Sweet Temptation (41 page)

He stood and left the room, not saying another word to her.

How was she going to survive this pregnancy without him?
He never got a chance with his first child and now he was missing out on the second one because she couldn’t tell him. She buzzed the nurse and asked not to allow any more visitors unless it was Craig or Alex.

Chapter 2
2

After a few extra days in the hospital, Skylar was discharged and on her way home. She wasn’t feeling herself, especially after talking to Nate. She didn’t want to end their relationship, but it was the only thing she could think of at the time. She went inside and into her room. First thing she had to do was find everything of Nate’s and give it back to him. She didn’t want anything reminding her of him and what they had together.

Picking up his bag, she placed his clothes in it and went into the bathroom to grab his shaver and other items. After that, Skylar went through her closet and found one of his shirts she loved on him. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she rubbed the material over her cheek. It still had his smell on it, which brought back memories and started a fresh wave of sobs.

“How are you doing?” Craig asked from the door.

“Not good,” she cried, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. He walked over to where she was sitting.

“Have you made up your mind on what you’re doing?” he said, placing his arm around her shoulders.

“I have,” she whispered. She didn’t want to do it, but it was the only way.

“I know I can’t change your mind, and though I think it’s the wrong thing to do, whatever you have decided, I support you 100 percent. You know that, right?”

“That means a lot to me, Craig.”

“So, when are you going?”

She leaned against his shoulder, “After I’ve packed up all of Nate’s stuff. Would you be able to drop it off to him for me? I can’t bring myself to do it.”

“Sure, baby.” Craig stood and grabbed Nate’s bag. “If there is anything else to go in here, just leave it on your bed.”

“I will.” Skylar grabbed some of her clothes and threw it into her bag. When she was done packing, she walked out with her bag and grabbed her wallet from the bench.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Both Craig and Alex walked her to her car, placing her bag in the boot. “Take care of yourself down there, Sky.” Alex hugged her.

Nodding, she faced Craig. “When will you be back?”

“In three days,” she whimpered.

“I’ll see you when you get back. If you need us, just call. We’ll be down there as quick as we can.”

“Thank you.” Jumping into her car, she started the engine and reached for her belt. She looked up and found Nate looking at her from his veranda. Breaking eye contact with him, she reversed out of the driveway and drove off.

* * *

Nate watched as Skylar drove out of sight.
Where was she going?
He made his way back through his kitchen and out to his shed. He had to do something to keep himself occupied and take his mind off of everything.

“Hey, man. The Harley is here to be fixed,” Dom called out.

“Bring it in,” he answered.

After a frustrating hour of working on the bike, his phone rang. Walking into his office, he picked up the phone.

“Jackson Mechanics.”

“I’m looking for Mr.Jackson, please.”

“Speaking.”

“My name is Renee. I’m calling about the results for the DNA test you did for William Mather,” she said.

“Yes,” he answered eager to hear the results.

“The results came back this morning, Mr. Jackson. They were negative. You’re not the father.”

He let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t believe it. “Thank you for ringing me with the results.”

“You’re welcome,” she said and then hung up.

That was a lot lifted off his chest. The last couple of days were killing him wondering if he was the father or not. He didn’t want any children at the beginning of their relationship. He wanted to concentrate on his business, get it up and running and money in the bank; that’s what they had arranged then. Then she goes and sleeps with someone behind his back. He would have been fine if she came up and told him she was pregnant in the beginning, but she never did. Now he was glad she didn’t either, since it wasn’t his son after all. He smiled to himself and got a sudden urge to tell Skylar that everything was fine and they could go back to the way they were.

As Nate walked into his workshop, Dom asked him, “What are you smiling about?”

“I got the results back about William.”

“And?”

“I’m not the father,” Nate said.

Dom wiped his hands and went up to him. “That’s great news, Nate. We should go out and celebrate,” he said, slapping him on the back.

“We will, after I tell Skylar the good news.”

“Let me know when you want to go.”

“I will,” he yelled, already on his way over to Skylar’s house. As he pushed her door open, he called out, “Anyone home?”

He walked in, hearing Alex call from the lounge room “Yeah.”

“Hey guys.”

“Hey,” both Craig and Alex answered.

“When is Skylar getting back? I have some news for her.”

Craig and Alex both looked at each other. “She won’t be back for three days, Nate.”

“Where did she go?”

“What’s the news you have for her?” Alex asked.

“I got the results back; I’m not William’s father.”

“That’s great news,” Alex said.

“Where is Skylar, Craig?”

Craig sighed, “She needed to do something, down south.”

“What?”

“Skylar will be happy about the news,” Alex answered him.

“What did she have to do down there?” Nate asked, starting to get frustrated.

“I can’t tell you that, Nate. She has to.”

“Don’t give me that shit again, Craig. I’m sick of finding out last. What the fuck is going on?” Nate snarled.

“Answer one question for me then,” Craig said.

“What?” he growled.

“Have you figured out what you want with Skylar?” Craig asked him.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with her, Craig,” he whispered.

“Good enough for me.” Craig stood and walked over towards the fridge, lifted a piece of paper, and handed it to Nate.

“This is where she is staying down there. If what you told me is true, you need to go now.”

Nate looked at the address Craig gave him.

“Why is she going here?”
Why did she have to go all the way down there for something?

“You’ll have to find out yourself, if she decides to tell you, man.”

“Thanks.”

“Good luck, Nate.”

Nate wasted no time taking off towards his place. Throwing items into a bag, he grabbed his wallet and keys. He ran to his truck, threw his bag over the front, and screeched out of his driveway to find Skylar.

* * *

Driving south down the Willoughby highway, she was only two hours away from the abortion clinic she was going to. She was never one to do this, and never believed in it, either. But it was the only thing she could do. She wanted Nate and her to go through this pregnancy together. She sobbed some more.

After an hour, she pulled over and leaned her head against the steering wheel; she couldn’t go through with this.
How could she think of aborting their child, without telling Nate about it?
Wiping the tears from her face, she put the car in gear and drove back to a motel she went past a little bit ago. She parked and paid for a room. She grabbed her stuff, opened the door, and dumped her bag on the ground.

* * *

Driving down the highway, Nate’s phone beeped. Picking it up, he read the message.

Skylar has stopped at the Bridgewater motel on route 38.

Relieved that she had stopped and he didn’t have to drive all over the countryside to find her, he turned down the next exit. Doing a U-turn, he drove back the way he came, looking for the motel she stopped at. Thirty minutes later he pulled into the motel and saw her car parked in front of a room. Nate parked and went to the door, hoping he had the right room. Raising his hand, he knocked lightly.

Skylar was getting out of the bathroom when she heard a knock at the door. She frowned
. Who could that be
? She only had rung the pizza place ten minutes ago. Opening the door slowly, she lost her breath. “Nate, what are you doing here?” Nate pushed himself into the room, closing the door behind him and wrapped his arms around her.

“Jesus, baby. What are you doing down here?”

Skylar sobbed into his chest, “You shouldn’t be here, Nate?” She pushed him away, and walked into the bathroom.

Nate followed her to the bathroom. “Why do you keep running from me, Skylar?” he asked, pushing the door open.

“Go home, Nate. I don’t want you here.” She needed all the strength she had to tell him that.

“Sorry, darling. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on, and why you’re down here,” he answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

“
Get out
,” she yelled. She couldn’t do this with him right now. She wasn’t feeling her best to begin with, and this wasn’t helping.

“Tell me what I want to know first.”

Skylar shook her head; she couldn’t tell him.

Nate walked up to her, and spun her around, “Craig said if I come up here to find you and ask what was going on, you’d tell me why you’re acting like this.”

Skylar cried more. She really wanted to tell him she was pregnant, but telling him the reason why she was up here would upset him more. She shook her head. She was seeing stars and knew she was going to pass out again. She pushed past him and made it halfway towards the bed.

“Skylar.”

Nate knew there was something wrong as she didn’t look good at all. She was pale and when she turned around her eyes rolled back into her head as her legs gave out. Nate launched himself towards her and caught her before she hit the floor.
Why did she keep passing out?
Nate lifted her against his chest and walked over to the bed. He sat with her on his lap, brushing her hair out of her face. He didn’t want to let her go, but he laid her down on the bed and went to grab a wet wash rag. There was another knock on the door.

He answered the door and grabbed the pizza from the delivery guy and placed it on the table. He made his way back to Skylar and wiped her face to cool her down.

“Skylar,” he whispered. He waited for her to wake up or say something to him. After a while, he realized she wasn’t waking up. Blowing out a breath, he went and grabbed his bag from his truck and jumped in the shower to clean himself up.