that I think about it, she started changing right after you pulled the Switch.”
“Don’t go blaming this on me,” Logan said, laughing as he took another sip of beer. “If you’ll recall, you began pulling away from her at Dad’s wedding. That’s when you started getting paranoid because of Sally.”
“No, I didn’t.” But as he thought back, Aidan realized he’d forgotten how much he’d mistrusted his new mom. He would have to call her one of these days and tell her he was sorry about that.
He reeled in his line and re-baited his hook, then tossed it back into the water. And thought about Ellie.
She loved him.
She’d told him right to his face and he hadn’t said a word back. But what could he say? He was crazy about her, but that was hardly love. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure what love was. He just knew he wanted to be with Ellie all the time. Was that love? Hell, he was going to go crazy over that stupid question, and his brother wasn’t helping.
“You’re not helping,” Aidan muttered aloud.
“You talking to me?”
“Never mind.”
“I’m worried about you, bro,” Logan said, but he was grinning like an idiot and didn’t look worried at all.
Aidan shook his head in disgust. He grabbed his beer bottle and downed the rest of it. He would never truly understand women or love or anything related to those two subjects and it was useless to start trying now.
Suddenly a hefty fish yanked at his line and he pulled back and began to reel it in. He and his brother grinned at each other.
Fishing, he thought as he fought with the line. He understood fishing. Trying to figure anything else out only led to madness.
*
Two days later, Ellie stared in astonishment as a little pink cross appeared in the screen of the testing stick.
“Oh, my,” she whispered. No wonder she’d been so ridiculously emotional lately. Was it any surprise that she’d been behaving like a nutcase, drowning herself in work until she couldn’t see straight? She’d been a maniac for weeks now. And no wonder.
“I’m pregnant!” she exclaimed. She rose from the chair and twirled around her kitchen. She could feel her heart thumping wildly in her chest. “Wait ’til I tell Aidan. He’s going to be so…”
She stopped, inhaled and exhaled a few times to catch her breath, and wondered. Aidan was going to be…what? Thrilled? Blissful? Indifferent?
“Thrilled, definitely,” she said firmly, and danced around again. But her steps faltered immediately. She was going to be a mother, so now wasn’t the time to dwell on foolish dreams of a family that included Aidan. Yes, he had insisted on supporting her and the baby. He’d written it into the contract. But that didn’t mean he would be falling in love, moving in and starting a life together.
But that wasn’t fair, she told herself. Of course Aidan would be thrilled about the baby. He was a good man and he cared about her a lot, she knew he did. He just didn’t love her.
Or maybe he did love her, as Logan seemed to have indicated the night he came to her house. He seemed to believe that Aidan simply wasn’t willing or able to say the words or act on his feelings. And that was fine, she thought resolutely, trying to convince herself of the lie.
“So much for telling the truth,” she muttered, then quickly shook away the words. This wasn’t the time to be thinking unhappy thoughts. She was pregnant and happy about it. This is what she’d wanted for so long; a man had never been a part of the equation.
But oh, now she wanted a man to be a part of her life. One man in particular. She couldn’t imagine living without Aidan’s warm arms around her and his ruggedly beautiful body snuggled up to hers. The thought of his skin rubbing up against hers, his amazing hands, and mouth and… Hmm.
There was a time when Ellie would’ve been embarrassed by her sexy thoughts, but not anymore. She had discovered the sensual side of herself, thanks to Aidan. And she wasn’t ready to deny that part of her life, even with a child on the way. In fact, she was anxious to explore that side of herself even more now, and she wanted to do it with Aidan.
She wrapped her arms around her stomach and said a little prayer of thanks and hope that she and the little life growing