She tucked her hands into her hoodie pockets and looked over at him. “So I guess you were pretty surprised by the news, huh?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I felt something was off, the way you and Adele seemed to talk in abbreviated sentences. So I came right out and asked Dan.” He stopped walking and turned to face her. “This is a huge thing. I can’t believe they asked it of you.”
She smiled then. Was that his issue? In that case, she could set his mind at rest. “They didn’t ask. I offered. Actually, I offered on the night of their wedding, not long before you and I danced. Adele is the best friend I’ve ever had. When I found out that she’d left Dan all those years ago because of her infertility, I knew I wanted to help. I told them that this would be my wedding present to them.”
Harper herself was what her mom called a “miracle baby,” having been adopted since her mom couldn’t have children. Being able to help a family—particularly someone she loved—was fulfilling.
“Carrying a baby is a heck of a wedding gift,” he remarked.
She started walking again and shrugged. “It’s only for a few months out of my life, so why not?”
She saw him shaking his head out of the corner of her eye. “Not many people in this world are completely altruistic. But I can’t seem to come up with a way that this benefits you. I mean, it can’t be the money.”
“No, you’re right. It can’t. Legally they’re not allowed to pay me and since there’s no fee for health coverage... I’m not making a penny off of this, Drew. I hope you didn’t think I was.”
His brow furrowed. “It crossed my mind for a minute or two.”
“Then clearly you don’t know me very well.”
“I apologize,” he said quietly. Then he looked over at her as their shoes made soft footfalls on the sidewalk. “I still find it hard to believe you’d go through something as life-changing as a pregnancy out of the goodness of your heart.”
She laughed. “Life-changing as in the morning sickness, weight gain, swollen feet, stretch marks, and other things I have to look forward to?”
Drew’s voice was soft and hesitant in the semidarkness. “Well, wouldn’t you want to go through those things for your own kid, rather than someone else’s?”
“Maybe. Someday.” She couldn’t keep the wistful note out of her voice but hoped he didn’t hear it. Someday certainly wasn’t today and she wasn’t sure it would ever be the right time. She tended to go on first dates, but not so many second or third ones, and she’d never had a real long-term relationship—not that she’d ever admitted that to anyone. She was twenty-eight years old, had had exactly two sexual partners, and wasn’t confident that she’d ever have that life-partner-and-kid thing.
She had thought it—once. The attraction had been instant and had swept her off her feet. It had been a magical month of bliss on Caicos, an utter whirlwind that carried her away. Jared had pulled out a ring as they walked the beach beneath the stars, and she’d accepted, a 100 percent buy-in to the fairy tale. A week later he was gone, with nothing but a note explaining he’d gotten caught up in the moment and it had been “fun.”
She’d been falling in love and he’d been enjoying falling into bed until he got bored—or scared. Didn’t matter which. The end result was the same.
After that horrible pseudo-relationship, she’d vowed never to let herself get so carried away again.
She was far better off focusing on her business. So much so that she was considering using Juny as more than an assistant in order to train her up to take over a lot of the wedding and other photo shoot duties. The girl had a keen eye for balance and showed promise in creativity and innovation.
So she didn’t say it out loud but knew deep down that this wasn’t altruistic. In her heart she felt it might be her only chance to experience a pregnancy, and then when the baby was with Adele and Dan, she could be Fun Aunt Harper who got to run around in the mountains taking pictures of marmots and bears and elk and all kinds of things.
“You do want kids, then.”
His voice interrupted her thoughts and she realized they’d kept walking and were only a block and a half from her house. “Oh. Well, I suppose. If the right guy and the right time were to come around.” Standard response.
“How about you?” she asked, wanting to divert the attention away from herself. “Do you want kids down the road?”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. I don’t like being tied down, you know? I’ve got the business and that’s enough. And I can pick up and travel when I want. It’s not that I don’t like kids. I just like my lifestyle better.”
She got that. And she also understood what it meant to move kids from place to place all the time. Her dad had been in the air force and they’d moved frequently when she was little. More than anything she’d wanted to stay in one place and have the same school friends for more than two years in a row.
She rather respected Drew for owning his choice and not apologizing for it. They didn’t feel the same way about children, but then, they didn’t have to.
“Besides, I have nieces and nephews and apparently another on the way. My parents aren’t hurting for grandkids.”
Hers were. Though they never said a thing about it. She was an only child. Yet they refrained from any pressure to get married or start reproducing. Instead their conversations revolved around her studio and photography. She really appreciated that.
She paused and pointed at the little bungalow on a corner lot. “This is me.”
“Cute place.”
She laughed a little. “It’s tiny and I can hardly turn around in my bathroom, but it’s mine. I’d rather have a small spot to live and better space for my studio, so...”
“Cool.” They stopped by the walkway leading to her front door and the silence grew slightly awkward.
“I should get in. Thanks for walking me home.”
“No problem. I did have a question, though.”
“Oh?” She turned to look at him, his dark eyes nearly black in the twilight. One thing hadn’t changed about Drew. He was still delicious. There was no sense denying it. But she wouldn’t have to worry about any more propositions. Not while she was pregnant. What kind of guy wanted to date a woman pregnant with another man’s child?
“The next time you go out on a hike, can I come with you? I’m guessing you know some good spots off the beaten track that I don’t.”
She frowned a little. “You realize that when I hike, I go to a spot and then sometimes spend a crazy amount of time waiting, right? For the right light, or to get the right shot. It’s not really a heavy-duty workout. You might be bored.”
“That’s okay.”
“I’m off on Thursday morning and thinking of going to Stewart Canyon early, before the tourists go crazy. It’s not off the beaten track, so to speak, but it’s a nice walk with some good photo opportunities. Have you done the Bankhead trails on other visits? Bear in mind these are easy, popular trails. But they’re interesting.”
“I’m up for whatever. Just name the time.”
“Then I can pick you up at the hotel at six.”
“Perfect.”
He gave a wave and started back the way they’d come, whistling lightly. No long look, no hand touch, nothing to suggest this was anything more than platonic and based on mutual interests.
So why was she feeling as if she’d gotten herself into a whole lot of trouble?