Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
“Just tell me.”
The longer she keeps quiet the more I worry.
“Kate, unfold yourself and come over here,” I say. I reach for her. She resists at first but then reaches back and takes my hand. I tug her toward me and put my arm around her. “There, that’s better. If you want me to go first, I will.”
“Okay,” she says. “Why did you bring me here?”
“To tell you that there’s nobody else for me. End of story.” I kiss the top of her head. “You’re it for me, baby.”
For some reason she squeezes her eyes shut and winces like she didn’t like what I said.
“What?” I press.
“Baby,” she says.
“You don’t want me to call you that?”
“It’s not that. It’s… I’m pregnant, Mick. When I was sick, I went to the clinic and I thought I’d have the flu or something. The pregnancy test they gave me was positive. I looked when I got home and I missed a couple pills in my last pack. I didn’t mean to forget. I guess with moving back and the new job, studying all the time and—and getting involved with you, I let it slip my mind. At the time when I really should’ve been extra careful about making sure I took them. Because we didn’t use anything else.”
I stare at her. She keeps talking and talking, but all I can hear is the first couple words she said. Katie’s pregnant.
“Wait, what?” I interrupt. “You’re pregnant?”
Katie pulls away from the shoulder where she was leaning and hiding her face from me. She takes a ragged breath, squares her shoulders and looks me right in the face. “I’m pregnant. It was an accident and I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful. You don’t have to do anything as far as, like, being part of this. I take full responsibility. I get that this changes everything, that if you came to my door tonight thinking we can give it another try, then it’s a lot more complicated than you thought it would be. You’ll need time to think about it, I’m sure, and figure out what you want.”
“You. I want you. More than I want fuckin’ air to breath, Katie. Don’t doubt that for one second.”
She looks stunned for a second, and I watch what I said sink in. Her eyes are bright and a smile curves her mouth. I trail my fingertips up her neck and watch her shiver. I brush my lips over hers, light and teasing, and feel a surge of satisfaction when she cants toward me. Her lips cling to mine but I keep it soft and sensual as I rock my mouth over hers.
“Don’t say you’re sorry. We didn’t see this coming, but don’t sell me short thinking I don’t want to be with you or I don’t want this baby. You know what you just told me? That you think you had to do this all by yourself. That cuts me up cause I want to be the man you know you can count on. I’m your man, Katie Donahue. For as long as you want me.”
She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. “You’ll do this with me? Have this baby?”
“This baby and any other baby you want. I never been so honored in all my life as this makes me feel, you gotta know that. I’d do anything for you. I already got security around me, and I upgraded some systems, increased the protection officers and tightened restrictions on staff going in and out of the building during their shifts. I made changes that will keep us safer and that’s before I knew about the baby. Let me prove it to you.”
“Let me get this straight. You’re sayin’ you want to be with me and raise our baby together.”
“More than anything,” I say, grinning and kissing her like I’ll never stop.
Because that’s my plan.
24
KATE
I’ve seen pictures of the northern lights, how they light the sky with an indescribable wave of shimmering blue and green that take your breath away. That’s the feeling that cascades over me when Mickey reacts to my pregnancy with acceptance and love. Relief doesn’t begin to cover it. It’s a sense of rightness, being made whole and cherished that is the closest thing to real holiness I’ve experienced so far.
Nothing has prepared me for this. Because it’s pure joy and hope for the future and everything that has been missing in my life. I’ve been lonely and fearful, zipping wearily from one panic to the next.
He brings me to his house, consoling me when I’m so nervous I shake all over. He listens to me and instead of judging and being angry or trying to control everything, Mickey says he wants to be the one I can count on. He thinks about his actions and how he can be better for me, for us. I’m awestruck. At once I want to announce to everyone in the world that this is how a man should be, strong and considerate and loving—but part of me wants to keep it a secret for just us two. To keep the sacred privacy of our togetherness so no one can try to ruin it.