Page 135 of Rock Giant

“No killing required.Stealth mission.I need to talk to—”

“Your girl,” she finished for him.“Got a reason, because correct me if I’m wrong, but I think she’s avoiding you, and usually, I’m an adherent of the school of life that says if a lady’s told you to keep your arse away from her, you keep your arse away from her.”

“It’s important.”

“Honey bun, it always is.”

“I’m serious, Ginny.I’ve potentially screwed up badly and I need to know...”He bit his tongue; not sure he wanted to share the details.He hadn’t even gone into the weeds of it with Ash.Honestly, the fewer people that knew, the easier it’d be for everyone.“I need to know that she’s all right, and that she’s not experienced any complications as a result of our last...of when we last saw one another.”

“Right, care to explain that again, without resorting to code?Sorry, while I’m an epic super-secret agent, as you know, I left my cryptography specs at home today.”

Not really.“The night you texted me asking if I was, you know,” –he lifted his brows— “I was?”

She shook her head.“Nope.Still need a decoder.”

“Fucking her,” he said under his breath, as he bowed his head.“I was.I mean, I did.But not deliberately.I mean, yes, deliberately, but not in a...planned fashion.Stuff happened, and it...Do I really need to explain this to you?I’m just concerned, because we didn’t use anything, and...”

Ginny put her curled fist to her mouth.It took him a moment to realise she was trying to hide a smirk.

“It’s not funny, Gin.”

“No,” she agreed her whisky gold eyes gleaming.“Definitely not funny.It is a little bit funny.”

It wasn’t.It really wasn’t.Okay, if it’d been someone else telling him they’d screwed up, he might have thought it was a bit funny.Living it, though.That wasn’t funny.It was fucked.

“I don’t fuck people bare.I don’t take those sorts of risks.Not ever.”

She sobered and patted him on the back.“Oh, that’s what you’re worrying about, not the actual shagging part.”Her pats gradually slowed, before transforming into circular rubs.“Okay, so what is it you’re thinking of asking her?”

Was that not obvious?“If she’s okay?If there’s anything she needs my help with, or that I can do?”

“Paul, are you seriously worried you’ve knocked her up?You realise if you have it’s too early to tell, and too late to do anything about it.”

“Yes, but...”

Ginny gave his back another comforting pat.“I always liked you.You always recognise actions have consequences, even if you ignore them most of the time.”

Not true.He calculated risks and acted accordingly.

Paul squinted at her from out of the corners of his eyes.She’d stuck one thumbnail in her mouth and was thinking aloud.“Well, she’s in a long-term relationship, so she’s probably using some form of birth control.Ergo, you’re probably worrying unnecessarily.It’s sweet that you are, though, even if you’re doing it approximately seven days too late.”

“Yeah, well I got whisked off to Stryn with your hubby, didn’t I?And it’s not seven days, it’s five.”

“Do you not have the lass’s number?”

“No.”And even if he did, he wasn’t sure she’d answer if he called.Nor was he about to send her incriminating text messages.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say her fiancé doesn’t know that you’re fucking her?”

Paul rubbed his suddenly extremely itchy nose.“I’m not fucking her.”Much as part of him very much wished he was regularly fucking her.“It happened once.Accidentally, in a moment of...of high emotion.You know what, Gin, I’m not sure it matters.He’s pissed off with me anyway and pissed off at her as a result.And if he knows, then he knows, and if he doesn’t, I’m not about to tell him.It’s up to Jodi whether she does...has.”

There was a distinct possibility she’d confessed, it’d be a very Jodi-esque thing to do.Her self-preservation instincts were decidedly lacking.“I just need a quick word, and I don’t want that to cause a nuclear explosion.You gonna help me, or not?”

Ginny crossed her arms, making him sweat, while she considered.“Ahh, yeah, okay.Since it’s you.”

Paul let some of the tension melt from his shoulders.“Thank you.”

“But I’d like it acknowledged that I’m only doing it because I know you equate your handfasting to a legitimate marriage.Otherwise, I wouldn’t approve.It’s not cool hooking up with someone who’s in a relationship behind their partner’s back.It hurts people.”