It pissed me off.
“Itismy problem. If it hurts you, it’s my problem.”
She stood up, smoothing down her dress with her hands, not looking at me. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“I heard everything you said,” I said, rising. “I’m not sure what your point is.”
“Max,” she said, her voice cold and even, “I can’t have kids. I will never be able to do that. The fact that I got pregnant once was a fluke. There’s little chance it’ll ever happen again.”
Her eyes were locked up, her soul put away, and all of a sudden everything started coming together.
That was why she fought me. That was why she didn’t want to get too close. She thought I wouldn’t love her if I knew, so she was doing her best to keep me out.
Try harder, sweetheart.
“I heard you.” I tried not to smile, knowing she’d misinterpret it.
She looked at the floor. “So?”
“So...I’m sorry about that. You’d make an amazing mother and I’d have been honored to be the father of your children, but—”
“There’s no buts,” she interjected. “This isn’t a negotiation. Nothing you can say will change that.”
“Okay. What’s your point?”
She sighed and walked around the coffee table, putting some distance between us. “I won’t do this to you, Max. I won’t do this to your family.”
“Do what?” I said, getting a little frustrated. This gorgeous girl was gonna be the death of me. “I’m not asking you to do anything, Kari, but love me back.”
“I’m not going to ask you to love me when loving me means you can never have a family, Max. I won’t do it. Damn it, I love you too much to even consider that.”
“Too bad for you that it isn’t your choice, now isn’t it?”
Her eyes widened.
“Yeah, sweetheart. It’s gonna take a lot more than that to walk away from me.” I snorted, feeling myself get more than a little angry. “As a matter of fact, I don’t think there’s any reason I’d ever find good enough to let you walk away from me.”
Her bottom lip quivered and I saw a faint smile ghost her lips.
Believe it, sweetheart. Believe in me. It’s time you realize that we are forever.
“You can’t throw your life away,” she whispered, her hand wrapping around her throat.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Shaking my head, I smiled, “Throw my life away? Darlin’, you’re gonna have to explain that one to me.” I took the few steps it took to reach her and grabbed her by the shoulders.She looked up at me through her lashes. “Stop it. Stop this nonsense,” I insisted.
“Why would you want to be with me?” Her voice trembled. “You come from this huge family and being with me guarantees you one thing—that you won’t have one.”
“Do you think that’s what I thought when I saw you?‘Oh there’s the mother of my children?’Because it’s not. When I saw you, I saw a beautiful woman. And when I talked to you, I heard an intelligent woman. And now when I see you smile, I see my soul being completed by the woman of my dreams. I hate it for you, that you’ll never know what it’s like to carry a child again. I hate that Blaine walked out on you. I hate that you’ve been scared to tell me this all along. But I know now and it doesn’t change a damn thing, Kar.”
“You don’t look at me now like I’m flawed? Your mother won’t look at me like less of a woman than Isa? She wants to be a grandmother and I’ll be robbing that from her.” She looked at the floor. “She’ll never forgive me for that.”
I tipped her chin back up. “You don’t give my mother enough credit. And no, I don’t look at you like you’re flawed. You’re as perfect as you were an hour ago.”
She half snorted, half laughed.
“You are.” I took a step back and narrowed my eyes. “It doesn’t matter to me if you can have a child. I don’t care if you aborted the baby.”
Kari’s eyes widened in horror, her jaw dropping. “What did you say?” I took another step back as her eyes lit with fury. “What did you just say to me?”
