Page 37 of A First for the Playboy Dragon

“Oh, honey, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Stella said, wrapping her arms around Juliet. “He’ll come to his senses, just give him a little time, I’m sure it was a big shock, that’s all. Keith almost passed out when he found out I was pregnant. You’ll see, everything will be fine.”

Once started, she could not stop the deluge of tears, but when she was drained, she looked at Stella and shook her head. “I don’t know if I want him back,” she said, her breath still ragged. “You didn’t see his face, you didn’t hear him. I’d rather be alone than be with someone who doesn’t really want me.”

“He loves you, Juliet, I know he does,” Stella said. “Don’t lose faith in him yet. He’ll figure out that what he really wants is you and that baby, I know he will.”

“Well, I’m not waiting around for him to decide,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m going to start packing, I’m leaving tomorrow. I shouldn’t have come here, it was a huge mistake.”

Stella walked her back to her cabin. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you for a while?” she asked when they gotto the ladder leading up to the porch. “Keith can manage for a night without me. I hate to leave you alone.”

“That’s okay, I’m just going to crawl into bed and go to sleep,” she said, smiling at Stella. “Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder.”

“Any time,” Stella said. “You know where to find me.”

She climbed the ladder, aware that Stella was still watching her, then turned and waved, relieved when the other woman finally walked away. Heartsick, she crossed the porch and opened the door, then stepped inside the cabin. Before she could take another step, the room began to spin, and she felt herself falling. It felt like she was falling for a long time, but knew when she landed with a thump it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, then noticed that she wasn’t looking at the ceiling of her cabin.

Above her head, trees swayed in the breeze, and she was sure that she heard the sound of running water, maybe even a waterfall. Carefully sitting up, her head still spinning just a little, she looked around, shocked to discover that she was sitting in a clearing with a beautiful waterfall. There was a tent set up not far from the edge of the pool that had formed at the bottom, and she slowly got to her feet, made her way over to it, and looked inside.

A soft welcoming bed took up most of the space, and she couldn’t help sinking into the soft mattress, deciding that she’d just close her eyes for a few minutes, then figure out what was going on. She fell asleep only seconds later. Unseen hands pulled the blankets over her shoulders, the tent slowly zipped back closed, and the only sound in the little clearing was the water tumbling over the cliff.

CHAPTER 23

***HARRISON***

Harrison woke up on Max’s couch not sure how he’d gotten there for a few seconds before he remembered the night before and all the horrible things he said to Juliet. Sitting up, he groaned when his body instantly began to throb from sleeping on the couch all night, but the smell of coffee got him moving. Stumbling into the kitchen, he took the cup Max held out to him, downed half of it, then held it out for a refill before collapsing into a chair.

“Are you ready to talk about it yet?” Max asked, sitting down across from him.

“Juliet is pregnant,” he said. “She told me last night.”

Max’s eyes widened with surprise. “Wow, no wonder you’re upset, I can’t think of anything you’d hate more,” he said. “I don’t think you’ve told me about this one. Who is she?”

“That’s not funny,” he said, feeling miserably guilty. “I said some awful things to her last night. I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me.”

“I’m not joking,” Max said. “You’ve never mentioned a Juliet before.”

“Max, knock it off, you’ve met her, we saved her from her brother yesterday,” he said, then began to be annoyed whenMax still looked at him blankly. “She was spying on us for Mr. Adaloni, you can’t have forgotten that.”

“Sorry,” Max said, shrugging his shoulders. “None of that rings a bell. Are you sure you’re okay?”

His words from the night before came rushing back to him, and he jumped to his feet. “Oh no, not again,” he said, heading for the front door. “I didn’t mean it. Don’t take her away from me, I need her, I need her more than anything in the world, and I’m going to love our child. Please, please don’t do this.”

He stood on the porch waiting for a sign, something that would indicate that the island was listening. “I’ll buy a van, I’ll give up my business and get a boring, safe job,” he yelled. “Just don’t take her away from me. I can’t live without her. I love her, dammit, more than anything in the world.”

For a second nothing happened, then the leaves in the trees began to rustle, and a breeze ruffled his hair. Juliet’s scent began to fill his senses, and relief poured through him. “Help me find her,” he begged. “I’ll do anything you want me to, just help me find her.”

Like a bird dog, he followed Juliet’s scent through the jungle and onto a hiking trail, promising himself that he’d never take the love they shared for granted again. This time when he thought about the future, he saw a very different picture, and increased his pace, desperate to get to her and make everything right. He’d almost lost the only thing that really mattered in his life. He just hoped that Juliet would forgive him; he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

He was so focused on following Juliet’s scent that he suddenly found himself standing in a little clearing with a beautiful waterfall and stopped. Spotting a tent on the other side of the clearing, he broke into a run, sure that he’d found the woman who had made him so much more than he’d ever been before. Coming to a stop in front of the door, he took severaldeep breaths, then slowly began to unzip the tent, hoping he didn’t scare Juliet.

“Harrison, is that you?” she asked, her voice scratchy from sleep. “Did you finally come to your senses?”

He stepped into the tent, then froze, taking in the sight of Juliet lying there, her hair spread across the pillows, then rushed over to her. “Can you ever forgive me?” he asked, pulling her into his arms, relieved when she didn’t resist. “I’m so sorry, Juliet, I was running hot, so worried about you, then you told me about the baby and well…I lost it, I didn’t mean anything I said, I’ll buy a mini-van if that’s what you want. Just tell me that you forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you, I love you,” she said. “But if you ever do anything like that again, I may not be so understanding. I want to be with you, Harrison, but only if you really want to be with me.”

“I love you too, Juliet, more than I ever thought possible,” he said. “I want you to marry me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to have as many kids as you want, starting with this first one. I’ll never take what we share for granted. I’m going to do everything I can to make you happy for the rest of our lives, I promise.”

“Just being with you makes me happy,” she said, throwing back the covers. “Now get in here and show me how much you love me.”

---