Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked. The doors were locked so there was no risk of her jumping out of a moving car.
“I need some air. Stop the fucking car. I mean it. Stop it. Stop it!” She yelled the last part and he nodded for his driver to stop the car and to also unlock the doors.
Within seconds, she was out and he followed her.
She ran fingers through her hair and turned toward him, glaring. “You!”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Ugh, you make me so fucking crazy. Damn it. I had my life in some kind of order. I was going to divorce Sean, make a life for myself. I wasn’t going to have anyone tell me what to do or how to dress. I was just going to be me. No one else.” Her hand slashed through the air. “Then out of nowhere, you turn up. With your sexy moves, your hands, all of it. You make me crave your touch when the truth is I hadn’t enjoyed sex, like ever. Now I’m pregnant. I’ve got the doctor telling me how big of a commitment a baby is, and you’re asking me questions. Do you want me to have this baby? Do you want me to kill it?” Tears filled her eyes.
“No,” he said. When he got his hands on the doctor, he was going to kill him. He closed the distance between them and cupped her face, pressing his forehead to hers. “I don’t want you to kill our child or give up our baby. If I didn’t want you to be pregnant, I would’ve used rubbers.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“He…” She stopped to sniffle. “He said that it might be the best option because of who you are. That I don’t know what I’m dealing with. I know this is all new and we don’t know each other, but I want this baby, Jared. I really do.”
“Then we’re going to have this baby.” He let go of her face to put both of his hands to her stomach. She wasn’t showing yet and he knelt down before her. “Listen here, little guy or girl. You hear that? You’re going to belong to me and your mom. Now, I don’t like seeing her sick and I always get what I want. You’re going to stop causing her so much trouble, you hear me? You’re going to be a good boy or girl.”
She started to laugh and covered his hands with her own. “You’re crazy.”
“I don’t want you in any kind of pain. Not ever.” He got to his feet. “I promised you I’d never hurt you.”
“And you never have.” She touched her stomach. “This isn’t pain. This is life, Jared. A life we made together.”
Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. He didn’t know why she was sad or what he could do to make her happy. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her neck. “We’ll make this work. I promise. Do you think we can go back into the car now?”
She looked past his shoulder and winced. “I kind of screwed up there, didn’t I?”
“You did go a little crazy.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry at all. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” He held her close. “We’re good?”
“We’re good.” She touched his chest. “You’re really happy about this?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. There was something he was missing and Jared was determined to find out what it was.
Chapter Six
She never returned to that doctor.
Knowing Jared, Rose wasn’t under any illusions he’d suddenly decided to leave the country. She didn’t ask what he did nor did he offer up any explanation. The doctor who took over was a kind woman, who also was married with five children of her own. The woman clearly loved children and just being around her gave Rose hope. It also helped that in the days after finding out she was pregnant, Jared never left her side.
Each day was a new adventure, but he hadn’t taken her to any potential business meetings. There were no more bar moments while she waited. She had begun to notice when those meetings meant more than sitting around a conference table chatting. The split knuckles were a clear indication. Jared’s knuckles were forever red, inflamed, and occasionally split.
He didn’t seem to mind the pain.
“Order whatever you want,” he said late one Sunday night as they sat in one of his restaurants. She’d started to notice little subtle signs they were in one of the places he owned. Even if people were waiting to be seated, he was always shown to a booth, a private one. One table miraculously appeared. People, waiters and waitresses, were always stressing about his desires and what made him happy. If his drink was hot enough, cold enough. Seeing them dance all over themselves for him made her a little nervous.
Even now, after losing count of the number of times they’d eaten out, she saw the tension mounting as she perused the menu.