I knew this was a bad idea.

It would have been so much easier to stay in Philadelphia, have the baby, and just let her vacation fling stay oblivious for the rest of his life, but Hadley’s conscience would never have let her get away with that.

Axel was the father of the baby. He had a right to know.

So, she had hopped on a plane and flew back to Montana to tell him. She considered calling him to let him know, but every time she picked up the phone, she nearly had a panic attack before hanging up without dialing a single digit.

“You’re leaving tomorrow morning?” Axel asked, looking panicked.

She was prepared for him to get upset, to be shocked, to be stressed, but she hadn’t prepared herself for a proposal. Of all the possible scenarios that she had concocted in her head, she never even considered him dropping to a knee and asking her to marry him.

“Ten A.M.,” she said with a nod. Hadley would have booked a flight out the same day if she could, but the earliest flight back home was the next morning.

“Can you postpone it?” he asked, wringing his hands together.

“Postpone it?” she repeated under her breath. “Why?”

He ran his hand through his hair as he swallowed hard. “To see if there’s anything here,” he said. “You came to the small town of Colwood, Montana when you could have gone on vacation anywhere in the world, you walked into the exact bar on the exact night when I was taking place in a charity auction, and you bid on me when there were three other guys available. And now you’re pregnant. What if… this was all meant to be?”

Hadley stared at him as his words sank in. What if it was meant to be?

She and her friends had planned to go to Vegas for the weekend when Sara booked their flights to Montana instead because it was cheaper and because (her words) ‘they were getting too old to party.’ Then their rental car broke down when they were on their way to Whitefish and they ended up in this random little town called Colwood. They did end up in the exact bar on the exact night when Axel was taking place in a charity auction.

Maybe it was fate.

Hadley wasn’t even planning on bidding on any of the guys, but when she saw Axel, there was something about him that made her throw her hand in the air and make a bid.

He looked so sexy in his firefighter gear with his huge frame and strikingly handsome face. His hair was styled in a fashionable mohawk that gave him a hint of danger that Hadley found irresistible. Maybe it was the four pints of beer that she had, or maybe it was fate—probably the four pints of beer—but Hadley couldn’t stop bidding until she had won the date with him.

Going out with a firefighter had been on her bucket list for ages, so she had used that to justify spending money she didn’t have to go on a date with a guy who lived in a different state. The four pints of beer flowing through her veins had also helped justify spending the money.

But now that Axel had seeded the idea of fate into her head, she couldn’t let it go.

What if all of this was a clever ploy by fate to get her the life she always dreamed of?

Stop. This is how Mom’s life turned to crap. Do you want to go down the same road?

There were a lot of things that Hadley feared—snakes, going number two in a public bathroom, her parent’s basement at night—but ending up like her mother was at the top of her list.

Her mother had married the guy who got her pregnant, and although her mother would never admit it, Hadley could tell that it was her biggest regret.

Hadley’s father was a great guy and always treated her mother well, but there was no passion there, no spark. They stayed together out of duty. Out of a misguided commitment. They were more roommates than lovers, and that was not what Hadley wanted for herself.

She wanted a fulfilling relationship—one that made her thankful to be alive. Not one that had her wishing for an early grave.

“Please,” Axel said, looking at her with hopeful eyes. “I still owe you a dinner.”

Hadley turned away as her cheeks warmed up in embarrassment. They had never made it to the restaurant on their last date. They had skipped right to the good part.

“Fine,” she said in a tight voice.

“Yes!” Axel said, pumping his fist in celebration.

“Hold on,” she said, raising her hand. “We can go to discuss how we’re going to deal with this… situation. It’s not a date.”

“I agree,” Axel said, nodding his head. “Just two people going to a romantic restaurant and—”

“No,” Hadley interrupted. “Not romantic. We’re just going to talk.”

“Right,” Axel said with a nod. “I’m on the same page. We’re going to see if there’s anything between us.”

Hadley let out a long sigh.

“There’s going to be the continental United States between us if you try anything funny,” she said with her eyes narrowing on him. “Okay? We had our fun last time and look where it got us. This is all business. Got it?”

Axel nodded, but the hopeful look was still in his sparkling brown eyes. “Just business,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

Hadley took a deep breath and held it as she watched him. “Okay,” she said as she exhaled long and hard. “Seven.”

He could barely contain his smile, which made her want to smile as well. It was really cute the way he instantly proposed, and Hadley knew that it would be a long time before she could get the image of him down on one knee out of her mind.

The truth was she did have fun on their date. A lot of fun. Axel was always making her laugh, and he had given her the best sex of her life. If things were different she would be delighted to be going on a second date with him tonight.

But they weren’t different, and it wasn’t a date.

She had a child to worry about now, and that had to be her first concern.

His sculpted abs would have to be second.

* * *

“What’s the point?” Hadley muttered as she opened the door to the room she was staying in. She tossed her purse on the floor and collapsed onto the squeaky bed with a sigh.

The point is that he is the father of your child.

She had been going back and forth in her mind, debating whether or not this was a good idea.

It’s too late now anyway.

Hadley had already agreed to go out on a date with Axel tonight, and she doubted that he would let her get out of it.

It’s just a dinner. Not a date.

She had tried to make that clear, but the excited grin that wouldn’t wipe off of Axel’s face made her unsure if her warning had gone through his thick skull.

Well, she would make it clear tonight. They had a child in common now and were going to be in each other’s lives from now on whether she liked it or not. It was important to have a good relationship for the sake of their child.

There would be no flirting, no romance, no giving into any desires. That would just be irresponsible and would lead to complications like it did the last time. The last time she gave into her desires with Axel had resulted in the most complicated of complications.

What was more complicated than having a child with a stranger who lived on the other side of the country?

Hadley turned on the bed and stared up at the ceiling as her hands slid down to her belly, cradling the child that was growing inside of her.

A comforting warmth flowed through her as she pictured her little baby all snuggled up and sleeping inside her womb.

It would be so much easier to just discount Axel and leave him in her past, but there was a piece of him inside of her now, and things were more complicated than that.

This little beating heart was half his. Just because it was in her now, didn’t mean that she could keep him from the baby once it was born.

How did things get so complicated? Why didn’t we use a condom?

But in a weird, twisted way, Hadley was glad they didn’t. She smiled as she held her stomach, excited for the day she could hold her baby for real.

She wasn’t sure if she should include Axel in her vision. Would he be beside her? Would they be a family?

His words replayed in her head, making her even more unsure. What if this was all meant to be?

Maybe it was fate or maybe it wasn’t.

Hadley wasn’t sure, but she did know that she had to go into the dinner with a clear head. Having unrealistic dreamy thoughts of a rosy future could put her in the same situation as her mother.

She really didn’t want to find herself in a loveless relationship down the road all because she was seeing the positives she wanted to see and was blind to the negatives that she wanted to ignore.

I’ll go to the dinner tonight and there will be no spark.

She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror.

We’ll figure out how involved he wants to be in our child’s life and then I’ll leave tomorrow.

Alone.