had been a journey of desperation. And now, despite having come all those miles to find him, she wanted to run—take her son with her before it was too late for both of them.
Instead she looked up at him. “I can’t believe I ran into you in the midst of this. But I’m glad you were here to find—”
“What are you doing here, Sara?” He cut her off with a hint of anger in his voice.
The conceited donkey.
He thought she was here because of him. She looked at her son in his arms and that was the only reason she didn’t lose it then and there. Unfortunately the truth of it was that what he was implying, what he’d left unsaid...he was right. She was here because of him, just for none of the reasons that the arrogant fool thought.
What she was here for was much more serious than any romance ever could be. And despite what he thought, and she knew very well what he thought, it was hard to deny the truth. He was a magnet for women, but he was no magnet to her. Not anymore. Those days were long over. But despite not needing him romantically, he was right about one thing. She did need him, she needed him very much.
For without him she was terribly afraid she was going to lose her son.
Outside the hotel, Talib juggled the child in his arms as he put a hand on Sara’s arm. It was an automatic gesture that rose out of the ashes of the past as if she’d never left, as if he’d never asked her to leave. It was strange how the truth of their relationship, how it had ended, had never been something he’d deceived himself about. He cared about her, but he couldn’t be with her, not like that.
Sara owed him nothing, certainly no explanations. But the thought that she’d carried on with her life, married and had a baby, was oddly disconcerting. He pushed back the emotion, unable to face why it existed or what it meant. It was a moot point, he knew that. He had no right to question her actions and the sane thing to do now would be to push emotion to the background. Emotion did nothing in a situation like this. Still, it bothered him and it shouldn’t. After all, he was the one who had broken up with her, gone his own way—forgotten about her. Or had he?
“Where’s your husband?” he asked and wished he could have rephrased. The question was more abrupt, more invasive even, than he had meant it to be.
“I’m not married,” she said as she turned to look at him. There was defiance in her eyes—a defiance that had hooked him on a day that now seemed a combination of yesterday and so long ago.
“Oh, I...” he spluttered, unsure of what to say. He’d fallen into a gaffe of his own making and that was completely unlike him. But even now, she pushed buttons like no one else could.
“It’s okay, say it. It’s not like others haven’t or at least thought it.”
“Say what?”
“That you thought I was smarter than that. Smarter then becoming an unwed mother that...” Her voice choked off.
“Sara...” He stopped her with a touch of his hand on her shoulder. She’d always been, in some ways, unbelievably old-fashioned. “I’m not suggesting anything. We’ve been apart for a long time. What you do is none of my business. What is my business is getting you to a safe—”
“We’ll go wait with the others,” she interrupted and held out her arms to take her son.
“Just a minute. Wait,” he said. It was odd how that need to protect drew him even now. He wasn’t sure what Ian had planned for his guests, but for Sara and her son, he’d make sure they had alternate arrangements. He was on the phone for a little under a minute before he had things worked out to his satisfaction. The entire time he could feel her attention on him as he juggled the boy in one hand and the phone in the other.
“You’re exhausted,” he said as he slipped the phone into his pocket. “I’ve got another hotel arranged for you. Let me get you both safely on your way.”
“But—”
“It was a long flight. Get some rest and then we’ll talk.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “But no.”
She sounded in control, calm despite everything that had happened, yet her gaze seemed distracted, like it was all too much, and her face was pale.
“No arguments. It’s on my account. You just take care of him, of the boy.” He didn’t tell her what he’d seen, why he was so concerned. He looked into her eyes. The look she gave him said that she trusted him and still he couldn’t tell her that he’d saved her child from a potential kidnapping. He didn’t know why she was here or what she wanted, but that need to protect, to not have her worry, was as alive as it had been during their relationship.
He put a hand on her shoulder. The fact that he knew the owner here, at the hotel they had only just left, was not a consideration. The hotel he was sending her to had housed royalty. It was secure on a whole other level.
“It’s secure,” he said as he pulled a pen and a business card from his pocket.
“I trust you,” she said simply.
“I imagine you do.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she demanded. “I’m not here because of you, if that’s what you’re thinking.” But something about her voice sounded off.
“Yet, you’re here in this hotel. My friend Ian’s hotel. The one I was doing security for.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Again, there was that change in tone, as if she was telling him something that wasn’t quite true.
“Don’t you?” he asked, trying to tone down any sarcasm. “That all seems oddly coincidental.”
Her lips tightened and she wouldn’t look at him.
Everything about her was the same and yet so different. The child was the most glaring change. Having a child wasn’t something she’d wanted, at least not when they were dating. He knew that because when they were together she had told him often enough how she was determined to make her career in management and one day open her own bed-and-breakfast. She’d been focused and had even said she’d have a family only when she was established. With no husband and with a child, and her longed-for career obviously in jeopardy, could this be about money? He’d never have believed that of Sara, that she’d looked him up so that he could support her in the lifestyle to which she wanted to get accustomed. It had happened before with other women, women he hadn’t cared much about. It was always about the money, not about him—except maybe for the good time he showed them. But Sara, she was different.
“What are you thinking?” she said and that tone was in her voice, the one where she expected he was going to toe the line. But there was no line, no relationship. He looked at her, at her determined stance, and saw the stubbornness he remembered. Still, she’d changed. She had a baby.
She glared up at him. “You think I’m here because...”
“Because what, Sara?” he
