Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
I heard what he said, but it took me a moment to accept the words in the air. I turned to look at him, the glass of water in my hand. “What?”
“There are a couple nice churches around here. I’m sure we could make any of them work.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Of course I am.” He looked me dead in the eye, his dark eyes back to their usual intensity when we were alone together.
“I don’t think we should get married just because I’m pregnant.”
“It’s not just because you’re pregnant.”
“Yes, it is. Otherwise, you would have proposed to me. But you just said it like . . . an obligation.”
“Definitely not an obligation.”
“This isn’t the early nineteen hundreds, where we can’t have a child out of wedlock.”
“Never said it was. And that’s not why.”
“Yes, it is. And that’s not how I want us to get married. When the time is right . . . someday . . . we’ll do it.”
“Someday?” His voice rose in the quiet house. “Let me make this clear. I don’t want to get married because you’re having our baby—at least not in the way you think. Not because it’s an obligation. Not because it’s the right thing to do. None of that bullshit. But because we’re a family now and I’m fucking in love with you and I want you to be my wife. Because we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, and I’d rather do that as husband and wife instead of man and woman. I just told you earlier today you’re my fucking soulmate, and you think I want to marry you out of obligation?”
“It just . . . the way you said it—”
“I said let’s get married next Saturday because I want to be your husband by next Saturday. I didn’t think I could fall more in love with you, until I realized you were pregnant. And now, it’s become a full-blown infatuation. I can’t keep my hands off you. I’ve never been more fucking turned on in my life. I was obsessed with you before, but now it’s on a different level. So, when I ask if you want to get married next Saturday, I’m not really asking you. I’m fucking telling you.”
My eyes shifted away, and I remained quiet, suddenly uneasy.
He continued to watch me. “Talk to me, sweetheart.” His voice turned softer once again, like he hadn’t been ruthless a moment ago.
“That’s just . . . not how I want to get married.”
He was quiet for a bit, absorbing my rejection in silence. “Then tell me exactly how, and I’ll bend over backward to make it happen.”
“I understand your intentions and it’s romantic, but I wanted you to ask me. I wanted a ring and a proposal that I didn’t see coming. I wanted you to ask because you decided I was the one you wanted for the rest of your life.”
“I’ve felt that way since the moment I asked you to move in with me. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think you’d be my wife. I told you weeks ago that you would be my wife. I’ve never doubted that.”
“Well, I want to be your wife on that timetable, not because I’m pregnant.”
He took a breath, like he had a lot to say, but he restrained himself. “We’re getting married before our baby comes, sweetheart. We aren’t doing this any other way.”
I should just be happy that he wanted to commit to me so badly, but I didn’t like the way it had come out. I didn’t like his lack of sensitivity. He was usually thoughtful and open minded, but in this instance, it was as if my feelings didn’t matter at all. “So you’re just going to force me to marry you?”
“That’s not what I said—”
“It sounds like I don’t get a say in this at all. I don’t want to get hitched at a church in two weeks. I don’t want to rush the most special moment of my life because you’re in a hurry—”
“I’m not in a hurry.”
“Don’t interrupt me again.”
“You literally just interrupted me—”
“Because you aren’t listening to me, Constantine. I’m telling you I want a proposal when it’s right for us. I don’t want it to happen before the baby simply out of principle. We have our whole lives together, but one wedding.”
There was a pause, like he deliberately waited to make sure I had nothing else to say before he continued. “Again, that’s not how I feel. I love you, and I want us to be married. That’s it.”
“And what if I lost the baby tomorrow? Would you still want to get married?”
He gave a wince like I’d sliced him with a steak knife. “Let’s not even put that out into the universe, all right? And yes, I’d still want to get married. That wouldn’t change.”