Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 34206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Jaxson. Her soul mate.
She didn’t give a fuck that he was older than her or that he was once her teacher. Some people would see him as taking advantage, but not her. Teal wanted him.
Clenching her hands into fists, she refused to do this. There was no way she was going to fall. No way at all. She now had a baby on the way, and she needed to be strong.
Taking a deep breath with a newfound sense of focus, she released her breath, glanced toward the door, and decided she would make a plan with her mother. She would have to tell Jaxson she was pregnant. She’d need to find him. Even though they weren’t together, he still had a right to know she was pregnant with his child.
Teal stepped out of her bedroom and walked down the corridor, heading toward the main sitting room, and as she did, she came to a stop.
There, on the sofa, opposite her mother, was Jaxson Rebel. The man she loved more than anything, the father of her unborn child. He was there.
Her mother saw her first and stood. “Teal.”
Jaxson stood and turned. He had more than a day’s stubble on his chin.
“Jaxson,” she said.
He didn’t look so good. In fact, she would have to admit he looked terrible.
He didn’t say anything. She watched as he rounded the sofa, and then in a few steps, he was in front of her. Teal didn’t say anything, not even as he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
All she could think about was that it was about time he showed up.
****
He tried. He freaking tried. That was all Jaxson could think about.
He knew he should have left her alone, but the truth was, he was dying inside, and it was only getting worse.
The love he felt for Teal wasn’t going away. He didn’t believe in the cursed houses, nor did he care about them. What he did believe in was the here and now. He was done waiting another moment without Teal by his side.
Jaxson had been trying to find the contact details for Teal when Bethany arrived at his home. She had located him just yesterday. She had told him straight that even though she was angry he’d been with her daughter and there were many rules that were broken. As a woman who had fallen in love with an older man and knowing what it was like to be apart from him, she wasn’t going to cause any trouble. Teal had been through enough.
She had also told him that Teal was pregnant. That she was going to see a doctor to have it confirmed and that, little by little, she was dying inside. He didn’t want his woman dying. He didn’t want her feeling anything but love and devotion.
Holding her in his arms, finally, after so long apart, he pressed his face to her neck and breathed her in.
“Jaxson, what are you doing here?”
“I love you,” he said. “I love you so fucking much, and I shouldn’t have left you behind. I never wanted to leave you behind, and damn it, I can’t live without you.” He stared into her beautiful eyes. He’d missed her so much.
Sinking down to one knee before her, he pulled out the ring he’d bought just for her. “Marry me.”
“Jaxson?”
“I know about the baby. I know you’ve missed me as well. Your mother told me everything, and I’m sorry I messed everything up. I… You are mine, Teal. I love you. I love you so fucking much, and I don’t want to spend another moment, another Halloween, another Thanksgiving, without you by my side.”
“I, I love you too,” she said, tears in her eyes. “You don’t have to do this about the baby.”
“I’m not. I was going to do this before your mother told me you were pregnant.”
She looked over his shoulder, and Bethany chuckled.
“I couldn’t watch you do this to yourself. I know what it’s like to walk away from the man you love and then to live a lie for so long.” Bethany moved in closer and cupped her daughter’s face. “You are the only good thing to come out of my marriage, Teal. Don’t follow in my mistakes. You deserve love and happiness, and I will never get in the way of that. I’ll leave the two of you alone.”
Jaxson was still on his knee when Bethany left. He looked at Teal. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I want you to be my wife, Teal. I want you to be mine. All mine. For the rest of our lives.”
Teal smiled, and he hated the tears falling down her cheeks. All he wanted to do was wipe them from her eyes.
“Yes,” she said.
“What?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want everything with you. Just with you.”