“Angus, you coming with us?” Leslie asked.
“No, I’ll finish up here. See you later,” he managed to say.
“I’ll come,” Byron told her. “I’ll get some good footage at Two Willows.”
When everyone was gone, Angus braced himself on the table and bowed his head.
How the hell was he going to get through this?
When he’d thought about backup brides previously, he’d figured they knew what they were getting into. What kind of person pledged to marry a strange man—or even consider doing so, after all? He might have been able to force himself to exchange vows with a woman who was here to grab her fifteen minutes of fame. One who understood he couldn’t love and cherish her the way a husband was supposed to love and cherish a wife.
Leslie wasn’t what he’d expected at all, and her frank naivete was going to make sending her away difficult. There was no way he’d ever consider marrying her, though, even if Win hadn’t come back. He had a feeling Leslie would enter any marriage with the assumption that her sheer persistence would win the day—spark romance when there wasn’t any, be a strong enough bond to hold two people together for a lifetime.
She wasn’t here for something temporary, and he could never give her something permanent.
At some point he would have to make that clear to her, but not yet. He needed to do his thirty days, keep the terms of the agreement with the protesting backup brides. It wasn’t going to be easy.
At least Leslie was all in on Base Camp’s purpose, Angus told himself. She was a whiz in the greenhouse, and she’d probably single-handedly increase food production tenfold.
Heaven knew, they could use food.
The door jerked open, and Angus quickly straightened when Win walked back in.
“Sorry, just had something in my eye. Took a heck of a time to get it out—” She came to a stop. “Where is everyone?”
“Avery took Leslie to the Reeds’ place. Byron went along to film them. Boone went to check on the barn.”
“You mean the horses?”
“I mean the barn. To see if it’s still standing.”
Win cocked her head. “It would be a crying shame if it’s fallen down in the last hour or so.”
They stared at each other. Win’s mouth quirked with the beginnings of a smile.
Angus’s willpower dissolved like gelatin in hot water. He circled the table, took her in his arms, his heart melting at the pressure of her growing belly against his waist. This woman meant everything to him no matter how many concerns he had. He bent and kissed her, despite all his intentions to follow Boone’s directives.
Win was soft and warm, her hair silky in his hands, her mouth yielding to his, her desire matching his own.
His libido, shut down for so long, roared to life with such intensity Angus found himself wanting to crush Win against his chest, but he had to be careful—the baby.
His baby.
He forced himself to slow down, wanting nothing more than to carry Win to his unfinished tiny house, lay her on the unfinished floor and make love to her until the world ended.
“Win—”
The door to the greenhouse opened again, and they sprang apart.
Win was pretty sure she heard Angus groan with frustration, and she didn’t blame him; she was frustrated herself. Would they ever get the chance to be alone together?
“Uh… sorry to interrupt. Win? Can you come up to the manor?” Riley asked.
Had she seen them together? Win wasn’t sure. Angus raked a hand through his thick hair and ambled back to his hydroponics setup, muttering under his breath.
“Okay,” Win managed to say. “What’s going on?”
“We’re… making plans for our next guests. Thought maybe you’d be willing to pitch in.”
“Of course.”
She exchanged a disappointed look with Angus when Riley turned to leave but followed her outside. Riley hadn’t talked to her much since she’d returned to Base Camp, and Win had a sudden surge of fear that maybe this summons was an excuse for the women to tell her they didn’t actually want her here at all, but when they reached the manor, she found Savannah in the kitchen pouring cups of tea for the three of them. Baby Jacob was asleep in a portable crib nearby.
“How many guests are coming?” Win asked, taking a seat at the table.
“Actually, would you mind if we talked about something else for a minute?” Riley asked with a significant look at Savannah.
Savannah lowered herself into a chair and sighed. “Thank goodness Jacob’s asleep. He’s been nursing every hour on the hour lately.”
“Growth spurt,” Riley said.
“I wish I hadn’t missed so much of your pregnancy,” Win said truthfully.
“I wish I hadn’t missed so much of yours.” Savannah smiled. “Congratulations. I hope you work things out with Angus.”
“Me, too.” This was going much better than she’d expected. Neither woman seemed uncomfortable with her, and Win wondered if they’d decided to take her at her word that she was back for good, or maybe they felt sorry for her because of Leslie’s presence at Base Camp. She turned to Riley, wanting to keep the conversation flowing. “How are you feeling these days?”
“I’m all right. The doctor says I’m out of the woods. Odds are low I’ll miscarry again now, although I don’t think I’ll be able to breathe until I hold my baby in my arms.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Win assured her, more grateful than she could say that neither of them seemed ready to take her to task for leaving Base Camp. “So… what did you want to tell me? I thought maybe you were mad at me.”
“No,” Savannah said. “I mean, it hurt when you left. I didn’t understand it, but with everything that’s happened since then, I think we’ve all learned that you never really know what’s going on
