she would do what he asked and not worry about Eve Granger, Shana moved back to her desk, looking forward to tonight.
* * *
Eve glanced at her watch. If she called now, she probably could reach Jace before he left the office. She didn’t know what plans he had for tonight, but she intended to change them.
Picking up her cell phone, she called his number and smiled when he answered. “What do you want, Eve?”
Not exactly the greeting she’d hoped for, but she would deal with it. “I’m lonely, Jace. There’s nothing to do stuck here at this hotel.”
“And I should care why?”
She rolled her eyes. Determined not to be deterred, she said, “Because we once meant something to each other. We—”
“The key word was once, Eve. Don’t know why you’re calling me when there are taxis surrounding the hotel. If you’re lonely, get in one and go someplace. There’s a movie theater within walking distance.”
“You want me to walk someplace?”
“No, I prefer that you get on a plane and return to California.”
Eve dropped down on the bed, stunned. Did he really mean that? Could he really hold a grudge this long because of the abortion? In that case, it was a good thing he didn’t know the whole truth surrounding it.
“You hate me that much, Jace?” she asked, and for the first time, she realized carrying out her plan might not be as easy as she thought.
Jace rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. Jesus! He didn’t need this. Eve hadn’t done anything but cause him pain since he’d known her. Why was he even wasting his time talking to her when he needed to be on his way someplace else?
“Look, Eve, I don’t hate you. I just don’t have any feelings one way or the other. What you did hurt me, killed something inside of me. You destroyed something that was part of me.”
“Damn it, Jace, it was my body!”
“And it was my child!” He drew in a deep breath. “Look, I have somewhere to go. Goodbye.”
“Wait! When will I see you?”
Jace shook his head. The woman just didn’t get it. “There’s no reason for you to see me, Eve. You needed a place to stay for a week, and I made sure you got one. But please don’t think you can take advantage of my kindness. Goodbye.” He then clicked off the phone.
Eve was furious, so much in fact she was tempted to throw the phone against the wall. She slowly pulled herself together and quickly made another call. Her temper exploded as soon as the person answered. “You requested that I come here, and I’m here. And if you don’t want anyone to find out what you’ve been doing, you better come up with another plan. Jace is acting like a shithead, and there’s a chance Shana Bradford is pregnant.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Shana went still, feeling a sense of denial as she stared at the pregnancy test. It was positive, which meant her entire world was now upside down. Instinctively, her hand went to her stomach, and she inhaled a deep breath. She was unsure of a lot of things, but the one thing she knew was that she wanted this baby. She hadn’t prepared for one. Hadn’t given a thought to having children anytime soon. But fate had determined otherwise, and she was in with both feet.
A short while later, she was sitting on her patio, drinking a glass of springwater instead of the wine she had planned. She glanced at her watch. Jace would be arriving in an hour, and she needed to make decisions. Did she tell him tonight or not?
She shook her head. No, not tonight. She needed to digest the situation herself for a while. Besides, she needed to know how she would handle it. She wasn’t sure he even liked kids. Not that it mattered if he didn’t. Her decision had been made.
Deciding it was time to go upstairs and take a shower, she reached for her phone when it rang and wasn’t surprised the caller ID indicated it was Jules.
“What, Jules?”
“Hey, don’t ‘what’ me. I want to know if it was a negative or a positive?”
Shana frowned. She wondered if Jules would be in such a happy mood if the shoe was on the other foot. “Not sure I want to divulge something so personal.”
“Don’t play with me, Shana. ’Fess up.”
Shana took a slow sip of her water, deciding to let Jules stew for a minute. When she thought