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His forest green eyes met and held hers. “I’m saying that I like you a whole lot. Walking away from you was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I feel connected to you and loved every second we spent together. I want us to be together. I understand you probably need time to come to terms with everything and I’ll wait as long as you need.” Christian’s hands tightened on hers. “But make no mistakes I am thrilled you’re here.”
Lila wanted to believe that so badly, but she felt like she had whiplash from Christian’s attitude changes. First, he liked her, then he ended things, then he was cruel, and now he was telling her he had done it all because he cared about her enough to want to protect her.
But she had dropped a major bombshell on him, one that had taken her a whole lot longer to accept than he seemed to have taken. It was like they had just glossed over the whole they were having a baby thing.
“Don’t you need some time to come to terms with everything?” she asked hesitantly.
Christian reached out and picked up the pregnancy test from where he’d put it on the large table. His grin was huge, his eyes sparkling as he looked at it in wonder. “A baby. Totally out of left field but I’m thrilled. How do you feel about it?”
“It was a shock, but I definitely want to keep the baby,” she said, feeling defensive again. Just because Christian seemed happy didn’t mean he was. He’d already played with her emotions once, and now she couldn’t quite believe he wouldn’t do it again.
“How far along are you?”
“About eight weeks.”
“So, we pretty much got pregnant the very first time. That means I have seven months to make up for the last four weeks and earn your trust back.”
“You want to be in the baby’s life?” That was best case scenario as far as she was concerned, especially now she knew that Christian hadn’t wanted to hurt her but had been trying to save her life.
“Sweetheart, I want to be part of both of your lives. Can you forgive me?” Christian’s smile dropped, and he looked genuinely upset by the idea that she might say no.
“I have to be honest,” Lila started, feeling Christian’s hands tighten almost convulsively on hers. “It might take me a little while to trust you again, but I understand why you did what you did, and I won’t hold it against you. We can get back to where we were.” Lila knew in her heart what she’d just said was true. What he’d done had hurt her, but she honestly couldn’t say that if their positions were reversed, she wouldn’t do the exact same thing.
“I won’t let you down again,” Christian vowed. Lifting one of his hands, he cupped her cheek, and Lila found she automatically tilted her face into the contact. As his thumb brushed across her bottom lip his eyes met hers, the question in them clear.
When she nodded, he closed the distance between them, his lips capturing hers. The kiss was soft, sweet, and full of feeling, but she could also tell that Christian was holding back, not wanting to push her too hard too soon.
Wanting—needing—more, Lila grabbed his shoulders, dragging him closer and deepening the kiss. Following her lead, Christian tilted her head to get a better angle, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth.
The pain and anger of the last month began to fade, and Lila realized just how much she had come to care about Christian. Losing him had been like losing a part of herself, and now she had it back, and she was almost giddy with happiness and relief.
“I already love our baby,” she whispered when he finally drew back.
“That’s because you’re going to be the best mama bear,” Christian said, touching his forehead to hers. “This little baby bear is so lucky to have you as its mama.”
Tears filled her eyes. He had no idea how badly she needed to hear those words. Her parents hadn’t cared about her at all no matter how much they had pretended to the outside world that she was the sun, moon, and stars of their universe. Lila had major doubts about her ability to be a good mom, but nobody would love this little one more than she would.
Except maybe the man looking at her so tenderly.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you to consider moving here to stay with the rest of my teams’ families,” Christian said, taking her hand in one of his while the other scooped up the pregnancy test.
“The threat is really that great?”
“Honey, the only reason I would have broken both our hearts was if I was afraid for your life. Yeah, the threat is credible, and I’d feel much better having you here where I know you and the baby are safe. If you’re not comfortable with the idea, you can stay at my place or I can stay at yours. Bottom line is, you’re not staying alone. If you don’t want it to be me I’ll ask my boss to assign you a bodyguard.”
Lila shivered. He’d mentioned a threat, but she hadn’t realized it was this dangerous. No wonder Christian hadn’t wanted to drag her into this mess. There was no way she wanted some stranger watching over her. She’d had enough of that for a lifetime. So, it was either Christian’s place with him, her place with him, or here with the other families.
Families she hadn’t met yet because Christian hadn’t wanted to introduce them when they’d been together. She’d thought it was a little odd, but she’d also thought that given the issues he was dealing with, he’d wanted to protect this special little spark growing between them.
“I would be prepared to stay here if that’s what you think is best,” she said.
Relief filled his face. “Thank you. I don’t want anything to happen to my girls.”
“Girls?”
Christian grinned and shrugged. “I have a fifty percent chance of being right. It’s gotta be a girl or a boy.”
“Ha ha.” She rolled her eyes as she laughed at his lame joke, tension fading out of her body. This was the Christian she knew and had been falling for.
