I didn’t know what to say. God, I wanted to believe him. I did. And yet I had reservations. I had been knocked off my feet once before, devastated by the news of a pregnancy that had forever changed my life. “Condoms break.”
“Don’t you trust me?” he asked, and although I wanted to tell him I did, I realized in that moment that I didn’t.
Maybe I didn’t know how to trust any more.
I dropped my gaze to the floor. “I want to trust you.”
“Fuck,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “You might think I’m some bad boy type that doesn’t give a shit about anyone, but that’s not the truth. Yeah, I’m a bit skittish when it comes to relationships. I didn’t have the best examples. My mother, basically my only parent, spent her lifetime trying to get someone to love her. Maybe in some ways I’m like my father, a selfish bastard who is afraid to commit, but I don’t want to be. I just felt like I hadn’t found the right person…until you came along. I know you’ve been hurt. I get it. I do. I’m not that guy you think I am, Mandy. I’m not.”
I could see what it took him to say those words. I felt every single word pierce my soul. I had hurt this beautiful man who I had come to care for so deeply in such a short period of time. I had been foolish with my words, and instead of just telling my mom how I really felt, I had instead tried to ease her fears. Hell, maybe I had tried to ease my own fears, too. Use them as protection against news that had the potential to destroy me.
Feeling defensive, I said, “My mom just doesn’t want me to get hurt.”
He winced like I’d slapped him. “I would never hurt you, Mandy. I don’t want to be with Heather. Plus, if she was pregnant, I would have known by now. She’s not.”
I hesitated, not knowing what to say. I thought of Heather, of what she’d said about being with him recently, the things Kara had said to me, the concerns my own mother had.
He cussed under his breath and pulled out his phone.
“I thought your mom liked me,” he said, dialing a number and putting the phone on speaker.
“She loves you. She said as much when we were talking.”
He shook his head, clearly not believing me.
A woman answered. Hello? She sounded hesitant.
“Heather, it’s Brax.”
Even I was surprised by this move. He must be pretty dang confident he wasn’t Heather’s baby daddy if he was calling her in front of me.
“Hey…”
He cleared his throat and said, “I heard a rumor that you might be pregnant with my child.”
Silence met his question, and I felt my heartbeat in my ears.
Finally, after ten agonizing seconds, she responded. “Um…no…”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
Brax’s expression was impossible to decipher. “You’re sure,” he said, his voice intense.
“Of course I’m sure,” she said, sounding defensive. “I mean, I would have told you. Jesus, Brax.”
“Alright, that’s all I wanted to know.”
“Um, okay…”
He ended the call and looked at me. “I’m not seeing anyone else. There are no secret babies. No skeletons in my closet that I’m trying to hide. I may not have the best reputation out there. I admit it. I just want you, Mandy. Just you.”
I took the step that separated us and went into his arms that wrapped around me tightly. Relief rushed through me. “I love you, Brax—and I want to be with you. I just need to learn to trust again. It might take some time. I just…”
He kissed me softly and smiled against my lips. “Say it again.”
“I love you and I want to be with you. And only you.”
His eyes searched mine, in that intense way that made me feel like he was peering into my soul. A thousand different emotions rushed through me, most of all an intense love for this man who wanted to fight for me. He made me feel cherished and special.
“I love you, Mandy.” He kissed me softly. “And I want to be with you. Only you.”
EPILOGUE
Amanda
I sat in the chair beside my bed, looking at the man who slept so peacefully. My heart squeezed with how much I loved him.
Long lashes cast shadows upon his well-defined cheekbones. His perfect lips were slightly open, his dark hair mussed from our recent round of lovemaking. His long body, all muscle and sinew under that gorgeous tanned skin, was gloriously displayed on crisp white bamboo sheets.
Every single time he walked into a room, my pulse skittered and I got a little weak at the knees. I had asked myself a million times in the past few months how I had been so lucky to have found someone as perfect as Brax Mitchell.