Broken Hart (A Cross Creek Small Town Novel #1) - Kelly Collins Page 0,50

without acknowledging him.

I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore, and two slipped down my cheeks. Furious with myself for crying, I swiped them away.

“You can’t make me leave.” Benji planted his feet and straightened his shoulders. “Besides, I’d like a statement from the man you were going to pin another man’s baby on.”

I shook my head. “You can try to twist the narrative all you want. There are plenty of reasons why women don’t tell people they’re pregnant. Duping someone into being the father isn’t one of them. Not for me, at least.” There were many reasons for my silence but Noah was never one of them. “It doesn’t matter. My reasons for not sharing are my own, and they are valid. You have no business asking questions. Now, leave me alone before I call the cops on you for harassment.”

His brows shot up. “I’m not harassing you.”

“You’re cruel and insulting, and you deliberately hunted me down to do this.” I pulled out my phone. “I bet Sheriff Miranda would be interested to hear about this.”

That seemed to sway him. He glanced at the table behind me where our food was cold and our date ruined.

“Enjoy your lunch, lovebirds.” With that, he shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered out the door.

My face had to be as hot as the surface of the sun and redder than a tomato. I turned to Noah and saw him tucking money under his plate—more than enough to cover our uneaten meal.

I stepped closer to him and reached for him. “Noah—”

He pulled back without even looking at me.

Fear turned my blood to ice water, and I watched him turn toward the door and walk away without so much as a word or glance. He was just going to step out of my life like nothing had happened between us. This was because I’d screwed up. Because Benji told my secret. Because I’d been too much of a coward to tell him myself.

This mess was all my fault, and I knew it. Still, I had to try to fix this, so I bolted after him, struggling to keep up with his long, swinging stride.

“Noah…” I called after him, but he didn’t stop or slow down. “Can we talk about this?” I darted in front of him and walked backward so I could look him in the face.

He refused to look at me. Instead, he stared over my head, his eyes narrowed, and his expression cold and unreadable.

“Can you please give me a chance to explain?” I needed comfort, love, and warmth to help me through the pain and humiliation of what just transpired, but judging by the chill in his icy eyes, I wasn’t going to get that from him.

I slowed down, and he walked around me. My heart broke into tiny sharp shards inside my chest. Little blades of glass that cut me until I was sure I’d bleed out.

I watched him go, then followed him to his truck. “Noah, I care about you. I would never try to make you think it was your baby. I wasn’t out to trick you.”

That seemed to strike a nerve because he turned to me, his expression so dead, a shudder ran through me. “Oh, no?” All the warmth left his voice. “You weren’t out to trick me?”

I shook my head.

Anger filled his eyes, and I gasped as he took a step closer. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

My natural instinct was to jump back and protect myself.

“Do you think I’d hurt you?”

“Not physically,” I said with every bit of raw honesty I possessed.

He hesitated, his gaze wandering over our surroundings before coming back to me. “You slept with me.” His low growl of a voice hurt me more than yelling ever could have. “You told me you wanted to be with me, that you wanted to give us another go. I trusted you, but you were lying the whole time, and now you’re afraid I will hurt you? Maybe we were never a good match, after all.”

Every word cut deeper, and the pain flowed freely from each slice.

“I’m sorry.” My eyes filled with fresh tears, and I impatiently blinked them back. I didn’t want to freaking cry.

“I should have figured it out when you didn’t ask me to wear a condom. I just stupidly thought you were on birth control. Then there was the morning sickness…” he hesitated, likely running through everything in his mind.

“I’m sorry. I planned to tell you today after lunch.