“Luc, this is too much, too fast, too soon.”I snake my hand back, wringing it with my other as I shake my head.“We don’t even know each other.Not really.”
“That’s what I’m trying to change.”He states like it’s really that simple.
“I can’t.”My head swinging back and forth with my response.
“Why?”He peppers back.“Tell me three good reasons.Because the last three you tried, I already gave you solutions to.”
“You just expect me to walk away from my entire life and immerse myself in yours?”I throw my hands up in the air with a huff.“You’re crazy.”
“Maybe.”He murmurs, stepping closer to me.“Lily, you were never even mine to lose, but I lost you all the same.I thought about you so much that I wondered if you could feel it.And yes, it would be so much easier for me to walk away, to not care.But our souls found each other again.I have to believe there’s a reason for that.”
“Luc…”
Jesus.I think he just stole a piece of my heart with that speech.
“Just say yes.”He is practically begging me and yet, I still can’t find it in me to say the word he is asking for.
“It’s easy to see how I could have spent two days with you.Slept with you.”I muse out loud, my mouth quirking down in one corner as I openly assess him, listing off the obvious reasons.“You’re gorgeous.You know how to work your charm.You know all the right things to say.”
He says nothing, just crosses his arms and leans against my kitchen counter, waiting for me to continue.
“Thatme wants to say yes.Wants to hang out with the incredibly cool rockstar and live life on the road and see what could happen.”
“But?”His lips purse into a tight line.
“The mother in me is screaming at me to run.Screaming for me to keep my daughter away from that life, from-”
He cuts me off, pointing to himself, “me?”
“No.”I shake my head.I wasn’t saying this the correct way.“I wouldn’t do that to you.Or to her.I want my child to know who her father is.”
“Don’tyouwant to know who her father is, too?”He asks softly.
“It’s not that simple.”I exclaim, groaning in frustration.
“It’s as simple or as difficult as you want it to be.”His response curt.
“Do you have any idea what a day in the life of a one-year-old is like?”I snap back at him.
“No.”He drawls, pushing off the counter to come closer to me, his voice low.“But I would very much like to, hence this request.”
I close my eyes and shake my head, just looking at him making it that much harder to stay firm in my decision.
“Lily.”He’s close enough that I can feel the heat coming from his body.“Look at me.”
I open my lids and stare across at him.Ugh.Those damn eyes.
“Give me one week.”He holds up a single finger.“If it’s not working, if Larkin can’t adjust, or you and I discover we can’t stand each other, then you can go home.”
He sighs tiredly.“It’s all I’m asking.Just one week.I’ve already missed the first eleven months of her life.I don’t want to miss anymore.”
Christ on a cracker.That was like a knife to the heart.I couldn’t imagine going more than two days without my girl.I should be jumping for joy that this man, this man who had no idea until yesterday he even had a daughter, wants to be her father.Wants to spend time with her, with us.It’s what I have prayed for a thousand times and more.
Why then was I fighting against this so hard?Was it because of the band?Or who he is?Or was it more than that?Was I afraid to share Larkin after her belonging only to me for so long?Or was I afraid of what he could also mean to me?
“Can I think about it?”It’s the best I can do right now and I owe him that much.
“Yes, of course.”A wide smile breaks across his face, and it’s surreal to see the same dimple in his cheek that my daughter has.“I have to fly to L.A.for our show tomorrow night no matter what.But if you need more time, then okay.”
