When I drove up to the all-night diner and parked the ranch truck I borrowed from time to time, I could see her sitting in the window. It had only been two months since I last did, but seeing her again, took my breath away. There was no woman in the world more beautiful than Pia. That was a fact. She was perfect. Anyone who attempted to dispute my assertion could right bloody sod off.
She turned her head and looked out at the night, perhaps because she felt me watching her. She’d been crying, which didn’t surprise me. The tone of her voice when she called to tell me she needed to see me had been enough for me to know something was wrong.
I got out of the truck, groaning at the pain that shot through the left side of my body. It was likely due to the cold weather. Then again, the pain could be any one of several paresthetic sensations the docs who treated me told me were psychosomatic.
As I walked to the diner’s entrance, Pia tracked me the whole way. There was so much pain etched on her beautiful face, it broke my heart. I longed to see her smile, the one that drew me to her all those years ago. But did I deserve her smile? Hadn’t I been the one to take it away more than any other?
She stood as I approached the table. “Mylos.” The Italian pronunciation of my name on her tongue sounded like a song, one she’d sang from the day we met. “Thank you for coming,” she added.
“Of course,” I answered as we exchanged cheek-kisses. Would that I could take her in my arms and kiss her like a man does the woman he loves, but I’d forfeited that right.
I waited for her to be seated before I slid onto the bench seat across from her.
“How are you, Pia?”
When her big chestnut-brown eyes filled with tears, she looked away. I reached across the table with my right hand and rested it on hers. “What is it? Tell me.”
She shook her head as if to shake the tears away and squared her shoulders. She took a deep breath, and her eyes met mine. “I’m pregnant.”
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Grinded
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Also by Heather Slade
THE INVINCIBLES
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Book One: Decked
Book Two: Edged
Coming Soon!
Book Three: Grinded
Book Four: Riled
Book Five: Caspered
Book Six: Hammered
Book Seven: Smoked
Book Eight: Inked
COCKY HERO CLUB NOVELS
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Book One: Undercover Agent
Book Two: Undercover Saint
Book Three: Undercover Angel
BUTLER RANCH
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Book One: Brodie
Book Two: Maddox
Book Three: Naughton
Book Four: Mercer
Book Five: Kade
Butler Ranch Boxed Set: Books 1-5
K19 SECURITY SOLUTIONS
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Book One: Razor
Book Two: Gunner
Book Three: Mistletoe
Book Four: Mantis
K19 Security Solutions Boxed Set: Books 1-4
Book Five: Dutch
Book Six: Striker
Book Seven: Monk
Coming Soon!
Book Eight: Halo
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SECTION 6
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Book One: Shiver
Book Two: Wilder
Book Three: Pinch
Book Four: Shadow
COWBOYS OF CRESTED BUTTE
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Book One: Fall for Me
Book Two: Dance with Me
Book Three: Kiss Me Cowboy
Book Four: Stay with Me
Book Five: Win Me Over
Cowboys of Crested Butte Boxed Set: Books 1-5
Edged (The Invincibles Book 2) Page 21
