Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
“I need to go and see her,” he said.
“Do you love her?” Lee asked.
He stopped and turned toward her. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Because it’s what she asked you and you refused to answer her.”
“Did she tell you that?” he asked.
“She didn’t need to tell me that. You just did. Ever since Maggie got here, I knew she was totally in love with you. I had no doubt about it. The way she looks at you. The smile she always reserves for you alone. No one can even come close to that level of love, but the question is if you love her or if is she just a willing pussy for you.”
“Don’t speak about her like that.” He couldn’t stand for anyone to even think Maggie meant so little to him.
“Like I said, whatever happened between the two of you in that pharmacy has upset her. You’ve got to fix it, and fast.” Lee slapped him on the back as he passed.
There was no comfort in what she offered him.
Tapping his fingers on his thigh, he looked toward the house where the woman he wanted more than anything waited for him.
Why hadn’t he told her there and then that he loved her? That he’d fallen in love with her when she was a student in his class and it was entirely forbidden?
He moved forward, entering the house, and found her in the sitting room, staring ahead. “There’s food outside.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Stop being stubborn. You need to eat something.”
She didn’t say anything. Both of her hands were pressed to her stomach.
He moved and sat on the wooden coffee table, watching her. “Talk to me, Maggie.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“We’re going to have a baby.”
“No, we’re not. I’m having a baby.”
He gritted his teeth. “I never answered your question in the pharmacy.”
“I always imagined when I was pregnant, I’d be married. I know that having unprotected sex gets you pregnant, but I figured I’d be married and I’d be in love.”
“I love you, Maggie.”
Her tear-filled gaze turned to him. “In the pharmacy, if you’d have said that, I’d believe you. Now, I don’t.”
“Damn it, Maggie. I speak the truth. I love you.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “So damn much, I can’t think straight.”
She pulled her hand out of his.
“I fucked up. I know this. I needed us to know the truth.”
“Baby or not, you should have told me how you felt. You didn’t. You were angry.”
“I was scared, Maggie. Do you know how fucking scary this is?”
“Yeah, go ahead, tell the pregnant woman how many have died in childbirth. Why don’t we compare everything from now to over a hundred years ago? That’s how close we are, right? That’s how long it has been.” She glared at him. “I know the risks, Clayton, but I don’t care. I love you with all of my heart, and I have loved you for a long time. This baby is a gift. I know it’s not at the best time, but he or she will know my love.”
He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close. “It will know my love as well, and you’re not going to push me away.”
“I’m tired.”
“Then I’m going to go and get you some food, and I’ll be joining you. If you think to lock me out, I’ll break, smash, or crush anything you put in my way and that, my dear, is a fucking promise.”
He made his way back outside, grabbing her a plate of food. Lee raised a brow at him, but he ignored it, heading back inside to his woman.
She wasn’t downstairs, so he made his way upstairs, finding her sitting on the bed. She’d kicked off her shoes, socks, and jeans. The shirt she wore was also on the floor. She wore a vest and a pair of panties.
Her hands were on her stomach, touching, gliding over.
“Can you feel it?” he asked.
She stopped touching her stomach and sat up more. “I don’t want to eat anything.”
“You’re going to eat. You’re going to need this now more than ever.” He put the tray on the bed. “If you don’t eat, I’ll fucking feed you. How is that?”
She glared at him but took the tray. She rested it on her lap and he waited as she started to eat. Taking a deep breath, he knew this was going to be a battle with her until he convinced her of his love for her.
Maggie finished the whole tray of food. He took the tray back outside and returned to find her already curled up in bed.
He used the bathroom to splash water on his face. They were going to have to set up a watering system of their own and work this town. He’d make it work. For his woman and for his future children.