Floored - Karla Sorensen Page 0,31

and conjured an image of her face.

Nerves first, as I tried to kiss her.

Resolve next, as she pushed me away to say the words.

Disbelief. The widening of her eyes.

Hurt. The pinch of her brows.

Then rage. I'd seen fireworks explode with less glittering anger than I saw behind Lia's blue, blue eyes.

In the span of only a few moments, I saw so many different sides to her—this woman who was still a stranger for all intents and purposes. A stranger in a country that wasn't her own, by herself.

I dropped my hand and looked at Declan. "No. I don't think she's lying."

"Then fix it, you git." He stood. "See what she needs and take care of it."

I must've had a blank look on my face because he rolled his eyes.

"Does she need to see a doctor? Does she have the vitamins she needs? Is she living in a safe place? Does she want to keep it? Bloody hell, McAllister, you're thirty-one years old. Grow a pair, call her, and make it right."

He slapped me on the back and shoved me sideways, so he could leave the room.

I pulled out my mobile.

Me: I'm sorry. I was an arse. I'm done with practice, and I'd love to chat if you have a minute.

My phone started ringing in my hand, Lia's name appearing in large letters across the screen. My heart leaped into my throat as I answered.

"Hello?"

She was quiet.

"Lia?"

"Yeah. I'm here."

I sank against the wall again. "I need to apologize for how I reacted last night. I was a total arse."

"Yes, you were." She sighed heavily. "But ... I shouldn't have stormed off either. I guess the insinuation that I was lying didn't ... sit well with me." Before I could open my mouth, she interrupted. "And I know, I know why you're cautious. But that's why I told you about Logan first. I'd never ever take advantage of someone because of what they do."

"I know," I told her. "The truth is, Lia, we don't know each other. At all."

"We're kinda going about this backward, huh?"

I smiled. "A bit."

"Can we, I don't know, meet for coffee? Or tea?"

"That sounds like a very smart, adult decision for us to make."

Lia laughed, and the sound of it, after the past twenty-four hours, finally felt like I was doing something right. It was okay to have my priorities shift, no matter how the conversation went with her or how she wanted to handle it.

"I'm open tomorrow, if you are."

"Why don't we meet somewhere in London? Bit of a happy medium for both of us."

"You can do that without being ... I don't know ... mobbed?"

It was my turn to laugh. "Yes. In Shepperton, I get recognized far more often than I do when I'm in London. Sometimes a fan will approach, but it's not common."

"That's kinda how it was for my brother too," she said. "We actually had a pretty normal life growing up, considering what he did."

She was an anomaly, and I found that I quite liked it.

Not only that, but I still had to wrap my head around the fact she was pregnant, and it was mine.

Suddenly, I wanted to tell her that. Offer some olive branch to this woman who I didn't exactly know very well.

"I can't get over it," I admitted quietly. "To be honest, Lia, I've never given it much thought. Having kids."

She exhaled audibly. "I know what you mean. I'm only twenty-two, Jude. This wasn't in the cards for me for a very long time."

I closed my eyes. Young, especially compared to me, hardly past the cusp of truly feeling like an adult.

"Lia," I said, "we'll figure this out together, yeah?"

Through the speaker, she sniffed quietly. "Yeah."

Chapter Ten

Lia

The things I knew about Jude Michael McAllister could fit on my pinky finger. At least, for the time being.

You're going to be a baby daddy- take two was already off to a better start as I sat across a tiny table in a tiny cafe, watching him wolf down that English breakfast thing I loved.

Add that to the list of things I knew:

-Jude could eat an entire meal in four bites.

-He looked great in a black knit hat.

-He took his tea with one sugar.

And so far on take two, he hadn't accused me of trying to pass off another man's baby as his.

"Are you not hungry?" he asked, eyeing my plate. "Do you feel all right?"

It was a graveyard of the poor croissant that I'd picked at, and the scone that had