You know that thing some men do where they wait until you’re invested, until you’re hooked, and then they start to pull away? That’s exactly what I thought he was doing.
I sigh.
“I’ve tried to be patient,” I continue, my voice steady even though my chest tightens. “But it’s starting to feel like maybe we should end things… Maybe giving us a chance was a mistake…”
“Don’t say that… That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?” I ask.
He exhales slowly, like he’s been holding this in. “I don’t know where I stand.”
I blink. “With me?”
“Yes.”
I shift closer on the sofa, my hands resting in my lap. “Why didn’t you just say that?”
“Because I didn’t want to pressure you,” he admits. “You’re pregnant and I didn’t want to do anything that could harm you.”
“I’m not fragile, Adrian. All you had to do was ask instead of giving me mixed signals.” I say gently.
“I know, but you’re also important to me.”
That lands harder than I expect, because I had already lost the hope that I mattered to him.
He continues, “I want you to know that every time I canceled, it wasn’t because I didn’t want to see you. It was because I didn’t know where I stood and that uncertainty wreaked havoc in my head. Because the truth is, I want you. More than I know how to handle.”
I swallow. “Adrian...”
He smiles faintly. “Let me finish…”
I nod and he continues.
“You never want to talk about your ex—the father of your child, and that made me wonder if maybe you’re still involved with him,” he says quietly. “Not physically… but emotionally.”
He reaches into his jacket pocket, not pulling anything out, but probably to ground himself.
“I’m in too deep,” he admits. “And I need to know that you’re in this with me too.”
His vulnerability cracks something inside me. I can’t name it, but it’s there.
I grab his hand. “Adrian, I’m not involved with him at all. Not physically, emotionally or mentally.”
“Then why do you shut down when I ask about him?” he asks, his gentle wringing my fucking heart like a wet rug.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Billionaire’s Fight For Redemption (Noah and Sierra)