Page 64 of Seeking Happily Ever After

“I forgot that I should take care of some paperwork real quick. I’ll just be a few minutes, if you two are good for a few?” He didn’t wait for an answer before disappearing down the hall, back toward the offices.

When he was gone, Travis walked toward her and closed the distance.

It felt like a lifetime ago that she’d been in his arms, kissing him as if her life depended on it. And in that moment, it did.

But now…

Now he felt a million miles away, and she felt lonelier than ever before. Only worse because of what they’d experienced together.

The kiss had turned into more. And somehow they’d moved inside of Steph’s cabin. His hands were hot on her bare skin and her shirt was on the floor when they’d heard the gunshot.

Would it have gone further?

Yes.

Would that have been a mistake?

She couldn’t answer that.

At the time, it had felt so very right.

But now—with the way he stood just far enough away, so as not to touch her when she longed to have his arms around her, holding her; the way his lips were pressed together in a hard line instead of telling her it was all going to be okay—now, it just felt wrong.

“You don’t have to come,” she said before Travis could say anything. “I just feel like with everything that happened tonight I should be there for Nick and the baby and…well, I don’t even know how Charlotte is and—”

“Do you want me to come?”

His voice was low, his words pointed, a challenge.

Why was everything always so hard with him?

Stephanie was exhausted. With everything. Including him.

She couldn’t help the intense full-body attraction she had to him. It was aggravating and all-consuming and exciting, all at once. And then when they kissed…it was like nothing she’d ever felt before. There was a connection there that neither of them could deny. Not without lying.

Whatever was between them was real.

But…

She dropped her head and shook it slowly. “I can’t do this, Travis.”

“This?”

She looked up. “This…” She gestured between them. “Whatever game it is you’re playing with me. The hot and cold.” She took a deep breath. It had been a confusing, crazy, and mixed-up night. So many things had happened that would take some time to unwind and digest, but when she’d seen her best friend on the floor of the lodge, sobbing as the love of his life fought for her life, a few things—important things—became crystal-clear.

If she was going to risk her heart again, it would only be for someone who was willing to go all in on her. One hundred percent. Or nothing.

She shook her head. “I’m not good at games, Travis. Someone always loses.”

She waited, but still, he didn’t say anything. The silence was the only answer she needed. She released a long, slow breath. “I guess this time, that loser is me.”

Whatever she’d been hoping for from him, she wasn’t going to get it. She knew that now.

There was the strong silent type, and then there was the completely closed-off and unavailable type. Travis Bishop, in all his sexy slow smiles and smoldering eyes, was clearly the latter.

When Stephanie and Remington arrived at the hospital, the small waiting room was full. Damon sat next to Katie, who held baby Amelia. She was fast asleep, thankfully, and looked peaceful in only the way a baby who has no idea how close her life came to changing dramatically forever could. Jeremy paced at one end of the room; his parents sat together, hands clasped together, identical masks of worry on their faces. Steph had already heard from Bella, that she was on her way home to be with Jeremy and the family. She hadn’t received an update on Charlotte either. Only that she was still in surgery and critical.

Natalie Collins, who’d been one of the first responders to arrive at the scene, sat with her fiancé, Aiden Adams, his arm around her, holding her close. She’d helped to stabilize Charlotte enough to move her.

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