Page 54 of Noah's Reckoning
My hand circling her slim wrist. Fuck. When was the last time I had felt skin that soft?
Seven years ago. Seven years ago was the last time I hadfeltanything.
“Where’s my change?” I asked tightly, because I still wasn’t letting go of her wrist.
“Figured you would just give me the rest as a tip, so I kept it.”
She was right.
“Where is…he?” I knew. Intellectually, I knew. But I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
“With Shelby.”
I looked at Angel, who had the good sense to avert his eyes. Because he was the reason for all of this. He was the one who had put my profile in that damn contest. He was the one who had chosen Vivienne out of a stack of responses.
He was the one who sent her the ticket to come here not knowing that Vivienne wasn’t coming alone.
I let go of her wrist and she had the nerve to pat me on the cheek. “Poor Caleb,” she said. “I know you’re fighting it, but eventually I’m going to win. You’ll see.”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
At least that’s what I told myself.
14
Dyson Camp
Ark
I heard the knock on my door but didn’t turn around.
“What is it?”
The door opened. I expected to see Cal. He seemed to have this crazy sense when things were out of sorts with one of his crew. It was Eli instead.
“Hey, heard you were back. Thought you were in Anchorage for another day.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not,” I said curtly, obviously not wanting to talk about it.
He didn’t say anything directly to me, but I heard him mutter something under his breath.
“What?” I asked.
“I just said it’s a shame,” Eli said, now leaning against the door frame. “I like Olivia.”
“I like Olivia, too. What’s your point?”
“I just thought…never mind. Anyway, you need to talk or…anything, I’m around. We both know Cal normally handles this sort of thing, but since he’s the new bear with a splinter in his paw these days, I wouldn’t count on it. Since I’m sort of responsible for that splinter, I figured I would fill in for him.”
“We should have told him,” I said, feeling some of Cal’s pain. Women were…complicated. At least I had seen Olivia coming. What we did to Cal was like hitting him across the head with a two-by-four.
“Yeah. Well, nothing I can do about it now. The damage is done. So holler if you need me.”
I didn’t need anyone. I just needed to think through some of the shit that was in my head. No way in hell I was sharing what I had done to Olivia. Fuck, Cal would have my balls for breakfast if he knew I’d left her unprotected. There was no reason to say anything.
Unless of course she was pregnant.
Pregnant. With my kid.
