AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laugh at how bizarre this moment is. “How can we even entertain this? I’m going to be huge in a couple of months. I’m not going to be this version of myself ever again. I won’t ever have the freedom to come and go as I please again. My body will never look like this again.”
“Is that what you think? That it’s your body I want?” He pushes off the counter and sits next to me.
“I think that’s part of it. And to be honest, I’m afraid it might be a little of you wanting what you can’t have. But nothing will change the fact that this baby isn’t yours. That we’re going to try to have a relationship when I haven’t even told the biological father about the baby.”
He buries his head in his hands, running them up and down his face and groaning. “First of all, you’re hot as hell, and that’s not going to change either when you show or after. So yes, I am attracted to you, but I’ve been attracted to a lot of women in my life.”
“Gee, thanks,” I deadpan.
He turns and looks at me, and I don’t even get a smirk. Okay then.
“I don’t just want you because you’re gorgeous, Briar. It’s because you’re you. It’s the way you come back at me with jokes and give as good as you get. It’s you making me dinner because I let you stay here. It’s you taking my idea seriously and helping to try to make it successful. It’s you, plain and simple. You just happen to come in a really smokin’ hot package.” I finally get his flirtatious smirk, and the light in his eyes returns.
“You’re making this hard.”
“What’s hard? Other than me once I get you in that shower.”
His humor undoes me, and all that runs through my mind is my earlier masturbation session.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”
“Fair enough.” He slides closer, his hand moving over my leg and falling into mine. “I’ll wait.”
We sit there, side by side, holding hands like teenagers. The fact is that there are a plethora of reasons this shouldn’t work between us. But the comfort I feel when I’m with him is something I’ve never felt with anyone, not even Chad, who I thought I loved. These feelings I have for Emmett are so hard for me to place, let alone dissect. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like for him to hold me.
“I forgive you,” I whisper.
He doesn’t say anything, and I look at him, wanting him to know that I do forgive him for what happened all those years ago. He’s not that same person.
“Nope. Not yet.”
“What?” I shake my head, forehead wrinkled.
He turns his head, locking eyes with me. “Not until I prove to you that I’m not that guy.”
“You don’t have to prove anything.” I squeeze his hand.
He falls to his knees and shuffles in front of me, then places his hands on my hips. I open my thighs, allowing him in. “I do. I need to prove to you that I’m not that guy. That I’m not who everyone else thinks I am. That you’re my game-changer. My anomaly. My person.”
“Emmett.” My hands go to his at my sides, about to drag them off me because he doesn’t need to say these things for us to move forward. He can’t possibly mean them.
“I told you to let me prove it. So when you’re ready, you let me know.” He draws back, takes my wrist, and places a kiss on the inside.
He releases my hand, but I grip his, and his eyes question what I’m doing.
“I’m ready,” I say in a rush.
He shakes his head and rises to his feet. “No, you’re not, and it’s okay. I’m a patient man.”
He walks toward his shower, and I stand, steeling myself.
Take what you want, Briar.
“You stupid man,” I say.
He circles back around and tilts his head. “I thought we already clarified that.”
I step toward him. “You’re not going to tell me when I’m ready and when I’m not.”
