honest from the start and tell him the news that first day? I held it back like it wasn’t anyone’s business but my own.
“I did everything I could to stay away from you.” His fingertips trailed up and down my side while his eyes followed their movement. The tickling sensation gave me tingles, but I loved the feeling. “I couldn’t do it.” Affectionate eyes met mine. “It’s always been you, Kandra. I knew it, and my brothers knew it. I was just too stubborn and pigheaded to admit it to myself or anyone else.”
A smile tugged the corners of my lips. “You? Stubborn? No.” Even my light teasing fell a little bit flat, but he still chuckled.
“I know. I’ve been trying to work on it.” He seemed to study my face for a moment, and I knew he could see I still had some secrets. We always had a way of reading each other. Looking away, I tried to keep my heart from breaking. It was all so perfect, so beautiful, but so utterly hopeless. I’d screwed us up before we even had a chance all because I hadn’t been honest from the start.
“I’m not in a hurry. There’s no rush. I’ll be here when you’re ready, even if you need some time.” His loving words told me he had no idea what was going on, but his message and kindness put a crack in my heart because he was wrong. He wouldn’t be here when I was ready, because I betrayed him.
I’d slept with him without telling him I was pregnant with another man’s baby.
How could I fix that? How could he ever trust me after he found out? I didn’t deserve a man as wonderful and loving as Noah.
Chapter Fifteen
Noah
She was still asleep when I slipped out of bed and quickly dressed. With light steps and a happy heart, I made my way into the kitchen. I would swear months had passed with everything that had happened last night, but it was just Thursday.
Opening up the fridge, I pulled out eggs and milk to make her either the fluffiest scrambled eggs with cheese or an omelet for breakfast. I found a container of feta and some baby spinach and took those out along with the butter.
I moved around her kitchen, feeling more at home than I’d felt in a long time. Warming up the cast iron skillet, I had to smile. Throwing butter in the pan, I let it heat while I cracked the eggs into a bowl and found a whisk to beat them.
All the while, I couldn’t get thoughts of her or last night out of my head. She wanted us to be together, and I wasn’t going to get in my own way and screw up a good thing. Max was right; someone would snatch her up, and I wanted that someone to be me, so I would treat her right and love her in ways she has never been loved before.
With the eggs whisked and the butter sizzling, I emptied the bowl into the pan and dusted it with salt and pepper. My mother taught us that cooking was love, and she made sure every one of her boys could feed themselves. She didn’t believe cooking was a woman’s job and called that silly viewpoint nonsense, and I agreed with her.
At the sink, I noticed a scrub brush with bristles circling it and a rounded sponge on top. I needed to ask Kandra where she got it because one of those would work perfectly for all those glasses I couldn’t fit my hand in to wash or my thermos. Putting the bowl in the sink, I rinsed the spinach, carried the wet leaves back to the counter, and continued to make her breakfast. Sprinkling feta on the perfect egg and spinach mixture, I watched it melt and marveled at how much I enjoyed making her breakfast. This was something I could get used to—wanted to get used to.
As I cleaned up, I thought about how beautiful she looked, how peaceful her features had been when I slipped out of bed. I couldn’t get the big dumb grin off my face. Everything was finally going my way, and I couldn’t be happier. The scent of the cheese hit my nose, and I thought maybe I’d missed something like garlic or diced onion to make it perfect, but I hadn’t seen any in the house.
With a shrug, I made a mental note to pick some up