediately saw an opportunity for myself. It wasn’t because I particularly liked the idea of shifting to more administrative work. I’d always liked taking care of patients, and the new role would limit my ability to do that significantly.

It was all about the title, the prestige of it. The money was nice too, but my ambition was never focused as much on monetary gain as it was on feeling like I’d made something of myself.

There was probably some deep-rooted psychological reason for that, but I didn’t need to analyze my motives to know that they’d changed.

I walked into the hospital early in the morning, looking around the place with fresh eyes as I tried to imagine how my days would be different if I nailed the interview with the board today and got the job.

It would certainly be different.

When I reached my office, the door was ajar. I usually locked it, but it was possible that I had forgotten. I was miserable as hell before I went to the island, regretting what I did to Zoey so much that it was all I could think about.

I never left sensitive patient information out, using the locked filing cabinet for any charts I pulled, so I wasn’t especially concerned as I pushed the door further open and stepped inside.

Then, I stopped in my tracks as I saw that Delilah was waiting for me.

She was fidgeting with the knickknacks on the bookshelf behind my desk, as if she had a right to be here. I cleared my throat, and she whirled around, not even looking guilty for invading my space like this.

“There you are!” She came around my desk and toward me with a strange mix of excitement and annoyance on her face. “I knew you’d be back today, so I came in first thing to talk to you.”

I heaved a sigh. I knew that I needed to deal with Delilah, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do first thing in the morning. Still, it was probably best to get it over with since she was already here.

“Sit down, Delilah,” I said, gesturing to the chair in front of my desk.

She pouted. “That’s it? You’ve been ignoring me for days while you were off on some island, and all you have to say is ‘sit down’?”

I frowned. “What did you expect?”

“An apology, to start with. I sent you a sexy picture, and your response was so rude.”

She sniffled like she was about to cry, but her eyes were suspiciously dry.

I moved behind my desk, wanting it between us so she couldn’t get handsy the way that she usually did.

“I wasn’t rude. I just told you not to send me any more nude pictures that I never asked for.”

She came to the front of my desk, leaning forward with a pout on her lips. It was probably supposed to be appealing, but it landed flat with me.

“Don’t be like that. I was just trying to show you that I missed you while you were gone.”

“I don’t know why you’d miss me. It’s not like we spend any significant time together.”

“I visit the hospital all the time.”

I shook my head. “That’s not us spending time together. That’s you hanging all over me and slowing me down while I’m trying to work.”

She scoffed as she straightened and crossed her arms over her chest. “Unbelievable. We’ve been dancing around this for so long, flirting all the time, and now you’re just going to act like you don’t want me? I know that you regret breaking up with me.”

Wow. She was confident, I’d give her that.

“I haven’t been flirting with you. But I’ll admit that I haven’t stopped you from coming on to me, and I should have.”

She bristled. “I was just responding to your energy.”

“We both know that’s not true. I haven’t sought you out once since the engagement ended. Haven’t called or texted you. I don’t touch you, and I don’t talk about my personal life with you. Believe me when I say that I don’t want to be with you.”

I tried to be firm without coming across as hateful. I didn’t want to hurt her because Zoey was right when she said that Delilah wasn’t really to blame for all this. She was bold and a little naive, but she didn’t deserve cruelty.

Zoey was also right about me sacrificing my integrity for ambition. I didn’t encourage Delilah, but I was willing to let her think whatever she wanted about my feelings for her if it worked to my advantage in the end. That wasn’t fair to anyone.

“I’m sorry that I led you on,” I said, meaning it. I didn’t think about her feelings in all of this.

But my guilt over that disappeared as she rushed around my desk and threw herself into my lap. Her arms locked around my neck before I even knew what was happening, and she brought her face in close to mine, lips puckered.

I turned my head at the last second and her lips landed on my cheek instead of my mouth, but that didn’t make it okay. Grabbing her arms, I pried them off my neck and stood, leaving her no choice but to get to her own feet or tumble to the floor.

I held onto her arms just long enough to make sure her legs were steady, and then I released her and backed away.

“Damn it, Delilah,” I snapped. “I told you that I’m not interested in you!”

“But I’ve never stopped loving you! I thought you ended the engagement because you freaked out about the commitment. I thought that if I hung around long enough, you’d realize…”

Her voice broke, and this time, there were tears in her eyes. But my sympathy had evaporated when she tried to force a kiss on me.

“I’m not afraid of commitment at all,” I said, thinking of how much I wanted to see Zoey walking toward me in a white dress. “But you’re not the woman I want to commit to, and you never will be.”

Delilah flinched, but I wouldn’t take the words back or even soften them. I tried to gently set a boundary, and she wouldn’t accept that. So, blunt honesty was the only way to go.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that more time had passed since I arrived than I realized.

“You need to go,” I said. “I have some things to do before my meeting with the board.”

Delilah started to reach out for me, and I wasn’t sure what she wanted to accomplish, but I took a step back. Her fist closed and she lowered it to her side.

“I meant it, you know. I’ve always loved you.”

“You might think that, but I promise that there’s someone better for you out there. You and I just aren’t right for each other. We never were.”

Her mouth turned down and she swallowed hard. I thought she was fighting the urge to cry, but her eyes suddenly hardened. Her voice was cold and sharp when she spoke again.

“I know why you’re meeting with the board today. I know you want that director of residency job.”

I wasn’t expecting her to turn vicious, but I probably should have. When we were together, she always buried hurt feelings and lashed out.

“What’s your point?” I asked, but I already knew.

“If I walk out of here right now, I’m going straight to his office. What do you think will happen when he sees how much you’ve upset me?”

It was the last weapon in her arsenal, but it wasn’t going to work.

“If Dr. Hirschi lets personal matters get in the way of making business decisions, there’s really not much I can do about that. I would hope he’d have more integrity than that.”

Letting out a frustrated sound in the back of her throat, she marched to the door and pulled it open. “Good luck in your meeting,” she sneered.

I grinned. “I won’t need it.”

She left, slamming the door behind her, and I felt nothing but relief.

Chapter Nineteen: Zoey

The hospital was just as busy as it always was on a Monday. I hit the ground running, and it was a relief to be back to work. I enjoyed my vacation, but this place gave me purpose.

I got the report from the night shift nurse and jumped right into action, checking on patients, reviewing charts, and picking up lab reports. There was always plenty to do and before I knew it, two hours had passed.

When I checked the time, my stomach twisted. This was when Ford was supposed to be meeting with the board about his promotion.

Despite everything, I hoped he got it. He was a great doctor, and he deserved recognition for that.

Refocusing, I got back to work.

It was twenty minutes later when I walked past Ford’s office, only to stumble to a stop at what I saw inside.

The door was open, and Ford was inside, clearing his knickknacks off the bookshelf and into a box. I told myself to keep going, that it was none of my business. But I walked into the room instead.

He looked up as I entered, and a smile immediately spread across his face. “Hey there, Angel.”

I offered him a small grin in return and gestured to the box on his desk. “So, you’re packing up?”

He nodded as he placed the last item from the shelf into the box. “Yep. I’m done here.”

“So, I guess congratulations are in order.”

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“Well, you got the job, right? You’re packing up to move to a new office?”

The director of residency’s office was on the third floor. I hardly ever had reason to go up there, so I’d rarely see him at the hospital anymore.

“No, Zoey. I turned it down.”

I frowned, moving further into the room. “What do you mean?”

“They offered the job, but I didn’t take it. I quit.”

My jaw dropped. “W-What?” Why would you do that?”

“Several reasons.” He came around from behind his desk and stood in front of me. “I went into the meeting with every intention of taking the job. But as soon as they said it was mine, I realized that I didn’t want it anymore.”

“But it was so important to you.”

“Too important. And you know what I realized? I hadn’t even thought about the promotion the entire week we were on the island, other than regretting the choices I made in pursuit of it. I realized as I sat there that I didn’t want to deal with mountains of paperwork and mentoring residents and hardly ever actually treating patients. I wanted the job because the idea of it made me feel important when I first heard about it, but the reality of it doesn’t suit me at all.” His eyes flared with raw emotion. “Besides, it would never be worth what it cost me. I couldn’t be happy knowing that I fucked up the best thing in my life for that job.”

That was a lot to take in, and my mind was reeling from the news that he turned down the job. I never would have expected this, not in a million years.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked.

“One hundred percent.”

He seemed sure. Not only that, there was something… peaceful about him right now.

“But what will you do?” I asked.

He gave a nonchalant shrug. “I have job options. I’ll find something.”

“Ford… did you do this for me?”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I needed to know.

“Not entirely. I’m being honest when I tell you that the job isn’t right for me. I was chasing a title when what really matters is being a doctor. I went into this profession because I wanted to treat patients, to help people directly. I had the mentality that that wasn’t enough, that I wasn’t good enough unless I achieved more. But I’ve realized I was wrong about that.”

“Of course, you were wrong about that! You don’t need to prove yourself by getting a promotion. You’re a hell of a doctor, and you should be proud of that.”

He flashed that wide smile again. “You know, I think that right there might be what helped me realize this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Screwing things up between us was the worst thing I’ve ever done, but it also made me realize that I was always good enough because you saw me as enough. I didn’t need to prove it to anyone else, even myself. I just didn’t see it before. One of the reasons that I love you is because of how you don’t care about things like job titles or money. You care about who a person is. That’s what makes them worthy.”

I stared at him a moment. “You love me?”

He laughed and stepped closer, pulling me into a hug. “Come on, Zo. That can’t be a surprise.”

No, it wasn’t. But I didn’t expect him to say it so casually like that. And now, he was hugging me in the middle of his office with the door open, where anyone could walk by and see.

“You said ‘not entirely,’” I said, my voice mumbled because my face was pressed against his chest. He moved back, but didn’t go far. “When I asked if you did this for me, you said ‘not entirely.’”

“You were a factor, yes. I know how much you care about this job, and I don’t trust that Serrano won’t try to interfere with your job if we’re together, even if I am director of residency. But I figure if I’m not employed by this hospital any longer, he has no reason to care about us dating.”

“But we’re not dating,” I said weakly. Because he just said he loved me and he quit his job and his cedar and amber scent was so damn intoxicating…

“No, we’re not, but I’m determined to get you to trust me again. When I do and I can call you mine, I’m never letting you go again. And when that time comes, I want the whole damn world to know.”

He was so earnest, and my heart split wide open for him. For the first time in two weeks, my hope was stronger than my fear.

Maybe trusting him again was a gamble. There were no guarantees that we wouldn’t hurt each other again somewhere down the road. But looking into his eyes, I knew something with absolute certainty. Ford was worth the risk.

I launched myself forward and threw my arms around him.

“I love you too,” I whispered. Then, he was kissing me, his mouth moving against mine while he let out a throaty sound that might have been relief.

I pulled away before it got too heated—this was still the place I worked, after all—and Ford looked at me with so much affection that I felt it all the way down to my bones.

“I missed you so much,” he said.

“I missed you too.”

He was still close, still holding onto me. It felt right in a way that nothing else ever could.

“I’m done being an idiot, I swear. I’m going to show you every day how important you are to me. And the next time I propose, you’ll say yes.”

My cheeks hurt from smiling so wide. “Is that so? You seem a little arrogant, Dr. Whitmore.”

“You’ve made me confident, Angel. I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it.”

His teasing tone made me laugh, and then we were kissing again. I could definitely live with that.

Epilogue: Ford

“Ford!”

I jolted as Zoey yelled my name, dropping the screwdriver in my hand. I was in the nursery, putting together the changing table that was just delivered yesterday, but I lunged to my feet. There was an edge of panic in her voice, and my girl didn’t get freaked out easily.

There was one thing that had her on edge lately, so I had a pretty good idea what I was going to find as I rushed into the living room.

Zoey stood in front of the couch, one hand on her swollen stomach and the other typing away on her phone. The front of her pants was soaked.

“My water broke!” She was practically yelling, so I didn’t point out that what she said was obvious.

I didn’t want to upset her when she was already so worried about giving birth.

I didn’t see it coming. As an ER nurse, keeping a cool head in a stressful situation was something that Zoey had to be good at. I’d seen her assess victims of horrible accidents with absolute professional calm and dodge a wild punch from an agitated patient without even blinking. She was the definition of cool, calm, and collected.

At least, she was at work while dealing with other people’s ailments. When it came to her own condition, it was a different story. She’d been nothing but excited about having the baby for a long time, but when she got to her third trimester, the panic started. For some reason, she was terrified about giving birth.

It was actually pretty adorable that she was so worried, but I only made the mistake of telling her that once. She’d glared at me and refused to talk to me for the rest of the day, and I realized that she didn’t see it as a compliment. Since then, I kept my comments about it to myself.

I definitely didn’t tell her that her out-of-control hormones were making her overreact. I didn’t have a death wish.

“Why are you just standing there?” Her voice was sharp with impatience, but I didn’t take offence because the next second, she was wincing and doubled over in pain.

I rushed to her side, one hand on her back and the other plucking her phone out of her hand before she dropped it. I saw that she’d been texting Ruby, and I finished the message for her, letting her best friend know that we were on our way.

I waited until the contraction passed and then lifted Zoey into my arms, striding toward the bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to help you change your clothes and then we’re going to Lakeview.”

“Ford.” She whimpered as I set her on her feet in the middle of the bedroom. “I’m scared.”

I was already pulling open her drawers, looking for a pair of her stretchy leggings, but I stopped and returned to her. Cupping her cheeks, I kissed her forehead.

“Don’t worry, Angel. Nothing is going to go wrong.”

“But it’s going to hurt.”

I hesitated, not sure what to say here. I couldn’t exactly lie and tell her it would be painless.

“I know,” I said, hugging her to my chest. “And I wish I could take the pain away from you. I promise, you’re strong enough to do this.”

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

She suddenly pushed against my chest, looking sullen. One thing I wasn’t going to miss having her blame me occasionally for all the unpleasant parts of her pregnancy. I went back to the dresser, giving her a little space as I grabbed leggings and fresh underwear.

Tossing them into the bed, I reached for the front of her wet maternity jeans, but she batted my hands away. “I can do it.”

Then, another contraction hit. I hated seeing her in so much pain, and my amusement about her panic faded. I wanted to get her to the hospital and demand an epidural for her.

As soon as this contraction passed, I ignored her protests and changed her pants for her. Her cheeks were red, as if it embarrassed her, and I had the thought that she was adorable again.

Then, we were on the road. It didn’t take long to get to the hospital from our place, but she had three more contractions by the time we arrived. I used the car’s clock to time them, and they were five minutes apart. She was fully in active labor. Things were moving fast.

Okay, maybe I was starting to panic a little too. We knew this was coming any day, but it still felt sudden. We were about to become parents!

“Ford.” Zoey hissed my name between gritted teeth as I parked the car, reaching for my hand and squeezing it hard enough to bend my bones.

I just held on.

When that contraction was over, I popped my door open and rushed around to the other side. Zoey shook her head as I pulled her into my arms.

“No, I can walk.”

I just kissed her and started to make my way into the hospital.

Everything moved quickly after that. Ruby personally met us at the entrance, hustling down the hallway as Zoey moaned in pain. I didn’t have a clock to reference now, but there was no way five minutes had passed since the last one.

Our little pumpkin was coming soon.

Ruby helped me put Zoey in a gown, and she didn’t protest the help this time. Probably because she was in so much pain. Tears swam in her eyes, and she was flushed.

“It hurts,” she whimpered after a contraction that lasted fifty seconds. All I could do was hold her hand and kiss her forehead.

The doctor came in and checked her, announcing to my dismay that labor was too far along for the epidural. My heart plummeted to the floor but when I looked at Zoey, there was a determined spark in her eyes. The panic was gone. She’d found her strength at the final moment.

In no time, the doctor was telling her to start pushing. Ruby was at her other side, holding her other hand, and we counted to ten every time she pushed. She grunted and cried out, but she didn’t scream after the doctor told her to conserve her energy for pushing instead.

It felt like it took forever because every flinch and wince made my heart stop and my lungs feel too small. I wiped the sweat from her head and murmured encouraging words in her ear. Mostly, I told her that was the most amazing woman I’d ever known, and that I was so damn proud of her.

When the baby’s cry filled the room, the sound of joy that fell from Zoey’s lips was something that I knew I’d remember forever.

I cut the cord and they placed our daughter on Zoey’s chest. Seeing the two of them together was the most significant moment in my life. Nothing compared to this.

When we were alone, I took a brief moment to make a few phone calls. Everything had happened so fast that I didn’t have the chance to before. Leanne informed me that Ryan was at the firehouse on a shift, but she’d let him know right away. Jake picked up my call on the first ring, and I barely got the words out before he said he was on his way and hung up.

I smiled and shook my head. He’d come around to the idea of Zoey having my baby over the last eight months. Once I made it clear that I loved her and would never hurt her again, he gave his blessing.

I didn’t particularly care about having it, but it made Zoey happy.

Ryan wasn’t surprised when I told him about my relationship with Zoey. It turned out that he was more observant than I knew, and he’d picked up on a vibe between us the first time we were all at a party after we started dating.

When I asked why he didn’t say anything, he just shrugged and said that he wasn’t nosy.

Leanne, on the other hand, had no clue and had laid into Ryan about the importance of sharing vital gossip with his wife. In the end, we all had a good laugh, and I didn’t have to deal with another pissed off brother, so I was happy about that.

“Did you text Lance?” Zoey asked.

Ever since I joined his clinic seven months ago, Zoey and I referred to Dr. Lance Hayes by his first name. He wasn’t just my colleague; he was my friend. He was still an arrogant ass at times, but I’d grown used to it.

I found that I liked private practice. I liked having medical autonomy and more regular hours. It was a good fit for me.

“Yeah,” I said, putting the phone away as I came back over to where she was breastfeeding our daughter. “He says congratulations and that he’ll come by to visit tomorrow.”

I reached out and softly ran my finger over the soft brown hair on the baby’s head.

“So, what do you think?” Zoey asked. “Which name should we use?”

We’d pick out two girls’ names, but we couldn’t decide which one we liked more. So, we chose to wait until she was born to see which one felt right. “I think she looks like a Stella.”

“Stella,” Zoey repeated with a grin. “Yeah, she’s definitely a Stella.”

The baby finished eating and I burped her. She fell asleep immediately, so I carefully placed her on the bedside bassinet. When I turned back to Zoey, she was watching me with tired, happy eyes. There was a softness to this moment, and I knew that this was it. This was what I’d been waiting for.

Stepping back to the bed, I took Zoey’s hand and brought it to my lips. As I kissed her knuckles, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring I’d been carrying for weeks, trying to figure out when and how to pop the question.

After the disaster of my first proposal, I wanted to get this right.

Holding her eyes, I slipped the ring right onto her finger.

“What the-”

“Marry me, Zoey,” I blurted. Shit. I didn’t prepare a speech. “I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If you want to beg, I will. Just please marry me.”

Her lips curled in a slow smile. “The proud Dr. Whitmore would beg for me?”

A memory sparked. Months ago, the greenroom. She’d asked the same thing. And my answer was the same.

“Absolutely.”

She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down until her lips met mine. The kiss was short and sweet, and I was pretty sure I knew what it meant, but I needed to hear the words.

“Zoey? You have to answer the question.”

She laughed lightly. “Yes, Ford. I’ll marry you.”

Joy rushed through me, and I sat on the edge of her bed to hold her close. My fiancée. Soon, my wife. The mother of my child, and the love of my life. I held everything in my arms, and I would never, ever let it go.

Thank You!

Thank you so much for reading Worth the Risk. If you enjoyed Zoey and Ford’s story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, even a few words make a huge difference for an indie author. Look out for the next book in the Love on Sirona Isle series, Take the Leap, coming soon!

About the Author

Courtney Mack is a romance author and longtime ghostwriter who has finally stepped into the spotlight with stories of her own. A romance author through and through, she believes every story deserves a happy ending. Courtney lives in Indiana with her husband (her actual high school sweetheart – swoon), two kids, and two spoiled dogs. When she’s not writing love stories, she’s cooking, reading, or enjoying an iced coffee.

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Also by Courtney Mack

Crossing the Line (Book One in the Love on Sirona Isle Series)

https://a.co/d/09imtSCA

Kelsie has been in love with her best friend for two years. She never planned to act on it — until one night on a tropical island, the line between friendship and something more disappeared entirely.

By morning, it was back. And Damien made sure she knew it.

He called it a mistake. She called it the end of hoping. Determined to protect what’s left of her heart, Kelsie does the only thing she can — she stops reaching for him. No saved seats. No late-night movies for two. No pretending that what they had was ever just friendship.

She doesn’t expect him to notice. She doesn’t expect him to care.

She’s wrong on both counts.

Set against the backdrop of a stunning island wedding, Crossing the Line is a story about the courage it takes to love someone, the fear that makes us push them away, and the moment we finally realize that some lines are worth crossing.