Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
“If that’s what you thought, then why–” Destiny began.
I interrupted her. “I thought that I had to come to you with something, but I don’t have anything, Destiny. I don’t have a spin. I don’t have dirt. I don’t have leverage.” I turned to face her, feeling like I’d just taken off a bulletproof vest in front of a firing squad. “If you were anyone else, I would have walked away. But it’s you, so I can’t.”
She tilted her head, her features in conflict. Her eyes had softened, but her mouth was still a firm line. “You’re not the kind of person who walks away.”
I knew why she thought that. Why everyone thought that. It was because twenty years after our divorce, Noemi and I were closer than ever. What they couldn’t see–what she didn’t see–was that there was more than one way to walk away. Landon was right. I hadn’t fought for Noemi. I’d accepted the divorce with near sociopathic equanimity because that was easier than fighting a battle I might lose.
I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. Seeing Destiny again confirmed it.
“I love you,” I said, laying it out there. Raw and unadorned.
Destiny’s eyes widened, but she said, inexplicably, “You can’t. Because you don’t respect me, and the two go hand in hand.”
“I don’t respect you?” I repeated. “Where did you get that idea?”
She crossed her arms across her chest tightly. “From the fact you tried to force Adrian Yester to give me a role you didn’t think I could earn on my own.”
Fucking Adrian Yester. I bracketed my forehead with one hand and squeezed, wishing it was his neck. “Dez, I didn’t try to make him do anything. I wanted this role for you, and I admit I fucked up by even talking to him, but I was just trying to figure out where his head was at. He connected the dots, figured out we were connected through Noemi, and drummed up the rest for headlines.” I crossed the distance between us and put my hands on Destiny’s rigid shoulders, leaning my forehead down to meet hers. Her eyes swept closed, but not before I saw the hope in them. The desperate desire to believe me.
That was all I needed.
“I love you,” I repeated quietly. “I need you. I’ll fight for you. I’ll wait for you. Whatever you need right now. I’ll do it.”
Her eyes opened again. “Garrett, I–”
She was going to tell me I had to leave her alone. She couldn’t reassemble the shattered pieces of her career with me there, making the target on her back even bigger. I braced myself.
“I have to tell you something.” Nerves bubbled under her words.
My stomach tensed more tightly, preparing for a blow. She was really with Andrew Quinn this time. It was a smart move. If the public saw him forgive her, they’d forgive her, too.
“I’m pregnant.”
34
DESTINY
Garrett looked gobsmacked. All the tension went out of his face, leaving it slack and baffled.
“You’re pregnant?” he repeated. “With…”
“With a baby, yes.” I crossed my arms more tightly across my chest and tried to take a step back.
“Oh no, you don’t.” He slid his hands down my arms and secured his grip. His eyes were burning, strangely intense, like there were lamps behind the amber whiskey orbs. “You’re pregnant with my baby.”
If he’d said it like a question, I might have smacked him. But I didn’t know what to do now. “Our baby,” I corrected.
His fingers tightened. He had the strangest look on his face. I realized I had no idea how Garrett felt about children. It had never come up. I’d been fully prepared to raise this baby alone, but the way he was looking at me–I didn’t know what to think. My heart was beating too fast, afraid to give into the hope that his early declaration still stood. That he loved me. That he needed me. That he’d wait for me. That he’d fight for me.
That was before he knew.
This could change everything.
“I’m not asking you for anything–” I began. I had a whole speech outlined in my head. I just needed more time to practice it. Refine it. He’d blown everything by showing up in my driveway.
“You’re not asking me for anything?” Garrett repeated. He sounded mad now. His voice raised an octave. I could tell he was making an active effort not to tighten his grip on my arms any further.
“That’s right. I don’t need money, or–”
“Or me? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
My eyes blurred with tears at the sharp pain in his voice that he didn’t trouble to hide. “No, that’s not what I’m trying to say at all, Garrett. I’m trying to say that I’m not obligating you to anything.”
His eyes flashed. “What if I want you to obligate me, Destiny? What if I want you to tell me that you need me? Or better yet, that you want me? That you love me?”