“I told you that Sam had said that Blaine’s ex had an abortion while he was gone.”
She stood straight, her eyes wild. “That’s a bunch of bullshit! That’s not what happened at all!”
I put my hands up in defense. “Okay. I didn’t know...”
“How could you believe that?”
“I didn’t know. I told you that at dinner, remember?”
Anger rolled off of her. “I hate him for saying that. I hate him for leaving me. I hate him for destroying me so much that I lost the baby.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” I said, trying to reach to her.
She turned away from me, shaking her head. “Yeah. I lost the baby. I lost the one-in-a-thousand chance I had because ofhim.I didn’t abort it, for heaven’s sake, although I’m sure he’d like to think that. Probably helps him sleep better at night.”
I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. I just wrapped my arms around her from behind and pulled her into my chest. I rested my chin on top of her head. “What can I do to make this better?”
She eventually gave up and nestled her head back against me, letting the closeness soothe her. “There’s nothing you can do.”
We swayed back and forth, looking out the window. The sun had gone down and the landscaping lights were starting to turn on. It looked peaceful and beautiful.
“If you want me to go, I will.”
“I want you to shut the hell up.”
“Max!” she exclaimed, not used to hearing me talk like that to her. But I couldn’t help it—I was over pretending that we were over, that this revelation was the end of us.
I turned her in my arms to face me and bent down so our eyes were level. “Listen to me. You and I arepermanent. I love you and everything that makes youyou,Kari Stanley. I guarantee you I’m not leaving you and if you think you’re leaving me, you have another thing coming.”
A small grin twitched her lips and I knew I was breaking through.
“I. Love. You. Got that?”
She nodded, her cheeks pinking.
“Marry me?”
“Oh, Max,” she laughed, pulling away.
“What? I’m serious. Marry me?”
She bit her bottom lip before whispering, “Not tonight.”
TWENTY-ONE
KARI
My entire body ached. From head-to-toe, I felt like I had been put through the wringer or hiked a sloping, winding trail. But in reality, I had been worked over by Maxwell Jacob Quinn.
After hearing the truth and watching me break to pieces, I had expected him to ask for some distance. I was sure I’d looked like a complete nutcase. Instead, he had carried me to bed and made me forget the entire night had happened, that I had ever worried he’d leave me. He made his intentions crystal clear—he wasn’t letting me go.
The soreness was a pleasant reminder of him, of the words he had whispered in my ears, of the ways his tongue had licked away every bad thought. The way he took his time, kissed away every doubt, used his hands to prove to me that he was stillthere. Max had a way of knowing just what I needed, of knowing that sometimes I needed to be shown instead of told.
I tossed back the comforter and stretched before climbing out of bed and wrapping myself up in Max’s discarded robe. It was black, entirely too big, and had a small hole in the bottom of one of the pockets.But it smelled like him and I needed to be wrapped in his scent to start the day.
He had kissed me before he left, apologizing about having to leave me to go into the office on a Saturday morning. I hated that he had to go, but his sense of responsibility was one of the things I loved most about him.
I brought the fabric up to my nose and I descended the stairs, breathing him in while Titus nipped at the back of the terrycloth. I opened the back door and let him out to potty before I started the Keurig. I went to open the fridge for my creamer, when a post-it caught my attention:
