Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Not likely.
The odds were Becka would throw something at his head rather than sit still long enough to hear him apologize. He deserved it. There was no doubt about that.
He reached the ground floor and headed out onto the street. He had no plan. No guarantee that she wouldn’t kick him to the curb the second she saw him. Nothing.
Nothing but his love and an apology he didn’t even know how to put into words.
It didn’t matter.
He would make it right.
The alternative—a future with Becka moving peripherally through his life—was too heartbreaking to even consider. If he fucked this up, they’d share a child and nothing else. He’d have to stand by and watch her move on. She might avoid relationships like a plague right now, but eventually she’d come across a man determined enough to get past her barriers, who would be patient with her skittishness, and who would earn her love as a result.
Fuck. That.
Aaron wanted to be that man. Aaron was that man.
He just had to prove it to her.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BECKA COULDN’T SETTLE into the movie. It was more than her bladder crying foul every fifteen minutes or the fact that too many peanut butter cookies had upset her stomach. She kept running over Allie’s words, and every repeat put her more on edge. She sat up. “I did fight for him.”
“Hmm?” Allie turned to look at her. “What’s that?”
“Aaron.” She pushed to her feet and pressed a knuckle to the small of her back, where an ache had started. “I moved in with him. I went on dates with him. I shared his damn bed. I was making an effort.”
“Uh-huh.”
She paced back and forth, energy snapping through her limbs. “You know what I need to do?” Becka continued before her friend could respond. “I need to go down to his office and say what I need to say. He can’t just ice me out and expect me to fade quietly into the night.” She spun around. “I love that asshole, and people that love each other don’t have a single fight and break up. That’s bullshit. He can’t ghost me. I’m having his freaking baby.”
Allie cleared her throat. “Well, technically, he could ghost you.” She held up her hands when Becka growled. “I mean, this is Aaron, and obviously he’s not going to because he’s Aaron. But just wanted to point that out.”
“You’re not helping.” She snatched up her phone and headed for the door. “I’m going to track that jerk down and figure this out.”
“Go get ’em, tiger.”
Considering Becka had said almost the same thing to Allie after she and Roman had their bumpy start, she didn’t growl at her friend again. “I’ll call you later.” She stalked to the door and threw it open.
And almost plowed right into Aaron.
He stood there, one hand raised to knock. “Becka.”
She froze. “Aaron.” Now that they were face-to-face, her anger drained away as if it’d never been, leaving only the hurt and heartbreak behind. She stepped back and wrapped her arms around herself. “What are you doing here?” He shifted, and she zeroed in on the plastic containers in his free hand. They looked familiar... “Are those peanut butter and jelly wings?”
He slowly lowered his hand. “I figured my best chance of getting you to sit still long enough to hear me apologize was if I provided your favorite food.” He motioned to the containers. “And if it brought up some of the good memories to combat what an asshole I’ve been, I wouldn’t complain about that, either.”
It was right about then that she realized they still stood half in the hallway outside the apartment. “How did you get up here?”
Guilt flared in his blue eyes. “One of my old clients lives on the floor below. I asked him to buzz me up.”
Shady. He obviously didn’t want to project his arrival for fear of how she’d react, which was enough to tell her that Allie had no idea he was coming. Becka shot a glance over her shoulder, but if her friend was eavesdropping, she was being subtle about it. After a quick internal debate, she stepped back. “Why don’t you come in?” Allie had set her up in their spare bedroom, so she led Aaron there.
He didn’t speak as she shut the door behind him, but he did set the food on the dresser. Becka opened her mouth, but she didn’t know what to say. The fear rose again, the instinctive desire to retreat behind her shell to avoid being vulnerable. Letting Aaron in had hurt, and if he had showed up just to reject her...
Have a little faith.
She cleared her throat. “I overreacted. You startled me with the marriage thing, and instead of talking it out like a reasonable adult, I flipped my shit and unloaded a couple decades’ worth of issues on you. That wasn’t fair.” She pressed her lips together. “But I still think marriage isn’t the answer. Not like this—not in response to being pregnant.”