Susannah made me fucking crazy. I got near her, and I turned into a caveman. I was so discombobulated by the situation, my thoughts were a tangled mess of emotions. I wanted her, like I’d never wanted any woman before. Every encounter between us only seemed to ratchet up the tension inside me, the drum of lust beating faster and faster.

Meanwhile, she was pregnant. I couldn’t say I’d contemplated the idea of family, of being a father. Ever.

In fact, had you asked me about it, my answer would’ve been hell no.

Yet, now that I was facing the very real, dead serious fact that I was on the way to being a father? Well, my perspective had shifted in a flash. Once the knowledge of our baby solidified in my mind, I knew what I wanted. I’d make damn sure our baby had the family I’d never had.

Aside from my mother, I hadn’t been close to anyone in my family. She’d done her damnedest to be everything to me and my brother. I didn’t blame her for one second she’d had the bad luck to stumble into two marriages that hadn’t been worth it. That was life. I’d learned something from my absentee father and jerk of a stepfather—everything I didn’t want to be.

As a consequence, I was bound and determined to fully be a part of our baby’s life. I might not yet be ready to call what I felt for Susannah love, but I knew damn well it was more powerful than anything I’d ever felt for any woman.

I stared down into Susannah’s wide blue eyes, flashing with anger. I knew she was pissed. In fact, I was quite confident she didn’t allow any man to tell her what to do. Yet, this thing she was doing — ignoring me and avoiding me — that wasn’t going to continue.

At my blunt words, her eyes narrowed. After a taut moment, the air heavy around us, she looked away and took a gulp of her water.

“Do we have to have this conversation now?” she murmured.

“Not this second. But later. You avoiding me isn’t going to fly.”

Her eyes darted around the table. I didn’t give a damn if she was worried someone might notice us talking. Her tongue swiped across her lips, making my cock, already aching hard, even harder.

Her eyes flicked back to mine, a hint of vulnerability in the depths. “Okay,” she said softly. “Promise me you won’t make a scene. Why don’t you come to my place?”

I bit back the urge to demand she come to mine. But I relented. I’d meet her halfway. “That works. When?”

“Tomorrow?” she hedged.

I shook my head. “No. I’m not waiting to see you any longer.”

Her breath hissed as it drew in sharply, her eyes looking away as a flush crested on her cheeks. “You can’t just tell me what to do,” she muttered.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do. I want you. You want me. No sense in denying that. But we’re also having a baby. I might not have planned on it, but I’m not walking away. We’re going to sort out why the hell you’re avoiding me.”

She looked away again, but nodded slightly. “Fine. Tonight.”

* * *

Susannah held firm to her insistence that we go to her place. In the parking lot behind Wildlands, we had a little debate where she again tried to blow me off until a couple of crew members came out, Chad included, and the obvious occurred to her. Either we met somewhere privately, or this conversation, which I doubt she wanted anyone to witness, might be observed by others.

I followed her out to her place, rolling to a stop beside her car. It was late evening, going on nine o’clock. The sun was setting, the sky a watercolor of pinks and purples shot through with gold. The moon was rising behind the mountains in the distance. Climbing out of my truck, I watched as an eagle flew above us, a dark shadow against the sky.

Susannah stepped out, glancing my way. “Here we are,” she said simply, her gaze guarded. There was a bite to the air, enough of a chill to flush her cheeks.

I couldn’t have said I knew her particularly well, although we’d been as intimate as physically possible. But I had enough sense to know she was tense. I gathered she was trying to somehow snuff out this desire between us.

For once in my life, I might’ve been the more practical one in this equation. Well, perhaps not practical, rather realistic. This desire between us was a force of its own, too powerful to ignore, and I had every intention of feeding its fire.

I followed her up the steps and into her house, glancing around and taking in the open space. The muted evening light fell through the windows. When I saw her shiver, my eyes flicked to the woodstove in the corner. “Should you turn the heat up? I’ll start a fire if you’d like,” I offered.

She sighed, her eyes bouncing to me and then away. When she rubbed her palms on her arms again, a flash of protectiveness rose inside. Ignoring her, I strode to the far corner where the thermostat was mounted on the wall.

Before I had a chance to adjust it, she was at my side. With a huff, she swatted my hand away from it. “Oh for God’s sake, don’t be so high handed.”

I turned, sliding my hands in my pockets to check the urge to pull her into my arms. Leaning my hips against the wall behind me, I eyed her, taking in the subtle shiver running through her, the flush on her cheeks and her gorgeous blue eyes.

“You’re cold,” I said, stating the obvious.

“So I am. It’s not like I can’t deal with it. I’d rather start a fire,” she muttered, spinning away.

Once again, I took over, striding past her to the woodstove. “Got it.”

I started to snag a piece of split wood in the small rack beside it when she grabbed it from me. “I’ll get it,” she snapped.

I stepped away, watching as she quickly stacked a few pieces of wood in the stove and stuffed kindling underneath. She knew how to build a fire, but then I’d have expected that. Inside of a few seconds, the blaze crackled.

Straightening, she glanced to me, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why are you being so bossy?”

“Offering to help build a fire when you’re cold isn’t bossy. I’d call it helpful.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she snagged her bottom lip in her teeth. My eyes went right there, like a bee to honey. My cock swelled, and I didn’t even try to stop it. I couldn’t be near her and not want her, so I didn’t even bother to try to tamp it down.

All of a sudden, her eyes glistened, and she spun away.

My reaction was visceral. I did not like seeing her upset. She walked to the windows facing out over the field with the fading sunset in the distance. Without thinking, I followed, watching as her shoulders rose and fell from behind with a swift, shaky breath. I slid my palms over her shoulders and down, carefully unfolding her tightly crossed arms and turning her into mine. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but my need to comfort her rose above the flotsam in my mind.

She held her body tight, the tension radiating from her.

“Susannah. Look at me. Please.”

After another shuddering breath, she looked up to me, her eyes bright with tears, her brow crinkling. I didn’t know what it was about her, but she reached right inside of me, striking at places I didn’t even know existed.

That little furrow between her brows was so damn endearing I wanted to kiss it. I had enough sense to know that wasn’t wise, not right now.

“You can’t just barge into my life like this, Ward.” Her words were wobbly. A tear rolled down her cheek, and before I knew it, I was wiping it away with my thumb. “I’m as startled as you about this. I didn’t expect to get pregnant. I mean, my God, we used condoms. I’m about to be a mother, and I’m pretty sure you weren’t planning on being a father,” she said flatly, another tear rolling down her cheeks. Another tear that I wiped away.

I stared at her, my heart tumbling oddly. I felt as if I was falling inside. I didn’t know what the hell to do about any of this. I wanted her to just… Hell, I didn’t know what I wanted. All we could do was face what we had to face. Since I lacked words, I let instinct drive me.

I pulled her against me, sliding one hand into her hair and the other around her hips to hold her close. Believe it or not, I wasn’t trying to seduce her, not just then. I wanted her to feel better. She tensed at first and then relaxed against me, taking several shuddering breaths.

There was a soft tremor in her body. I wanted to smooth it away, to absorb it. Yet, this was all foreign to me. Sex was something I knew well. Comforting a woman, a woman who had a hold on me like no other and who was carrying our baby, well, it was safe to say I had less than zero experience with that.

After a few moments, the fine tremor disappeared, and she softened, shifting closer against me, her hips bumping into the ridge of my cock.

“Ignore it,” I murmured, sifting my fingers through her silky curls.