large space between them. He hoped by the time they finished talking that the space would shrink considerably.
“The night we met,” he said, “I was captivated by your beauty.”
A small smile played on her lips. A good sign. Still, she remained quiet as though giving him room to explain where things had gone wrong.
“The thing was I wasn’t looking to meet someone—certainly no one like you. You were like a warm spring breeze on an icy cold night. And the next morning, I received bad news from home.”
He hadn’t wanted to burden Noemi with the news of his father’s collapse. It wasn’t like they were in a committed relationship. It had been his burden to carry on his own.
Perhaps he had that in common with his father. Because when his mother had called to tell him of this father’s declining health, Max had made plans to fly home immediately. He had been at the airport when his father called and told him that his mother had overreacted.
His father had insisted he was fine and told Max in no uncertain terms that he would not be welcome at the palace for a pity visit. His father had been so animated on the phone that Max had been inclined to think his mother had gone a little overboard with worry. But that didn’t mean his father’s lifelong battle with diabetes wasn’t taking its toll on him.
Instead of flying home, his father rerouted Max to Spain. It was a diplomatic mission to encourage increased trade between their countries—something Ostania needed.
“Listen, you don’t have to explain,” Noemi said quickly. “You didn’t mean for it to be more than a fling. And that’s fine.” But the tone in her voice said that it wasn’t fine with her.
In that moment, he decided to tell her the whole truth. She deserved that much. “It was about my father. He was ill and my mother was very concerned about his health.”
Noemi studied him for a moment. “That’s why you were so different in the morning? It was the worry about your father and not regret over spending the night together?”
“Maybe it was a bit of both.” When the look of hope faded from her face, he rushed on to say, “I regretted rushing things. I lost my head that night.”
She arched a brow. “Do you mean that? You’re not saying all this nice stuff just because you don’t want to hurt my feelings?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t handle the news well. My mother—well, she can be a bit dramatic when it suits her purposes—she made it sound like my father wouldn’t last through the day.”
Noemi moved to his side. Her gaze met his. “I’m sorry. How is he?”
Within her eyes, he saw caring and understanding. He cleared his throat. “Much better. And quite stubborn.”
“I’m glad to hear that—about him feeling better. But why couldn’t you have told me? I would have understood you having to leave immediately.”
“I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want anyone to know. Telling someone would have made the whole situation real and at the time, I wasn’t ready to deal with it.”
“And now?”
“Now, I regret how I reacted. I shouldn’t have dismissed what we had so readily. I would have liked if we’d been able to keep in contact.” He continued to stare at her, wondering if she felt the same way about him.
“That would have been nice.” Softly she added, “I thought of contacting you, too.”
At last, he could breathe easier. She was slowly letting her guard down with him. He could finally see a glimmer of that amazing woman who’d caught his attention from across the room at the party. He was glad he hadn’t given up. He knew if he kept trying that he’d find her.
He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her. He couldn’t rush things. He didn’t want to scare her off. “I’m going to be here at the resort for the next week before returning to Ostania. I’d like it if we could spend some more time together.”
Noemi looked as though she was going to agree, but what came out of her lips was quite different. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, especially with the press watching your every move.”
“I’ll take care of the paparazzi. They won’t bother us.”
“But how?”
“Trust me. I have a lot of experience evading them. So are we good?”
She shook her head. “It’s more than that.”
He’d come too far to let it fall apart now. “Speak to me. Whatever it is, I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t.” She stood and walked to the wall of windows.
He followed her as though drawn in by her magnetic force. He stopped just behind her. Again, he resisted the urge to reach out to her. “Noemi, I know we haven’t know each other long, but I’d like to think you look upon me as a friend—someone you can lean on.”
She turned to him. “I do—think of you as a friend.”
“Then tell me what’s bothering you. Surely it can’t be as bad as the worry reflected on your face.”
“No. It’s worse.” Her gaze lowered to the floor. “I’m pregnant.”
He surely hadn’t heard her correctly. “You’re what?”
“Pregnant with your baby.”
The words knocked the air from his lungs.
He never thought anyone would say those words to him. And now he couldn’t believe it was true. At the same time, he wanted it to be real. Torn by conflicting emotions, his body stiffened. What was she hoping to accomplish with such a wildly improbable claim?
SHE SHOULDN’T HAVE just blurted it out.
And now that it was out there, she couldn’t take it back.
This was not how Noemi had envisioned telling Max about the baby. The truth was she hadn’t figured out how to tell him this life-changing news. It certainly wasn’t something you blurted out, like she’d done. The fact she was pregnant was still something she was trying to cope with. By the paleness of Max’s face, he’d been completely caught off guard.
“No.” He adamantly shook his head. Then his eyes narrowed on her. “It’s a lie.”
She refused to squirm under his intense stare. Her mouth pressed into a firm line as she started to count to ten. Her mother had taught her to do this after Noemi had shot her mouth off one too many times in school. Noemi had imagined a lot of reactions but being called a liar hadn’t been one.
She made it to the number six when she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I am not a liar. I’m pregnant and you’re the father—”
