Maybe she’d let herself sympathize with the pain that had been reflected in his eyes. Maybe her own grief had her acting out of character. Whatever had her lip-dancing with him, it had nothing whatsoever to do with her heart.
She knew Mr. Globetrotter over there lived off his very large trust fund. He never put down roots anywhere. From all Popi had gathered, she had been certain he wouldn’t want to complicate his carefree life with a baby.
And with her own parents getting older, they weren’t up to the day-to-day care of a baby. That left her to raise her sister’s child. And that’s why she’d spoke with an attorney to get the adoption started.
“This surely can’t come as a surprise,” he said.
Her brows drew together in confusion. “You mean you showing up on the island unwanted and uninvited? Or did you mean you trying to charm me with your smooth words and kiss—”
“I wasn’t trying to charm you. We both got caught up with the music and the dancing. It wasn’t all one way.” His pointed gaze met hers. When she opened her mouth to deny the accusation, he continued. “Don’t bother. Remember I was on the other end of that kiss.”
Wordlessly, she pressed her lips together. Perhaps it was best to pretend that kiss hadn’t happened—for both of their sakes.
Though the music of the reception floated in the background, Popi was no longer in the mood to laugh and smile. Yes, she would have to go back to the party and put on a happy face, but not before she set a few things straight.
“You’ve wasted your time coming here,” she said. “When this baby is born, I’m not going to allow you to walk away with it.” Not a chance. She’d heard way too many stories about this guy, who acts first and thinks later. The baby wouldn’t be safe with him.
He pressed his hands to this trim waist. “You can’t stop me. I’m its uncle.”
“I’m the aunt.”
They stood quietly, glaring back and forth. Each waited for the other to back down. He’d be waiting a very long time, because she was never going to back down. This baby was too important.
From the stories she’d heard of Apollo, he had been a wild child. And as an adult, he did and said what he wanted without care to others. So why had he grown quiet? Why not say what he really thought? That she wasn’t deserving of raising his niece or nephew, because secretly she had her own reservations. The guilt over her sister’s death continued to eat at her.
Popi shoved aside the troubling thoughts. “You have some nerve coming here months after your brother and sister-in-law’s deaths and throwing around demands. Where were you for the funeral?”
Apollo glanced down at the ground. She’d hit a nerve. Perhaps he wasn’t as self-centered as her sister had let on. Perhaps there was a bit more to Apollo. But not enough to just turn the baby over to him. That wasn’t going to happen, even if this man turned out to be a saint, which she knew he wasn’t.
When her sister had first approached her about being a surrogate, Popi had outright rejected the idea. She’d thought she was too young to go through everything involved with pregnancy—not to mention the associated pain.
She’d told Andrina to find another way. Looking back, Popi felt so bad about giving her sister such a hard time. At the time, she hadn’t known about her sister’s repeated miscarriages that had devastated both Andrina and Nile. Her sister had held it all in, not wanting her family to know that she felt like a failure as a mother and wife. But when the news came out, not one of them thought any such thing.
When Andrina had finally let her guard down with Popi, something wonderful had happened. As Andrina had explained about the emotional roller coaster that she and Nile had been on, the sisters grew closer than they’d ever been before. Popi then saw the surrogacy in a new light—a chance to cement their relationship—to be more like blood siblings than two adopted orphans.
And this stranger wasn’t going to walk in here after the fact and take away her last link to her sister. It just wasn’t going to happen.
“Where have you been all of this time?” Popi hoped to drive home the fact that she had always been there. When her family needed her, she was there for them. Just like she’d be there when this baby needed her.