I stared at Tabitha as if she’d grown another head. Fuck’s sake, was she insane? What kind of weird ploy was this?

She had to know I’d call her on her bullshit. That there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d ever touch her again, not even with a twenty-foot fucking pole. So what was her game? Her plan?

“Have you lost your mind?” I asked her, shifting my gaze up as I caught a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision.

My insides turned to ice.

Becca stood in the doorway, staring, shaking her head. Fuck, she wouldn’t believe this was true, would she? She had to know I wouldn’t touch Tabitha.

“Are you serious, Tab?” Perry chimed in, and I shifted focus again.

Each moment was isolated, characterized by layer of bullshit on top of bullshit. This was what it’d come down to. This was exactly what I’d wanted to avoid by leaving Stoneport, yet here I was, caught in the thick of things, made worse by the fact that the one person I’d stayed for was experiencing it as well.

“I’m serious,” she said and nodded, swallowing. “It’s Mason’s child. I’ve been sleeping with him on the side for weeks.”

Becca made a small noise in the back of her throat, and a red mist descended over me. “Get out of my house,” I growled at Tab. “You lying piece of—” I stopped myself from finishing the sentence. I wouldn’t sink to her level.

“Baby, please. I know this isn’t how things were meant to be. I know that you wanted a baby all those years ago and I didn’t, and I know that I made my mistakes, but you can’t turn away from this. Away from us.” Tabitha took a halting step forward and I froze her to the spot with an icy glare.

Perry scuffled forward like the scumbag he was and reached for his fiancée. “Baby, think about what you’re doing here. We have everything together. We’re meant to be. You left this piece of shit for me, and now you’re going back. Why?”

“Shut up,” Tabitha hissed, out of the corner of her mouth.

“No, I won’t. I’ll fight for you. For us,” Perry continued. “I want a paternity test. There, I said it. I want one, and once we figure out who the father is, we can have an honest conversation about what to do next.”

“I don’t want to be with you anymore,” Tabitha shrieked, tearing at her blonde Barbie doll hair. “You’re a liar.”

This was nuclear. An explosion of a relationship I wanted nothing to do with in my own home, while the woman I’d fallen for watched, silent. Christ, what was she doing here? Why the fuck was this even happening right now?

“Mace, please.” Tabitha turned back to me, widening her eyes, pouting those fake lips. “Please.”

This was bullshit. “I don’t care whether you’re pregnant or not, Tabitha,” I growled, injecting as much poison into my words as possible. “Get the fuck out of my house. Both of you. You come back again, and I’ll call the fucking cops, understand?”

“But Mace, baby—”

“Baby?!” Perry barked. “How can you call him that after everything we’ve been through? After…”

“Get out.” It came out cold and hard, and it was all I could do not to follow it up by grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks and physically escorting them out of the house. I lifted my cell instead and flashed it at them. “You have two seconds.”

Finally, Tabitha and Perry snapped the fuck out of their self-involved reveries. “I’ll call you about this, Mace,” Tabitha said as she retreated toward the exit, jostling Becca on her way. Another wave of anger crashed over me.

The terrible duo finally disappeared through the entryway, their argument starting up the minute they were out of sight but not earshot.

I stood exactly where I’d been throughout the encounter. Fuck, it was as if I’d been cut out of a block of steel.

Becca stared at me, gripping the doorjamb and shaking her head. “Mason.”

“What?” I asked, breathing in through my nose. I couldn’t make this anger fall away. Couldn’t click my fingers and make it fucking disappear, even with her in the room. “Do you have something to say? You wanna tell me you’re pregnant too?”

Becca blanched and took a step away from me. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she said. “I haven’t done anything.”

“No, you haven’t,” I replied, but the anger still hadn’t abated. “What are you doing here, huh? I thought you had work or some shit?”

“Mason—I don’t believe this. I just walked in on you and your ex talking about having a fucking baby, and you’re the one that’s angry?” Becca spat the words out, her hackles fully up now.

Christ, let her get angry. Let everyone get angry. I was over this. Over being in limbo in this fucking town. Over all the excitement and the shitstorms and— “Fuck,” I growled.

“I came over here to talk to you about something important.”

“I don’t want to talk about anything,” I replied. “I need to be alone, Rebecca. Do me a favor, and close the front door on your way out.” I turned my back on her and walked to the far window, ignoring the hot silence between us.

It was fraught with whatever words she’d left unspoken. Ones I didn’t want to hear.

“I don’t understand why you’re angry with me, Mason.”

“Because I didn’t ask for this.”

“For what?”

“To fucking feel—fuck!” I grunted and struck the windowsill with a fist. “Just leave, Becca. I can’t think with you around. Go. Now. Please.”

There was a beat of silence, followed by her footsteps retreating. The front door slammed shut, and I exhaled, letting out the pressure of my breath in a long, thin stream. It didn’t do much to change anything, especially when Becca appeared in front of the house.

She charged down the sidewalk without a backward glance, beautiful even now, hair flowing behind her.

Christ, she was probably furious with me, and I didn’t blame her. I couldn’t take this, though. I couldn’t sit around in Stoneport a second longer. I’d put off everything to spend more time with her, when all my instincts had screamed for me to get the fuck out while the going was good.

And now I was trapped.

“Fuck.” I scraped the drapes shut and lowered myself onto the sofa.

There wasn’t a part of me that didn’t wish for a simple answer to all of this, but it wasn’t forthcoming.

I had fallen for Becca, yet staying here had me solo, no prospects, with my asshole ex trying to throw a wrench in the works every five minutes. Would Becca pick up and leave after everything she had witnessed here?

Probably not. She was strong, a fighter. She might not want to talk to me again after this, though.

“Fuck.” It was my new mantra.

I couldn’t think straight or see straight.

I have to get out of here. Get out of town. Think about this. About what I fucking want here.

My phone buzzed on the coffee table, and I snatched it up, near crushing it in my grip. The number flashing on the screen was unfamiliar. I frowned and swiped my thumb across the screen.

“This is Doctor Dunn,” I said.

“Good evening, Doctor. Apologies for catching you on your mobile.” Reggie’s put-on voice didn’t fool me for a damn second.

“Reggie, my man. What’s up?” I managed a semblance of cheerfulness, though I was still ready to punch a hole through a wall.

“I’m calling because I’ve got news,” he said, and his tone altered into professional mode. “The doctor who was supposed to replace your dead ass pulled out too. So effectively, I’m stuck up here in Vermont all on my fucking own, with a practice full of empty offices. You wanna help a brother out and come join me?”

I clutched the phone tighter, pressing it into my ear.

Reggie had offered me the position in Vermont, and I’d been set on taking it, going up to do an interview with him, even though it was a mere formality. But I’d put it off. I’d changed my plans because of Becca and the insane urge to protect her. To be with her.

“You there, man?”

“I’m thinking about it,” I said.

“What’s there to think about? Thought you said you were done in Stoneport?”

“I was,” I replied, forcing myself to consider this, even though I’d put it off before. Reggie wasn’t the kind of guy who made an offer twice. “I was.”

“Then? What’s the hold up, man? Come on. Look, if you’re dubious about it, at least come for the weekend to check the practice out. We’ll hang out, talk it through, and I’ll tell you my plans for the future. Come on, Dunn, you’re the best doctor I know, man. I need you.”

Again, I fell silent, staring off into space. I needed the time alone. I needed to clear my thoughts of the strange influence Becca had over me. I couldn’t think or see clearly with her around. Maybe this was my opportunity.

“You know what, Reg? Yeah, OK. I’ll come up this weekend and hang out. Check the place out.”

“Fuckin’ A!” Reg exclaimed. “I’ll see you soon, man. Fly safe.”

“Thanks,” I replied then hung up.

I stared at my phone for a solid two minutes, torn between calling him back and telling him I’d changed my mind and calling Becca and apologizing.

“No,” I muttered. “This is the right thing to do.” What we had burned too hot and too fast. It made us both crazy, and space was what we needed, even if it was just to gain some perspective.

I didn’t want to lose her. But I didn’t want to become a man I wasn’t in the process of being with her, and I was on the fast track to that right now. I’d never been this angry or fired up. I’d never lost control like I had over the past few weeks.

Fuck, I was supposed to be a military man, for god’s sake. I nodded to myself slowly and switched off my phone. I needed this time. I owed it to myself.

I rose from the sofa and headed for the entrance hall, switching off lights as I went. Upstairs, I booked a plane ticket on my laptop then packed my bags and prepared everything for an early takeoff. I set my alarm, showered, and got into bed, all with thoughts of Becca swimming around my mind.

What had she wanted to talk to me about?

I fell asleep to the question, barely managing to ignore it and the urge to call her, to make things right. Before it was too late.