Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“Oh, Lily-poo, did you just do that?” Trish coos. “Let me get you a towel.”
I merely cuddle my baby close, loving the heavy weight of her in my arms. Then I grasp her even tighter to my body and look up at Hunter. The expression in his eyes blows me away. He looks shocked and confused, but also possessive. There’s a light there that tells me he’s not walking away.
“Catherine,” he begins, but then Trish is back.
“Here you go,” she says, handing me a soft baby nappie. “What a cutie pie!” she coos again, tickling Lily under the chin. The baby burps once more, and a bit of spit-up comes out, which I pat away with the nappie. I’m about to apologize, but then Hunter stops me.
“Catherine,” he says in a low voice. “I need you to listen.”
I turn wide eyes toward him.
“Yes?”
Trish senses that this is a good time to leave, and she slinks away.
“Catherine,” he begins again, a tormented look on his face. “I know that what I did was strange. We made love, and it was the wildest, most exciting experience I’ve ever had. But I never expected that you’d get pregnant.”
I look down while patting my baby on her back.
“I know,” is my quiet admission. “I never expected it either.”
“Good,” he says swiftly. “Because if I had known, I would have turned my life upside-down to be with Lily. And to be with you. This is where I want to be, with my child and her mother. I know I left without leaving my contact info, but you have to believe me,” he says a bit desperately.
The breath hitches in my throat, and I feel myself beginning to tear.
“But why didn’t you reach out? Even once?” I ask. “I waited and waited, but you never called.”
He looks tormented.
“Because sweetheart, you were so sweet and innocent. I took your virginity, and then told myself that you could do better than me. You don’t need a man who travels all the time for his job. You deserve a man who’s caring, loving, and who will stay by your side. As a football player, I can’t do that. We have so many away games that I’m constantly on the road.”
I blink, and the tears begin to fall down my cheeks.
“But you never asked me,” I say in a tormented whisper.
The look on Hunter’s face breaks my heart.
“I know, sweetheart, and I wish I had, because look at the beautiful baby we made. She’s the sweetest miracle. But,” he continues, his own eyes beginning to shine suspiciously now, “I want to put that in the past. Catherine, I’ve missed you so much. I thought of no one else while I was in New York, and I kept telling myself that I should let you go. But I know now that I never wanted to let you go. The moment I set foot on Mesa’s campus, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was going to find you, and make you mine somehow.”
I look at him with shimmering eyes, still clutching my baby close.
“Really?”
He groans, while nodding.
“Really,” he affirms. “And now that we have a baby together, it solidifies everything. I want to be with you, Catherine. I want you, me and Lily to be a family. I don’t know the logistics just yet, but I know I want this to happen.”
Tears are streaming down my face now, and words refuse to come. But then, my heart contracts painfully, and my emotions come gushing out.
“That’s what I want too,” I confess through sobs. “Oh Hunter, I’ve missed you so much, and I felt like I was going to die when you didn’t contact me. We all knew you’d gone to New York, but I couldn’t believe that I meant so little to you. And then, when I found out I was pregnant …”
His own cheeks are wet as he pulls me against him, cradling me and Lily both.
“I know, sweetheart,” he shushes into my hair. “I know.”
“It was so awful,” I sob, burying my face in his chest. “My parents disowned me, and my sister …”
He jerks away, eyes blazing.
“What? Your parents disowned you?”
I sob again.
“Yes. I revealed that you were the father of my baby, and Angela went ballistic. It didn’t matter that we didn’t hook up until after you guys were broken up. She spread all these rumors, and told my parents that I ‘seduced’ you with the aim of getting pregnant. She kicked me out of the apartment too,” I cry.
A murderous look sweeps across Hunter’s face.
“Really,” he grates out. “Well, we’ll see about that.”
“Hunter,” I say, still sobbing. “It’s been so hard without you. If you come back, please promise me you’ll never leave. I don’t think I could survive.”
With that, the handsome man cups my face in his hands. His look is so tender, and so giving, that my heart shatters into a million pieces.