“God, Em, just when I thought you couldn’t be any slower,” Casey remarked, walking back to her.

“My back is killing me.”

Casey snorted. “Do you have a sex sprain?”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “It isn’t a sex sprain. It started back in the booth.”

Thankfully, they made it to the car. When she got up into the SUV, a strange feeling rippled through her back and belly before a deluge of water swept down her thighs. At first, mortification filled her that she was experiencing pregnancy incontinence. But then the revelation hit her. She had gone to the bathroom before their meal arrived…and before dessert. “Oh God,” she murmured.

“What’s wrong?” Casey asked, checking her reflection in the mirror and applying more lip stick.

Emma drew in a ragged breath. “Um, I think my water just broke.”

Both Casey and Connor whirled around in their seats, shock and horror etched across their faces. “What?” Casey demanded.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. It’s all over me.”

“Oh shit, Em, don’t tell me you just ruined my new leather seats?” Connor moaned.

Casey smacked his arm hard. “It’s not like she can help it.”

Embarrassment warmed Emma’s cheeks. “I’m so, so sorry, Connor. I promise I’ll pay to have it professionally cleaned.” The moment the words left her lips raging pain crisscrossed its way through her abdomen, causing her to cry out. She pinched her eyes shut and breathed in deep, trying to ride it out.

“Em?” Casey questioned.

Once the pain passed, she opened her eyes. Both Casey and Connor stared expectantly at her. “Yeah, um, I think we’re going to have to cancel our sleepover. I need to get to the hospital. Now.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Goodnight!” Aidan called as he left his business dinner. Rolling his shoulders, he fought the fatigue that filled him. He wanted nothing more than to get back to the hotel and call it a night. When Emma’s familiar ring tone came on, he dug his phone out of his pocket. “Miss me already, sweetheart?” he joked.

“You have no idea,” she replied, her voice strained.

He froze on the sidewalk. “Em, is there something wrong?”

“Um, well, don’t freak out—”

“Too late.”

“My water broke, and I just got admitted to the hospital.”

Aidan’s eyes closed in agony. “You can’t be serious.”

“Trust me, I wish I was joking.”

“But you’re not due for three more weeks. I would have never, ever left.”

“Listen, it’s okay. You just need to get to the airport.”

“Em, there’s not a single flight out of Charlotte back to Atlanta tonight.”

“I know. That’s why I have Plan B.”

“And just what does that entail?”

“Pesh is on his way up to get you in his plane.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” When she didn’t respond for a minute, he said, “Em, are you there?”

He heard her draw in a ragged breath. “Having.a.really.bad.pain.”

He winced. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. I want to be there so bad to hold your hand...to help you.”

It took her a few seconds to respond. “Good. Then you’ll meet Pesh at the airport—”

“Em, you know I have a thing about small planes.”

“Aidan,” she growled before huffing and puffing.

When she groaned in agony, he knew he was in trouble. “Let me guess, at the moment, you don’t give a shit about my fears or what I want or don’t want to do, right?”

“Exactly!” she snapped.

“Okay, okay. I’ll get to the airport, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Good.”

“I love you, Em.”

“I love you, too.”

With fear and trepidation rocketing through him, Aidan raised a shaky hand to flag down a cab. Screw his bags back at the hotel. Noah was on the way, and he desperately needed to get to Emma. He had just slid across the cab’s leather seat when his cell phone rang again. Even though it was an unknown number, he had an idea who it was.

“Hello, this is Pesh Nadeen,” the familiar voice echoed on the other line.

“Um, hey.”

“Listen. When you get to the airport, have them bring you to the small planes hanger, rather than the main gates. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Okay. And uh, thanks again for doing this for Emma…I mean, for me. For us.”

“No problem. It’s my pleasure.”

Aidan rolled his eyes as he hung up the phone. Of course, it was his pleasure. Pesh was just the kind of standup guy that even when nothing could be gained romantically with Emma, he would still do the right thing. Pesh’s kindness shouldn’t have irritated Aidan so much, but for some reason, he just couldn’t let go of what had almost happened between Emma and Pesh.

Aidan wrung his hands the entire trip to the airport. When he got out, he glanced around the hanger. His eyes widened and a shudder ran over him at the sight of what he imagined was Pesh’s plane already on the small runway.

He stuck his head in the door, eyeing all the other death traps contained within. “Um, hello?”

Pesh came out of a side door with a clipboard. “Hey, Aidan. I was just logging our flight plan with the tower. But we’re good to go now.”

“Oh, okay.”

As they started out of the hanger and onto the tarmac, Aidan skidded to a stop. When Pesh realized he was no longer walking beside him, he turned around. “What’s wrong?”

“Emma didn’t mention what I thought about small planes?”

“No, but she seemed to be a little preoccupied with getting you to Atlanta when I talked to her.”

Aidan winced. “It’s just I sorta have this aversion…or fear about anything smaller than a 747.”

Pesh’s dark brows furrowed. “But this is a Cessna 270—one of the safest small planes around.”

Gesturing at the aircraft, Aidan asked, “That isn’t the kind that JFK Jr. crashed, is it?”

Pesh shook his head. “That was a Piper Saratoga.” He opened the side door for Aidan. “Go on, hop in. We need to get on our way.” At Aidan’s continued hesitation, the corners of Pesh’s lips quirked up. “You’re really afraid, aren’t you?”

Aidan narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I am. Call me a pu**y or whatever you want to, but these things are death traps!”