That had hurt more than she’d thought possible. At a time when she needed him the most, he’d gone on his merry way.
Of course, he didn’t know that her mother had passed away. The first few days after that horrible visit to the hospital had been a blur of confusion and soul-deep grief. And fear! Lots of fear. She’d called her school principal and explained the situation. The principal had been wonderful, arranging for a substitute to take care of her class for the next two weeks. But it still had taken Stevie a while to start functioning again.
Unfortunately, not once did Janus call and ask about her. She’d been in such a haze, barely sleeping or eating during the week following her mother’s death, that she hadn’t known what day it was, much less what was going on in the world. But when she’d finally surfaced, finally had collected herself enough to check her messages, she hadn’t found anything from Janus.
Apparently, he’d been through with her. Sex. A convenient body. That’s all she’d been to him. Stevie had been a good roll in the hay and, after he’d gotten what he wanted, the jerk had moved on.
Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes and tried to figure out how to get through this next painful revelation in her life. She was pregnant. Pregnant. Alone. Sad and…abandoned. Plus, it was January. This was one of the gloomiest months in Seattle. A lot of people thought of Seattle as a rainy town. And yeah, there was a lot of rain, but not as much as people assumed.
The real issue in Seattle was the cloud cover. There were months when it seemed that they would never see the sunshine again. Never feel the warmth of the sun or have hope that the gloom would dissipate.
Now, she was pregnant. She’d been feeling tired and out of sorts for a while now. But after the holidays had passed and she still couldn’t seem to get out of her funk, Stevie had finally gone to see a doctor.
“You’re pregnant,” her physician had told her gently. “I know this isn’t the news you were expecting, but I hope you might be happy about it.”
Stevie hadn’t believed her doctor, which is why she was sitting in her bathroom, staring at a plastic stick. Not that the pharmacy pregnancy test was better than the blood test she’d taken at the doctor’s office. Still, it was one of those situations that she just…well, needed more confirmation.
Tossing the plastic stick into the trash, she walked out of the bathroom and stood in her kitchen. “I should eat something,” she said to her empty apartment. But the thought of eating just made her ill.
“This is ridiculous!” she snapped and turned on her heel, walking out of the kitchen. It was Saturday and she needed to get away from Seattle. Away from her tiny apartment where she’d been holed up for the past four months. “Fresh air,” she whispered as she got into her car. It was cold in Seattle, but Stevie still rolled the windows down a few inches, turning on the heat.
She wasn’t sure where she was going, but wasn’t surprised when she ended up at her mother’s house. Staring at the small, familiar cottage, Stevie’s eyes teared up. Angrily, she wiped them away, sick of crying. It was as if she’d been doing nothing but crying for the past four months. Over her mother’s death, the loss of Janus-the-Jerk as she now referred to him, and now this. Pregnant.
Just then, the clouds opened up and sunshine spilled over the house. It was as if God was telling her something, sending a message. It felt good! Maybe it was just the extra light, but Stevie immediately knew what she needed to do.
Chapter 8
“Sir, you received a call from a woman named Stevie Hunt. She said it was urgent that you return her call.”
Janus glared at his personal assistant, ignoring the sudden surge of hope.
But no, he couldn’t be excited about her calling now. Not four months after his accident. What the hell could she possibly want? There had been no contact for all this time and now she wanted…what? A quick roll in in the hay?
His body reacted immediately to the possibility. And for a long moment, he considered calling Stevie back. If she wanted sex, then he could handle that. His body obviously wouldn’t object. She’d been extraordinarily beautiful. Soft and…!
What the hell was he thinking? No way would he get back together with Stevie! When he’d needed her the most, she’d vanished. When he’d been hobbling around on crutches, his recovery slow and painful, she’d ignored him. Obviously, the woman didn’t like hanging out with a crippled man!
But now that he was fully recovered, walking on his own legs without crutches or braces, she wanted back in his life? “Tell her to go to hell,” he growled, then stalked into his office and slammed the door.
For several moments, he took in deep breaths, calming his fury over Stevie trying to come back into his life. She must have seen the interview yesterday, seen that he could walk again and wasn’t permanently damaged.
Janus never would have thought that Stevie was like that. Everything about her four months ago would have led him to believe she was a kind, compassionate woman with a heart of gold. He would have thought she’d stand by him, support him during his recovery.
But not a word from her. Until now.
Not until he was fully recovered did she reappear. Well, he wouldn’t fall for her act again. Not this time!
Walking over to his desk, he ignored the pain and focused on work. He’d bought several new restaurants over the past four months and they were slowly becoming profitable. He
