Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Her fingertips tapped across my chest as she murmured, “Now I believe that was a perfect five-star.”
Surprise hurtled out of me on a laugh, and I gripped her fingers and pressed them to my lips. “Only because I’m better with you.”
Softness filled her features, and the gentlest smile played around her plump, swollen lips.
“How is it possible I feel like this?”
I pulled her closer. “I never believed in fate or any of that bullshit, Piper. Not once. Not until the moment I found you in the snow.”
I didn’t know how and I didn’t know why, but there was something about us that had been instant.
Carved in time.
Purposed.
And that purpose was her and that little boy, even if it made me a monster for taking it.
FORTY-FIVE
THEO
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD
Theo had been dreading this day for so long. Dragging his fucking feet. Hating the idea of hurting her but knowing he was only making it so much worse by prolonging the inevitable.
“Scar, I’m fuckin’ sorry, but I’m not feeling this thing the way you want me to.”
Theo sat on the end of the bed, not sure why it felt like his heart was getting shredded. Stomach in knots as he yanked his fingers through his hair.
Scarlett looked like he’d stabbed her.
Crestfallen and filled with disbelief where she stood across the room. “What do you mean, you’re not feeling the way I want you to?”
“Come on, Scar. You know what I’m talking about.” He gestured a hand between them. “This thing between us. You know I care about you, but—”
“Don’t tell me but, Theo. I love you, and I know you love me.” She gripped a fist over her chest.
“I do, but not like that.”
Tears blurred her eyes. “Not like that? Not like the way you’ve been touching me for the last six months? Not like the way you’ve had me on the back of your bike like I belong there?”
Those tears streamed down her face, and she frantically swiped them away.
Torment ripped Theo in two.
Because he wanted to. He wanted to love her like that. But how? He’d never felt anything that powerful. Not once in his life.
And he knew he never would.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett. We need to get you home. Where you belong. Where it’s safe and you can live a good life.”
“My home is right here. With you. This is where I belong.”
Regret shook his head, and he slowly stood. “No—”
Scarlett gasped a choked sound and cut him off. “No, Theo. Don’t tell me that. Don’t tell me you don’t love me. This is where I belong. With you. You saved me. I never had anything until I had you.”
The words spilled from her on a plea. Her desperation pouring into the room and into him.
Pain ricocheted through his being, and he almost gave the way he’d been doing for all this time. But he knew it wasn’t right. Leading her to believe that he felt something that he didn’t.
“I love you, Scarlett, but not in the way you deserve to be. And I don’t want to be the one who stands in the way of you finding someone who’s going to adore you. Wholly. Because you will. I know you will.”
“I’m pregnant, Theo.”
He reared back, struck by what she said.
She edged toward him, hope and despair winding into her voice as she clutched his shirt. “We’re going to have a baby, Theo. We’re going to have a baby.”
His head shook as a rush of fear streaked through his veins. “I’m not in a position to be a father, Scarlett. I’m—”
“What?” she cried.
“I’ll take care of you. Of the baby. But you need to go home. To your parents. Where it’s safe and good. This is no place to raise a kid, and I’m no man to be a father.”
Grief curled through him at the confession. But it was true.
Look at him.
The things he did.
The life he lived.
Everything about him was wrong.
So fuckin’ wrong.
A garble of disbelief rolled from her. “You want to send me back to Virginia?”
“That’s where you belong. You know this isn’t a good place.” He reached for her like he was going to give her comfort.
She jerked out of his hold. “I can’t believe you.”
“It’s for the best.”
Incredulity gushed from her, and she stepped back, shaking her head. “You don’t have the ability to love anyone, do you? You just use them until you’ve had enough of them, then you toss them aside. Just like everyone else.”
“Scarlett,” he attempted, his stomach in knots.
He hated it.
Hated hurting her.
But he couldn’t continue living this charade.
“No. Fuck you, Theo. Fuck you for making me believe there might be someone in this horrible world who could actually feel something for me. Fuck you for making me trust you. For making me believe in you. I should have known. I should have known.” The last rambled out of her, frantic as she raced to the drawer where she kept her things.