Free The Missing by Shiloh Walker

later, he realized he hadn’t put a rubber on. Taige pushed up onto her elbows, staring at his penis, still half erect and wet. “Shit,” he muttered. A rueful grin curved his lips. “We sort of forgot something.”

    “Yeah, I’ll say.” Taige could feel him, wet on her thighs. She studied his face, tried to figure out what he might be thinking. He didn’t seem mad or really even worried.

    He blew out a breath and dropped down to sit with his legs drawn up. They stared at each other, and finally he asked, “Think you can get pregnant?”

    Taige rolled her eyes. “I’m a girl, aren’t I?”

    “I meant . . .” He waved a hand toward the tangled quilt on the floor. “From this. Today.”

    She shook her head. “Probably not.” Then Taige narrowed her eyes. “But what if I did?”

    He reached out and snagged her wrist, jerking her into his lap. “We’d deal with it.” He rested a hand on her belly, frowning a little. “Don’t think I’m ready to be a parent. But we’d deal with it.” Then he looped his arms around her and just held her.

    You’re the amazing one, Taige thought silently. He’d said that to her on the beach last weekend, but he’d been wrong. She wasn’t amazing. A bit of a freak, for certain, but not amazing.

    Cullen, though, was. He had his whole life ahead of him, and it was the kind of life she hadn’t ever dared to dream about. Rich, smart, and capable, he could have anything he wanted. The thought of an unplanned baby thrown into the mix ought to terrify him.

    We’d deal with it.

    “Yeah,” she murmured against his neck. “Yeah, we would.”

    “IT’S the same girl.” Taige met Cullen’s eyes over the thick mug of tea he had made for her. “I keep dreaming about her. Pretty little thing, black hair, green eyes, has these Shirley Temple curls. She was sitting in an airport this time.”

    “How many times now?” Cullen asked, puzzled.

    She shook her head. “Too many. For nearly two years now. Always the same thing. She’s sitting there. Then she’s gone. Just . . . missing.”

    He started to respond, and then his phone rang. He looked at it and swore. “Shit. It’s my dad.”

    Taige looked up at the clock hanging over the sink. It was red with little roosters in place of numbers. She’d bought it for Rose years ago, and it had been hanging on that wall ever since. Right now, the hour hand was on rooster number ten. Almost ten o’clock. Cullen had told her last night he had to get home by nine thirty so he could pack his stuff.

    They were leaving today. It left a cold knot in her chest. His leaving always hurt, but this time was harder.

    He spoke to his dad, promised he’d be there soon, apologized. Then he hung up the phone and looked at Taige. “I have to go,” he murmured.

    She forced herself to smile. He came to the chair and crouched down beside her, resting his head in her lap. “I don’t want to leave yet,” he murmured. Then he turned and kissed her belly.

    “You have to.” She wouldn’t let herself cry. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Just need a few minutes to settle.”

    He lifted his head and stared at her. “It’s not just that.” One big, warm hand rested on her thigh, and he squeezed gently. “And it’s not just this, either. Leaving you gets harder and harder every time.”

    “I hate it, too.” Then she grinned weakly. “But knowing it sucks for you, too, makes it a little easier.”

    “Will you come to Georgia? Come for Christmas.”

    He’d asked her before. She’d always said no. But this time . . . She leaned in and kissed him. “Maybe.”

    Grabbing her in his arms, he stood, lifting her out of the chair and spinning her around. “You’ll come.” Then he lowered her feet to the ground, his smile fading. He placed his hand on her belly. “You’ll call me and let me know, right?”

    She didn’t need to ask him what about. She nodded. But she already knew she wasn’t pregnant. She hadn’t gotten