Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
"I'm not pretending anything."
"Liar."
"I love you—-"
Anah jerked in his arms. "God damn you." And then she was struggling harder than ever. "Stop lying. You asked her to m-marry you—-"
"Because I was trying to do the right thing," he said tautly.
"Liar." She saw a police officer walking towards them through her tears, and when she felt Ethan stiffen, she knew he had seen the same thing, too.
"You should go."
But his arms only tightened around her.
"The moment you get arrested," she warned him shakily, "you wouldn't be able to go back to Hartland. To your brothers—-"
"Then come with me."
She shook her head. "I can't."
"Then we'll talk here."
She turned towards the police officer and saw the man temporarily waylaid by a pair of tourists. "You still have time—-"
"I won't go until you listen to me—-"
"There's no point," Anah cried out.
"There's every fucking point," he grated back, "because you're my life." He saw her try to cover her ears, and he captured her wrists and pulled her arms back down. "Just hear me out," he said hoarsely. "Just one last time, please."
But Anah kept shaking her head.
"Remember when I came home and found out you were in love with me?" he asked harshly. "Everything changed after that. You never left my heart after that. You were always there, but I didn't dare let myself think of what that meant. I couldn't. Until I saw what Thornton and Blake had, and I realized..." Ethan swallowed hard. "I wanted the same thing. So I asked Guilia to marry me—-"
A sob tore past her throat at hearing Ethan actually say the words. "Please," she begged brokenly. "I don't want to hear—-"
"I asked her—-"
"Please."
"Because even at that time, I thought I had to do the right thing. And that was all, Anah," he said fiercely. "That was the only reason why I made myself ask her. Because I thought I still had to do the right thing, even if I was already in love with you—-"
"Stop lying!"
"The only time I lied to you," Ethan said rawly, "was when I couldn't make myself tell you about proposing to Guilia. I just fucking couldn't. I was terrified of losing you."
Anah saw the police officer was once again starting to walk towards them. She saw Ethan follow her line of gaze. Knew that he saw the same thing and understood what it meant.
And yet he still kept talking to her, the words drifting to her in a steady stream that was underscored by pain and fear.
"I knew you'd leave me if you thought it would make me happy—-"
(Almost as if)
Nothing was more important than making her understand the truth.
"Because you love me."
Because he loved her.
And as the police officer was about to ask what was wrong, he saw the girl suddenly throw her arms around the man's neck...just as he heard the man whisper something.
Well then...
Those three words said everything, and the last thing the police officer saw before walking away was the man cupping the girl's face and kissing her like she was the most precious thing on earth for him.
(Which she was)
Epilogue
Slade was walking towards the university gates when he spied a familiar figure that had a crooked grin tugging at his lips. Ethan Blackwood was standing next to his pick-up and staring icily at the college boy talking to Anah. The conversation seemed serious enough, with Anah consulting her notes and nodding every so often. But then when one glanced at the college boy and saw the besotted look on his face, it was immediately obvious that the guy had other things in mind.
A moment later, Slade saw Ethan mutter something - most likely a curse, he thought in amusement - just before striding towards his fiancée.
Wonders never ceased indeed, Slade mused as he resumed walking. Like the other guys, Slade had privately thought the younger man a lost cause and doomed to an unhappy marriage with Guilia. And yet just last week, Slade and everyone else in Hartland had the shock of their life, seeing Ethan, Anah, and Guilia having dinner together and all three of them actually looking happy.
If it had been him and Kady, and they were going to have dinner with her ex-boyfriend...
Slade's lip curled.
Not a fucking chance.
The college boy was gone by the time Slade reached his friends. Ethan appeared a lot more relaxed now while Anah, well...the girl's kiss-swollen lips were a dead giveaway, and so was the pinkish blush that still colored her face.
Anah could feel her cheeks turning even redder when she saw Slade's smirk. "You saw it," she said unhappily. "Didn't you?"
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ethan retorted.
"Are you kidding me?" Anah was torn between exasperation and frustration. "Chris and I were just talking about our report!"
"Stop saying that," Ethan snapped.
"Saying what?"
"Our report," Ethan mimicked. "You make it sound like you have a fucking kid with him—-"