“She’s embarrassed that she took it this far,”Drewsaid.
“If you see her, tell her not to worry. I’ll figure something out. I always do,”shesaid.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You seem like a nice person. Anyone else would have flown off thehandle.”
“I’ve tre... um, seen a lot of pregnant women do crazy things,”shesaid.
“Women in your family?” heasked.
“Acquaintances.”
She’d lied to Madison about everything, including her former occupation. She’d been an obstetrician in her old life, but now she’d never be able to practice again. Lying about everything else was fairly easy, but faking a medical license was going too far. It violated the Hippocratic Oath’s ethicalstandards.
Did she even have any ethics anymore? How far would she go to keep her former lifesecret?
As she followed Drew into the kitchen, she barely registered hiscommentary.
“…and dinner is served at seven. Town is only twenty minutes away and we keep the road plowed in the winter,” hefinished.
She nodded at the right times and smiled when it seemed appropriate. But the reality of the situation was slowly seeping in. The grand plan she’d constructed had failed. Now what? She’d have to find another place to hide, butwhere?
“Feel free to use any of the common areas downstairs,” he said. “We have a hot tub out back and plenty of walking trails. Although I wouldn’t wander too far into the woods because it’s easy to get lost. If you need anything, I’m sure Madison will come out of hiding at some point, but anyone will be happytohelp.”
“Thanks,Drew.”
“It’s the least we can do,” he said. “The bedrooms areupstairs.”
She trailed behind, taking a moment to peek into the living room. A large overstuffed sofa sat in front of a tall fireplace. Huge oil and watercolor paintings of nature scenes decorated the walls. The entire room held the warmth of family. A twinge of regret pierced her heart. She missed her daughter so much, but couldn’t do anythingaboutit.
After returning her attention to the stairs, she caught a great view of Drew’s butt. On the right man, jeans could be sexier than a pair of silk boxers. She had no doubt that every inch of him was as hard as granite and as chiseled as a marblestatue.
An unfamiliar warmth spread throughout her body. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d wanted a man. On the road, she’d passed plenty of burly truckers, but they didn’t turn her head at all. Most of them were downright revolting. The few good-looking men she’d encountered reminded her toomuchof—
“Your room is right down the hall,” Drew said as they reached the top of the stairs. “We have a couple of larger rooms near the back of the house. Since no one else lives here except for Madison and Mack, there shouldn’t be too much noise in thehouse.”
He opened the last door on the left and stepped into the bedroom. She crossed the threshold into a stunning rustic bedroom. A large four-poster bed sat in the center of the room. A matching dresser and nightstand completedtheset.
“The bathroom is over here,”hesaid.
As she followed him into the smaller space, her heart kicked against her ribs. The cowboy’s piney scent rolled off of him in waves. The subtle underlying hint of sweat only served to enhance his ultra-masculine presence. Too bad he hadn’t been the one communicating with her. She would have tossed him into the huge bathroom and gotten her rub-a-dub-dubon.
When he turned and almost walked into her, she realized she’d been following tooclose.
“Oh, I’m sorry,”shesaid.
“Close space,” hemurmured.
His gaze dropped to search her face… but for what? She had no idea. She sensed intent behind that look in his eyes… but maybe she was just imaginingthings.
“It’s too bad,” he saidsoftly.
“What?”
“It’s too bad we’ll never have a chance to get to know each other,”hesaid.
“Maybe in another life,” shewhispered.
“Maybe.” He leaned forward slightly, just a small movement that made her think he was going tokissher.
