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“Nothing has changed, Noah. Or rather, everything has changed. I thought I was strong enough to be with you, but I’m not.”
His brows clamped together. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Don’t you see? If I don’t leave, all I would be doing is standing in your way.”
“Stop speaking in fucking parables and tell me straight.”
She forced the question out. “Did you see yourself one day as a father? Before Ashley dropped her bombshell?”
Confusion darkened his eyes. “I guess. Eventually. I’m not fucked up enough to think I wouldn’t make an okay dad one day.”
Anguish weakened her limbs. “You would be better than okay.” She stopped and they stared at each other for an eternity. Then she asked the burning question. “So you want this baby?”
His confusion deepened. “If it’s mine, then I don’t have a choice but to be its father. It’s not a responsibility I can walk away from.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. Do you want a baby? Did you ever want a baby, now or in the future?”
“Yes, I do. But I still don’t understand?—”
“I have to go, Noah.” She fisted numb fingers.
He raked a hand through his hair. “Fuck it, Leia. What am I missing here?”
“Nothing.” She tried to keep the bleakness from her voice. “You’re not missing anything. I’m going home.”
The confusion faded. The brutal Noah, who’d instructed her to leave his presence in sixty seconds yesterday, loomed large in the darkened bistro. She took a step back, then another. Self-preservation kicked in when he started to round the table toward her.
Fear of breaking down and going back on what she’d convinced herself was the best path forced her feet to move faster.
“Where the hell are you going?” he demanded.
She broke into a run. The kitchen area was dark, but the automatic lights came on as she bolted into the room. Rushing to the door, she slammed on the long exit bar and stumbled into the parking lot. Another light came on, throwing a spotlight on Noah’s Maserati.
The futility of what she was doing hit her. She couldn’t call a cab without her phone. And she wasn’t stupid enough to wander unfamiliar streets at midnight.
She whirled as the door slammed, but Noah was already outside, stalking to where she stood, frozen.
One hand clamped around her waist, the other spearing into her hair. The bottle of water fell from her hand and rolled away.
At that hour of night, the warmth of the day had nearly dissipated. Cool air whispered around her legs and back. But her front was on fire, singeing from contact with this hard, angry male.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re saying you don’t want to be with me because I’m about to become a father. Tell me I’m mistaken, Leia.”
Her heart turned to stone. Which was curious considering she could’ve sworn it was bleeding away every drop of blood in her body.
The hand in her hair tightened painfully, twisted until her eyes stung with the pressure. His gaze demanded answers but his body reacted to hers, as inevitably as hers to his. Her temperature shot from zero to a million degrees in a split second,sizzling along every nerve ending and spiking straight between her legs. Her clit pulsed to hungry, demanding life. The reaction was so strong, she gasped.
And that was even before she felt his thickness against her belly. Even before his hands splayed over her ass to press her closer. Her hands skated over his hair-dusted forearms. The sensation of skin against skin made them both shiver. He exhaled harshly, and her eyes dropped to his lips.
God, she wanted to kiss him so badly she could taste it.
The hand in her hair knotted sharply. She winced.
He smiled. “Answer me.”
Her fingers froze on his arms. She should push him away, step away from this need searing them both. But her body refused to obey. Not that Noah would let her go. His grip on her was molten steel, fusing her to him.
No. The only way to get him to release her would be to answer his question.