Chance wasn’t built for this.
At lunchtime, he couldn’t resist the old itch any longer. There was only one place he wanted to be.
Luckily, it opened early, the better to draw men like him into ruin.
He grabbed one of the ranch trucks so he wouldn’t have to go home for his, gunned the engine, and tore off to the Red Dog to lose himself in his usual cure.
Cordy woke up alone in the middle of the morning.
It felt like it took her hours to open her eyes. Her brain was groggy, her vision fogged. The clock said it was after ten.
She’d slept too long. Way too long.
“Chance?” She called for him even as her instincts told her he wasn’t there. The house felt too empty, like it had been that way for hours and hours.
Only silence greeted her. Cordy wriggled her way out of bed, feeling clumsier than usual. Why had she slept so long? That never happened to her, especially now she was so far along. She’d woken up every few hours like clockwork for the past two weeks. It was one of the things that happened in late pregnancy, but it struck Cordy as very stupid. Shouldn’t her body be stocking up on as much sleep as possible?
When she tried to open the bedroom door, she almost tripped over Iggy. The greyhound yelped and whined when he saw her, plastering himself to her side.
Cordy rubbed his ears. “What’s wrong?”
Iggy whined some more. He pressed a paw against her thigh, staring at her like he needed her to understand something.
“I wish I spoke dog.” She patted his head. “Everything is fine. Let’s get breakfast.”
The living room was quiet and still. The kitchen was the same way. Chance hadn’t even left breakfast for her.
Which meant he’d taken off fast this morning. Usually, he at least left her breakfast.
After last night, he must be freaked out. And he’d run off. He’d probably left tire tracks on the driveway from peeling out.
Cordy sighed. Her tummy felt off, so she wasn’t hungry, but seriously? She wasn’t expecting Chance to stick around for a heart-to-heart, but not even leaving her breakfast sent a clear signal.
If she was a cowgirl, she could lasso him back. Drop a rope right around his shoulders and drag him home where he belonged. But she was only a cranky pregnant lady.
For a moment, her eyes burned. She should have known Chance would spook hard after something like this. He’d told her again and again he wasn’t one for commitment.
She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up and let him break her heart, but she’d done it anyway. Last night had been special, but that had only driven him away. He cared about her, but it wasn’t enough to overcome his demons.
Damn, but thissucked.
Cordy breathed through her nose as she wiped her eyes. She was a grown woman about to have a baby. She didn’t have time to be crying over a man.
Speaking of that, she ought to start?—
“Oooof!” Cordy grabbed her cramping belly. It felt like every one of her ab muscles decided to pull as hard as they could all at once. She exhaled hard, trying to stay upright. God, thathurt.
Iggy started barking, jumping around her as he lost his mind.
“I’m okay,” she said to him. He kept freaking out.
Slowly, she uncurled from her almost fetal position. She rubbed her belly, which was tingling with the aftershocks.
“That was some Braxton-Hicks,” she told herself. “I didn’t know they could get that big.”
Iggy made the saddest noise as he shoved his thin body against her. What was up with him? He wasn’t usually so clingy.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “Is this because you didn’t get any bacon?”
