Chapter Twelve #2
“I see you understand my point,” my mom says. “And despite how hard I’ve been on you two all these years, you’ve stood by his side. I have to believe it’s because you saw something special in him.”
“I did,” I whisper.
“Well, I realize I was basing my feelings on his father’s attitude and behavior.” My mother draws a deep breath. “And your father and I talked late into the night, and he helped me to see reason.”
I blink in surprise. “Dad knows I’m pregnant?” I ask in shock.
My mother shoots me a look. “Of course. We don’t keep secrets. He’d have talked to you this morning, but you were sleeping when he left on an emergency work call.”
With my head spinning and Linc downstairs, I don’t know whether to run to him for emotional support or hide under the covers until he goes away. I know what my heart wants, and God, that scares me.
“Ask yourself why he’s here and don’t tell me you think he wants to pay you off.” Apparently my mother isn’t finished with her newfound wisdom.
I flinch because I never should have said those words to him. He was in shock, as my mother said.
And I let the past dictate my reaction. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are trying to convince me to find the good in Linc,” I mutter.
“I always saw the good in him. My concerns were never about him.” My mother pats my knee. “Now go clean up and I’ll tell him you’ll be right down.”
“What about your concerns about me not fitting into his world?” I ask, sliding out of bed.
My mom lets out a sigh as if the answer is obvious. But it isn’t. Not to me.
“Where have you been all these years?” she asks.
“You’ve been by his side,” she says before I can answer.
“I simply didn’t see the truth staring me in the face.
Linc Kingston has your back. Now ask yourself if you can forgive him for being a jerk, because take it from someone who knows.
It won’t be the last time you’ll have to forgive him for stupid behavior. ”
My mother’s grin lightens the mood, and I can’t help but smile back. “Only if he grovels nicely.”
My mom laughs, then stands up and walks out the door.
I glance in the mirror above the dresser and groan. I can wash the black eye makeup away, but there isn’t much more I can do to fix my pale face. Linc will have to take me or leave me.
* * *
Jordan
From the entry to the family room, I watch Linc pace the carpeted floor.
He wears a pair of dark jeans and a cream-colored Henley top, looking as sexy as ever.
It’s not fair. I did my best to pull myself together, but I’m still pale, my eyes red and puffy from crying, and my hair pulled into a messy bun on top of my head.
Here goes nothing, I think. “Linc?”
He turns toward me, his face filled with relief at the sight of me. He takes me in, consuming me, those eyes traveling from head to toe, and I can’t help but be self-conscious. With no desire to put last night’s tight outfit back on, I’m still wearing my borrowed sweats and tee.
“I know, not my best look.” I gesture to my mismatched outfit. “But I came straight here last night, and I had to borrow something to wear.”
He shoves his hands into his pants pockets. “Actually I think you look cute.”
I do my best not to cringe at the description and fold my arms across my chest.
“Can we sit?” he asks.
I walk to the sofa and settle into the corner, well aware my body language and attitude give off a keep-your-distance vibe.
Proving he knows me well, he sits one cushion away from me, providing me with the distance I need as I wait in silence for him to speak.
He clears his throat and looks into my eyes. “I didn’t handle things well last night and I’m sorry.”
He owns his actions, and I not only appreciate it, I know what it says about his character. None of which means I’ll let him off easily. A big part of me needs to express my feelings so he really understands what he did.
“Complete understatement,” I say with a hint of defiance in my tone. “Should we start with you asking me how it happened? Your angry tone of voice?” I snap my fingers. “Oh, I know. How about when you said, shit? As if the worst thing in the world had happened to you?”
Ducking his head, he admits, “None of them were my finest moment.”
Although I give him credit. He doesn’t use being caught off guard as an excuse. But I’m well aware that how he found out I’m pregnant factored into his negative reaction, something my mother forced me to face.
I blow out a long breath and sigh. “Look, I know you were in shock. You overheard Aurora and it was the last thing you expected to hear.”
“That doesn’t make it right,” he mutters.
I nod in agreement. “No, it doesn’t. But I shouldn’t have lumped you in with your father and Collin, either.”
His wince tells me how hard the comparison hit him, and I can’t help but feel bad.
“I know I wasn’t fair. You’d never throw a check at a problem like this.” I hurled the accusation as a means of self-protection, before he could treat me the way Collin did.
The amazing thing is, Linc’s silence and lack of emotion sliced through me worse than my ex’s financial solution.
Linc’s body stiffens. “Jordan, you are not a problem and neither is our baby.” As he says the word, his entire expression softens. “We’re having a baby,” he repeats in awe, almost as if he’s just now realizing what me being pregnant means, and he’s now happy about it.
“I don’t understand.” I shake my head, confused. “We both know you were against having kids.” My stomach churns at the reminder. “You said you didn’t want them to relive your childhood in any way.”
“And they won’t,” he says, his tone full of certainty. “No baby of ours will relive the kind of upbringing I had. Not with us as parents.”
I blink back tears and tremble at the swell of emotion rushing through me. Reaching out, he rubs his thumb over my bottom lip, and it’s all I can do not to wrap my body around him and put last night behind me.
Can I?
Should I trust his change of heart?
“I want you to listen carefully and hear everything I’m about to say. Now, are you paying attention?” His firm tone has me sitting up straighter and focusing.
He slides closer, picking up my hand and holding it in his.
“When I said I didn’t want children, I imagined marrying and having them with someone like Angelica, who I couldn’t see ever getting along with long-term.
Those were the kind of women who came and went, but I didn’t let any of them in, and none stayed for long. ”
“I know,” I whisper.
“But I finally understand why. I was so insistent on not wanting to lose what we shared that I was blind to what we actually were. To what we are.” His blue eyes are dark, his voice laced with sincerity, his gaze warm and full of what I think is hope.
“And what is that?” I ask, my voice thick. My heart rate picks up speed, and I feel the rapid beat in my chest.
His dizzying smile nearly brings me to my knees.
“We’re best friends.” He cups my face in his hands and holds my gaze with his. “Soul mates.” He brushes his lips gently over mine. “And very much in love,” he says, sealing our mouths together.
I kiss him, falling into our desire. He smells so good, and now I do push myself up and settle in his lap, facing him and wrapping myself around him like I was dying to do earlier.
His erection settles against my sex, and I moan, our tongues sliding against each other, the kiss going on for a long while, until I break our connection.
We still have more to discuss. “You’re saying you love me.”
“Yes, Jordan. I love you,” he says in a deep, honest voice.
I bite down on my damp bottom lip, then ask, “And what if I wasn’t pregnant?”
He grins. “Then I’d knock you up as soon as possible. Now isn’t there something you want to tell me?”
Although I love his answer, we have one more thing to talk about.
“Not yet.” I clear my throat. “We both know I have issues with how I fit into your world. Things my mother said, that Angelica said, and how people at that club look at me.” I shake my head.
“I’ve always been able to handle it because I was an outsider, but I don’t want to put you in the middle.
Not to mention, what will your mother say?
She’s always been nice to me as your friend, but as your girlfriend? ”
His unexpected laughter has me stiffening.
“Relax,” he says. “I’m not laughing at you. I had a long talk with my mother already, and she had the perfect way to help me convince you that you are one of us. And to hell with what anyone else says or thinks.”
He shifts me up and slides his hand into his front jeans pocket, fishing around and returning with something in his closed hand.
“Do you remember my grandmother Cecile?” he asks.
I nod. “Your father’s mother. Of course. She was your favorite grandparent.” I recall the times he spent with his grandma and how he told me all about their talks whenever I saw him next.
“Well, she gave my father a diamond to set into an engagement ring for my mother. And unlike their marriage being awful, my grandparents loved each other very much. I forgot about them in light of my father’s behavior and my mother’s misery.
But from now on, I choose to focus on the good this ring caused, and my mother offered it to me to give to you. ”
He opens his hand and reveals a large diamond ring I used to see on his mother’s finger, and I let out a gasp. “Linc!”
“We will have this reset especially for you, but first…” He lifts me by my waist and slides me to the sofa.
Taking me by surprise, he lowers himself to one knee. “Jordan Marie Greene, will you marry me?”
He’s apologized and proved himself in all the ways that matter to me. And there’s nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with this man who is, as he said, my best friend and soul mate.
“Yes. Yes!” I squeal, laughing.