“What's this?” she asks.
“Act One of my apology for being an asshole,” I say.
I take her hand with the most charming smile I can muster and lead her to the rose strewn path. She watches the petals crumple beneath our feet as we walk up to the ladder, but I can’t look anywhere but her face.
Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are red from crying, but she still looks so beautiful.
“Go on up,” I tell her when we reach the ladder. “The view is almost as pretty as you.”
She blushes and laughs at that, the sound watery, but she starts up the ladder anyway. The view of her ass in scrubs is waybetter than it has any right to be, but I do my best to keep my dick in check for now.
My worries about Aaron skimping out up here turn out to be completely unfounded, and I make a mental note to text him later and thank him. I definitely owe him for this.
A plaid blanket lays on the rooftop, all of the debris swept aside to leave nothing but a few leaves scattered around the edges. A basket of fruit and cheese sits in the middle of the blanket, and two cushions are arranged to give us the best view of the river.
“You did all of this?” she asks.
I dust my hands off on my pants before stepping up behind her to wrap my arms around her waist. I may not have done it with my own hands, but I made sure it happened.
“It's not even half of what you deserve,” I whisper against the shell of her ear. “I wanted to show you one of my favorite spots, because I want you to see the sides of me that I don't show anyone else. I want you to know that I can be vulnerable, too.” Taking a tiny breath, I add, “And that I want to be, if it's with you.”
My heart pounds in my chest, nerves and a little bit of pride swelling there. I'm good at convincing people of things. I can do this.
I rest my chin on her shoulder and flatten a hand over her stomach protectively. A hitched gasp is all the response I get, but I can feel the tension in her spine.
“I know I was a dick,” I say softly. “I didn't expect things to go this way. I just wasn't prepared for it. That's the thing about being a lawyer, you already know everything when you step into the courtroom. It's not like that in real life. I fucked up, and I said some awful things that I didn't mean, and I'm sorry.”
Katie turns, but doesn't pull out of my arms. Her brows furrow in distrust, but hope swims in her gorgeous brown eyes.
I can work with that.
“I want to have this baby with you.” The wordbabystill feels like something out of someone else’s life, but I'll get used to it. “I want to be a good dad. I won't let you do this by yourself, Katie.”
She glances away from me, her whole body trembling. If I knew her better, I could find something to say, something that would really make it click. I don't know how much more serious of an offer I can make other than taking on the responsibility of a child with her.
It's not like asking her to be my girlfriend really holds a candle to asking her to have a kid with me.
Saying something like that would just cheapen the moment.
“You have to be sure,” she finally says. “I can't keep doing this back and forth, Wayne. Either this is serious, and you're in this baby’s life, or I need to figure things out without you. I have too much on my plate to play games.”
“No games,” I promise. “Just me, you, and our baby. I swear, Katie.”
A thousand more questions burn in her eyes, but she doesn't voice any of them.
I lean in slowly, giving her a chance to push me back, but she doesn't. When her lips meet mine, they're still salty and damp from her tears, and they tremble when I slide my tongue between them. Uncertainty and determination both come off her in waves, and she grips my shoulders as she kisses me back, clearly trying to put her worries to the side for a moment.
“Let me take your mind off things,” I whisper against her lips. “That was only Act One. I still have plenty of apologizing to do.”
She giggles when I urge her to lay down across the cushions, shaking her head in disbelief.
“God, I can't decide if today is a nightmare or a dream,” she jokes weakly.
I grin down at her as I kneel between her thighs and tug at the ties of her scrub pants. She lifts her hips to help me tug them down, and my cock throbs in my jeans at the sight of her. Yeah, I could get used to having her around all the time.
“People usually pinch themselves to make sure they're not asleep.” I chuckle at my own joke even as I tug her thighs over my shoulders. “I think I have a better way, though.”
If the way she moans my name at the first touch of my tongue is any indication, I'd say she agrees with me.
