The Alpha's Baby(38)

"No, there will be no juicy stories exchanged." Emmy glared at them both.

"Bye, Mary Lou." Sebastian waved at the older woman, ignoring Emmy's words yet again.

"Ciao, darlings." Mary Lou headed for the door and blew a kiss over her shoulder.

After Mary Lou left, Emmy seethed. "I want to kill her."

"I thought she was adorable." Sebastian was smirking.

"You would," Emmy said. "The two of you were torturing me together."

"Oh, come on. She loves you, you know." The man had the audacity to elbow her in the ribs. "I could tell."

His words had a sobering effect on her. Mary Lou did love her.

"She probably thinks of me as her own kid," Emmy admitted. "It's probably because she could never have any children herself. She miscarried them all. The doctor told her she had a problem with her ovaries."

"Which is likely why she enjoys driving you crazy." Sebastian stood up and stretched. "Moms love doing stuff like that."

"I guess I'm lucky then. I have her and a real mother." Then again, she had been considering killing both Mary Lou and her real mom for some time now.

The grin slid off Sebastian's face. "I wish I had even one. Mine died when I was still a kid. My dad did his best to raise me and my brother, but he couldn't replace her."

She stared at him, eyes wide. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Sebastian was smiling again, but she could tell his grin was forced. "Everybody has some sort of hardship in life. And with how I see it, I'm lucky that I have at least one good parent. Some people have no one and live their whole lives alone."

"You know, you can be awfully philosophical sometimes." And hearing him talk that way stirred her heart.

"Like I said, I'm a smart guy." Sebastian winked at her.

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"Ah, the eye rolling has begun already, and we aren't even married yet," he said.

Though she opened her mouth to say, "We are going to get married!" she stopped herself before the words slipped out of her mouth. The truth of the matter was, Mary Lou had a point when she said Emmy would never find somebody better than Sebastian. And truthfully, Emmy could see herself falling in love with him. She wrung her hands, uncertain of herself.

"Well?" Sebastian stared at her.

"Well, what?"

"I'm waiting for you to say something," he said. "You know, like, 'I never said I'd marry you,' or 'I'd rather drink from a toilet than be your wife.' Something like that."

"The thing is…" She hesitated.

His eyes widened. "Are you going to say yes?"

Sighing, she met his eyes. "I'll say yes on one condition."

"Anything." He kneeled before her and grabbed her hands, almost as if he was going to propose all over again. "I'll do whatever you want."

"Well, I still feel like you're hiding something from me," she said.

Something changed in his eyes. He looked darker, more intense, and…anxious?

"Emmy, please," he groaned.

"If you're hiding something, then tell me what it is now," she said. "That's my condition."

A moment of silence went by. She saw a war raging inside his head, but no words came out of his mouth. Still he tightened his grip on her hands, and he stared into her eyes desperately.

"Are you hiding something from me?" she repeated.

Sebastian looked her straight in the eye and said, "No."

Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart flooded with disappointment. Yet Emmy couldn't prove that he was hiding anything. And who was she to second-guess him? Maybe the problem was all in her mind. After all, it wouldn't be the first time. When she was in sixth grade, she'd been convinced that her uncle, Sam, was cheating on his wife. It turned out that the man had been meeting with a travel agent to talk about a European cruise.

So now the question remained, did she trust Sebastian enough to say yes despite her doubt?

As she stared into his eyes, her heart wavered. If he wasn't hiding something and she kept pushing him away, then she was an awful human being. And if he was hiding something, well, then he was a rat-ass bastard and she'd push him out the window. Yeah, that sounded about right. Violence was always the perfect plan B.

"Sebastian." She wrung her hands.

"Uh-huh?" His eyes were still dark, even as he stared at her.

"I…" Oh man, here goes nothing. "I'll marry you."

Sebastian sucked in air, and his gaze danced with excitement. The man pulled her into his arms and crushed her against his chest. His lips came down upon hers, and he kissed her once, twice, three times. Soon he was laughing and holding onto her. She couldn't help but laugh too. Who would have thought that a man would be so excited to marry her? One thing for certain, she didn't feel like a catch. More like, she felt like a rusty tin can that he'd reeled in instead of a fat tuna. But who was she to judge his strange taste? If he wanted her, he wanted her. And, well, she had to admit that she wanted him too.