Most of the time, Wes was a one-track guy when it came to prospecting hookups. But tonight he was distracted, because he saw things from a different perspective—a woman searching for a hookup.

Some piece of shit in a fancy suit was all over Kaylee, chatting her up. Wes didn’t care what his and Kaylee’s relationship status was—there was no way he’d let her go home with this guy while she was drunk.

If she was sober? Maybe.

Okay, he’d have issues with that too, but definitely not if she’d been drinking.

He stood and threw down some bills. “I’m out.”

Bran was texting, Adam had left an hour ago, and Hunt had stolen out with the woman he’d had in his lap earlier.

Levi looked up from his conversation with Emily. “So soon?”

Wes knew what his brother was getting at. He hadn’t picked up a woman yet, and he never went home alone when he was hellbent on finding one. But whatever. After the week he’d had making a million final arrangements for the tournament, he needed his bed more than a warm body. Bran must be rubbing off on him. And wasn’t that a depressing thought? “I’ll catch you tomorrow. Eight, right?”

Levi nodded. “We’ll be here bright and early. Working through the weekends will be the norm until the Tahoe Invitational.”

Wes nodded, his gaze snagging on Kaylee a few feet away. The guy had his hand on her hip, and Wes’s muscles tensed.

Levi looked over as well. “We’ll make sure she gets home okay.”

“Don’t bother,” Wes said. “I got this.” He strode over to Kaylee and did something he’d pay for later, but he didn’t give a shit.

Wes snaked his arm around Kaylee’s waist and toppled her back into his chest. “Babe, time to go.”

She swiveled her head back, her gaze wavering as though she were at sea. “What?”

No way he’d leave her behind while she was this drunk, even with Levi’s promise to watch out for her. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. Fortunately, she didn’t pull back or try to stop him. The guy she’d been talking to complained, but Wes ignored him entirely.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

He waited until they were in the lobby before he stopped and looked her in the eye. “I’m taking you home.”

She laughed. “Let me get this straight. You can scout out women all night long, but I can’t go home with a guy?” She crossed her arms and wobbled, but that didn’t stop a stubborn look from settling onto her beautiful face. “I’m single, and I’m not your responsibility. I haven’t been for a long time. I’m no one’s responsibility.” A hint of vulnerability tinged her tone.

“You’re not going home with a guy while you’re drunk.” He didn’t tell her he’d have dragged her away even if she weren’t drunk. Because he couldn’t explain that one.

“I’m a grown woman. You have no right—no right!” Her expression was indignant, but he sensed there was more to tonight’s rebellion. She was hurting. Was it all because of McDouche? She’d nearly married the guy, but as far as Wes was concerned, Kaylee had dodged a landmine, getting out before it was too late.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced away, letting out a stiff breath. “Do you really want to go home with a random dude?”

She swallowed, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve never had a one-night stand. I don’t want anything serious, and I guess I thought it would be nice to feel wanted for one night.”

He ground his teeth. The idea of Kaylee with that guy made his stomach roil. He’d never been possessive of women. It was the reason he could walk away from them. Well, except for Kaylee. And maybe that was just the way it would always be. Which was why living in the same town—working together—just wasn’t going to work. But he had too much on his plate right now to do anything about it. “Take it from me, you’re not missing anything.”

By the way her gaze softened, he was afraid she saw more than he wanted. “If hooking up with random people is so bad, why do you do it?”

“Boredom? Scratching an itch?”

It was more complicated than that. He’d not wanted a close relationship with a woman, and casual hookups kept him from thinking about why.

She pursed her lips. “You should call a doctor about that itch. It sounds nasty.”

He snorted. “I’m as clean as spring rain.”

“Why do I doubt that?” she said.

“My soul might be dark, but let’s just say, I always sheathe up.”

“You didn’t always with me.”

He stiffened. Not because they were talking about condoms. But because he wasn’t prepared for her to bring up the past. And them. Having sex.

Images of them making love crashed over him. And the heat that had punched his chest earlier, after seeing her with some skeezy dude, rushed south, warming and inflaming. “We were careful… Most of the time.” He gave her a cocky grin and her face paled.

“I gotta go,” she blurted, and rushed past him, bumping into his arm as she did.

He caught up to her. “Hold up. I said I’d take you home. You’re not driving in your condition.”

“Fine.”

Fine? No pushback?

Why did talking about their past sex life make her look like she wanted to puke?

Man, if Wes wasn’t so confident in that department, Kaylee’s reaction could have given him a complex. Good thing he knew better.

He guided her to his car and opened the passenger door, watching her closely. She staggered into the seat of his Range Rover, and he got the sense it wasn’t all from alcohol.

He swept around the back of the vehicle, entered the driver’s side, and turned the ignition.

This was what he’d wanted. To take her home. So why was his adrenaline rushing, his hands shaking? And not in the heated way they had earlier. Something was bothering Kaylee, and that put Wes on edge.

“Kaylee,” he said as he pulled down the long drive of the Club Tahoe entrance. Her head was tipped against the seatback, her face pointed out the window. “Why did you get upset when I said we’d been careful? Because I sure as fuck was faithful to you, unlike that piece of…” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What I meant to say is, I was a good boy back then. So why the sour expression?”

Her face scrunched up and she covered it with her hands, mumbling something that sounded like baby.

“What was that?” His senses went into hyper-alert. She wasn’t acting normal. Not even for a drunken Kaylee.

She dropped her hands and stared down at them. “I lost our baby.”

Her words had come out light, for all the weight they carried.

Wes’s head swiveled to her and he swerved, nearly driving them into a ditch. “Excuse me?”

“Our baby.” Her soft eyes were shining, face contorted in pain. Tears started streaming down the smooth skin of her cheeks. She looked away and huddled in the corner between the seat and door.

He glanced feverishly between her and the road. “What are you talking about?” But it was too late to get a coherent answer out of her.

She was crying harder than he’d ever seen her cry before, large convulsions racking her body as she rocked into herself.

Her head rolled against the seat, words flying from her lips in a drunken mumble-rant. “Can’t talk about it. I thought I could. That if I came here, it would wipe away the guilt and sickness of it all. But it’s still there.” She pressed her fist to her stomach, moaning.

Holy fucking… Wes considered pulling over. This was crazy. Kaylee was talking crazy. Should he take her to the hospital? Because something was seriously wrong.

But they were out in the middle of nowhere, and he was five minutes from her place.

By the time he reached her house, Kaylee was already passed out, her body jerking every few seconds from leftover crying hiccups.

Wes drew a heavy hand down his face and blinked at the front door. He stepped out of the car and strode across the driveway to the hide-a-key under a large fake rock her family hadn’t moved since he dated Kaylee. He opened the door and returned the key to its hidden spot, then made his way back to the Rover.

Wes looked down at the small body huddled in the passenger side of his car. Kaylee’s arms were wrapped loosely around her knees, and her soft, dark hair fell over her face. His chest compressed, his gaze softening for a second. Fuck. Fuck. She couldn’t have meant what she’d said. This was drunk talk. This wasn’t real.

He carefully opened the door and unlatched the seatbelt, easing her shoulders back. She mumbled, but didn’t wake. He slid an arm beneath her knees and his other behind her back, lifting her out of the seat and cradling her to his chest.

He shut the car door with his foot and carried her into the house.

Scanning the place, he considered taking her upstairs and laying her on the bed, but he changed his mind. He needed to talk to her, and not in a bedroom.

Wes strode to the large sectional couch and laid her gently along the length. He found a throw blanket and draped it over her, then pulled off her heels and tucked the blanket around her feet.

Kaylee barely moved, but her chest was rising and falling in a smooth rhythm, the crying hiccups gone.

He sighed. He wasn’t leaving her alone, that much was for sure. Not with her passed out. People died from alcohol poisoning. He didn’t think she’d had enough to cause serious damage, but the words coming out of her mouth were insane, and anything was possible.

Wes went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. He set it on an end table near her head, then kicked off his shoes and walked to the window that overlooked her parents’ yard. They had a nice place nestled in the woods, yet close to town.

He rubbed his forehead and glanced at Kaylee’s still body. God, he hoped she’d been talking gibberish about that baby stuff. Because if she hadn’t, it would mean she’d lied to him all this time.

And that their past and why she’d left him was bigger than he ever imagined.