The Pregnancy Proposition

“Excuse me,” a man said from behind her. “Do you know where I can find Paige Edwards?”

She knew the voice in an instant, but she was certain her mind was playing tricks on her. She shot up and turned in his direction.

It was Mano. He was there in one of his tailored suits with his Wayfarers on. His hair was slicked back and his face clean-shaven. He was clutching a bouquet of crimson roses in his hands. She almost wanted to reach out and touch him to make certain this wasn’t a hallucination. Mano wasn’t just off the resort property—he was on the mainland. Thousands of miles from his comfort zone. Why?

“Paige?” one of the other nurses said. There was a noticeable incredulity in her voice.

“Brandy, would you please give this to Mr. Jones for me?” She handed the cup with two pills to her and walked around to the outside of the nurses’ station.

When she got closer, she heard the telltale thump of Hoku’s tail on the wall. Mano immediately turned in her direction. “Paige?”

He was here. He was really here. “Yes?”

“I’m so relieved to find you,” he said with a smile. “This has been quite the adventure for me so far.”

“Congratulations on getting out and about,” she said cautiously. “I’d tell you to check out the zoo, but all you’d get out of it is the smell of elephant dung.”

Mano didn’t laugh. He was far too focused on her. He took a few steps forward, closing the gap she’d deliberately left between them. “I didn’t come here for the zoo.” He reached out and handed her the bouquet of flowers. “These are for you. I hope they’re as pretty as I im

agined they are.”

Her heart started pounding so loudly in her chest she was certain he would hear it. She accepted the bundle of bright red roses. “They’re lovely, thank you. I’m confused, though. Why are you here, Mano?”

“I wanted to tell you that I’m a fool.”

“A text would’ve sufficed,” she said coolly.

“No, it wouldn’t. I had to come here in person so you would understand how serious I am about this. I never should’ve let you walk away from me.”

“It wasn’t really your choice,” she argued, and yet she knew that she would’ve turned and ran into his arms if he’d only asked her to. Hell, she’d tried and was cruelly shut down.

“Not entirely. You made your decision then and you can make your decision now, but I can’t help but think the outcome would’ve been different if I hadn’t been too scared to say what needed to be said to make you stay.”

Mano didn’t look like the kind of man who was scared of anything, much less of something as simple as words. Didn’t he know he could tell her anything? “And now?” she asked. She bit anxiously at her lip as she awaited his response.

He reached forward and sought out her arm. His warm palm glided along her skin to her wrist and wrapped her hand in his own. “I’m still scared. Waking up with you gone was like waking up in the hospital all over again. I’d lost everything and it’s terrifying. But I’ve got to say it, anyway. I came all this way because you need to know that I love you.”

There was a loud gasp. Paige thought it might have come from her, but when she turned to the nurses’ station, she realized both her coworkers were watching them like a soap opera on television.

“Let’s go down the hallway and finish this in private,” she said. Paige didn’t really want them in her business. If this ended poorly, the whole third floor would know about it before the shift was over. She loved Brandy, but she was a blabbermouth.

“I don’t want to do this in private. I want everyone to know how I feel about you,” Mano insisted. “I want to rent a billboard and shout it from the rooftops. I’m not going to push my feelings down anymore because I worry about getting hurt. I realized it hurt more to lose you knowing I didn’t try my damnedest to keep you with me than to spill my guts and have you walk away, anyway. At least then, I would’ve tried.”

“Mano...” She didn’t know what to say. Her thoughts were racing as his words spun around in her brain. He loved her. Did he really, truly feel that way? She almost couldn’t let herself believe it.

“Don’t,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I know that tone of voice. You’re about to tell me all the reasons why we can’t be together. The distance and the baby and anything else you can come up with. I don’t care about all that. You may see them as obstacles, but to me they’re just challenges that can be overcome. All I know is that I love you more than I’ve ever loved a woman in my entire life. A week was not long enough. A year isn’t long enough. I want you in my life for always. You and the baby.”

Paige’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. The baby had been the one issue she was certain they wouldn’t be able to get past.

“I know that Wyatt called you the other day. He probably wants you back and he’s a fool not to. I told myself I should step back and let the two of you have another chance, but I just can’t. I love you too much, Paige.”

He thought she and Wyatt were reconciling? She never should’ve lied to him about the call. She hadn’t wanted Mano to know she spoke to him, not because they were anywhere near a reunion, but because she was embarrassed that she answered the phone when she saw his name.

She stepped close to him and reached up to pull off his sunglasses. She wanted to see his face—his whole face—when he said this to her. Then, and only then, could she look in his eyes and see if he was telling the truth. “Say it again,” she whispered.

Looking down at her, Mano clutched her hand against his chest. She could feel his heart pounding in his rib cage nearly as fast as her own.

“I love you, Paige Edwards. I love everything about you, and that means I love that baby, too. It’s a part of you, half of you, and that means it’s going to be an amazing child. And if I have anything to say about it, it’s going to be my child.”