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I frowned. “For what?”

“For bringing all this up when you’re already hurting.”

God, he was too kind. I shook my head. “You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s me who owes you all the apologies, Calder.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. Maybe because when you argue, it’s usually to win, and there was no winning this one for either of us.

I followed him to the door. At the threshold, he stopped and smiled. “Get some sleep.”

“You, too.”

The door clicked shut, and I leaned forward, pressing my forehead against it.

I’m not pregnant.

I should have been relieved. Yet I lifted my hand to my stomach and felt something entirely different. Loss. It made no sense because there had never been anything to lose. No baby. No future. Only the idea of it all. A dream I hadn’t realized I’d been holding on to until I felt it slip through my fingers.

I wiped a tear and let out a shaky laugh. This was ridiculous. I wasn’t pregnant. That was good news. It had to be.

So why did it feel like I was losing something anyway? Not a baby. But maybe my dreams? The future I’d always wanted. The version of life I’d imagined.

The loss was real. I just wasn’t sure if loving Rafe would cost me more than I was willing to give.

***

The next afternoon, I sat in my cubicle, staring at words on my laptop screen but not really seeing them. I still hadn’t talked to Rafe. It felt like weeks had gone by, even though it had only been a day. So much had happened that I’d almost forgotten about the woman who’d answered his phone. Almost.

This morning, I’d gotten my period. This afternoon, I’d apparently decided to celebrate by growing emotional and fixating on the woman’s voice. Who the hell was she? And why was Rafe avoiding me?

I picked up my phone for the hundredth time and checked for a missed call or text. Nothing. This time, I shot off a text.

Is everything okay?

I chewed on my lip as I watched the dots jump around. Then they stopped. Started again. Stopped once more. And that was it. No response ever came.

What the hell is going on out there in Vegas?

Impatient, I decided he wasn’t going to avoid me anymore. I took a deep breath and hit Call. The phone rang once, then went straight to voicemail—like he’d sent me there.

Awesome.

I was definitely not going to get any work done now. So rather than sit at my desk and waste more time, I pulled my purse from my desk drawer and went to take an early lunch.

On my way out of the office, I ran into Serena from my team at the elevator.

“Hey, Talia.” She smiled. “You going out for lunch?”

I nodded. “It’s a little earlier than I usually like, but I felt like getting some fresh air.”

“Same. Where you heading?”

I shrugged. “Chopt, maybe. I love their Korean noodle salad. It probably has two-thousand calories, but I let myself pretend it’s healthy if the word salad is in it.”

“Ooh…that sounds yummy. Mind if I join you?”

I wanted to be alone, but I couldn’t very well say that without coming off as rude. So I attempted a smile. “Sure. That’d be great.”

The elevator doors opened downstairs in the lobby, and we stepped out into the stream of people. Outside, the City was loud, but it didn’t stop Serena from chit-chatting. She just shared office gossip over the noise. One of the new ladies in marketing had accidentally hit reply to all on an email chain that definitely wasn’t meant for everyone, including the author, whom she’d called “unhinged.” An editor on the non-fiction team gave his notice on Friday and then called in sick today.