It’s been ten years but absolutely nothing about how much he affects me has changed. He takes a step forward and my heart skips a beat. Sighing, he seems to shake off whatever just happened between us and he takes two steps back before running his fingers through his hair.
“Eden told me the truth,” he finally says, crossing his arms over his chest and I can’t help but admire the way his arms stretch the sleeves of his t-shirt.
Whoa, those are new…
Yanking my gaze away, I walk around him and grab my wine glass off of the windowsill before turning toward the kitchen. “The truth about what?”
I figure playing innocent is my best bet since I’m sure as hell not telling him anything and informing him of that would only push him harder to uncover the secrets I have kept locked away for years.
Setting my wine glass on the counter, I turn back to him and arch a brow in question. He narrows his eyes. I fight back a nervous smile.
Shit.
I never was very good at lying to him.
“I’ve been thinking about what you asked me,” he says, his body relaxing as he changes tactics and the hair on my arm stands on end as I watch him walk into the kitchen and sit down at the table. Crap. I completely forgot about my epic brain to mouth filter malfunction while I was stressing about his reaction to Eden spilling the beans. I wish I could face palm myself right now because I never should have asked him that.
“Huh?” I ask, sticking to my innocent facade. He smirks and I can’t tell if it’s because he knows I’m lying my ass off or something else.
“The baby.”
“Oh, that…”
He nods. “Yeah… that.”
“Listen, you can just forget about that. I don’t know what I was thinking asking you with our history and everything. It was a terrible idea,” I tell him, leaning back against the counter as I shake my head. His face falls and he scowls.
“I was going to say yes.”
My heart kicks in my chest. “What?”
“Yeah, I thought about it and I think we should do it.”
“I… uh… what?” I stutter, staring at him with what I’m sure is a bewildered look. What the hell kind of game is he playing right now? There is no way in hell he is serious about having a baby with me but even knowing that… can I really pass up the opportunity? He nods again.
“Look, at first, I thought it was completely crazy but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. We always talked about having kids together and sure, this isn’t exactly how we planned it but, let’s be honest, neither one of us has been able to find anything better.”
I wince before I can stop myself. It’s not fair of me but it hurts like hell to hear him say that I’m an okay consolation prize. What did I expect though?
“No… Wyatt, we can’t do this…”
He scowls as he stands up and takes a couple steps toward me. My heart races. “This was your idea.”
“I know,” I breathe, my mind consumed with how close he is to me right now. There aren’t many things I wouldn’t give up to feel him wrap his arms around me again. “But like I said, it was a bad one.”
Closing the distance between us, he props his hands on the countertop and cages me in. His breath warms my cheek as his gaze holds me prisoner and I struggle to draw air into my lungs.
What the hell is he doing?
“Don’t you want a baby, Pip?”
I shake my head as tears sting my eyes at the nickname he used to call me when we were kids. “Don’t call me that.”
“Answer my question,” he whispers, leaning in closer and I try to take a breath as the blood rushes in my ears and my fingers ache to reach out and touch him. God, he smells so damn good and having him this close again is like everything I’ve wanted for the past ten years. “Do you want a baby?”
“Yes.”
His lips brush against mine and a breathy moan slips out. Pulling back slightly, his gaze meets mine again, desire pooling in his eyes and my belly clenches with need.
He looks like he wants to devour me.
“So, you want a baby and I want a baby… there’s just one thing I need first.”
“What?” I whisper, ready to agree to anything he wants if he will just lean in and press his lips to mine.
“Tell me what happened when you left me.”
Except that…
Shaking my head, I duck beneath his arms and cross to the other side of the kitchen as I suck air into my lungs and my head becomes clearer. “No.”
“Yes,” he growls as he spins around, leans back against the counter, and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t you think you owe me that much, at least?”
“Why rehash it?” I ask, twisting my gaze away from his as I mirror his pose, crossing my arms. “You already know why I left.”
He shoves off the counter. “That’s not what your friend, Eden, says.”
“Eden doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” I snap, reciting the urge to curl my lip in disgust. Gah, I can’t believe she did this to me. He takes another step toward me and I step back, my butt hitting the edge of the kitchen table as I gasp.
“You’re lying.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes,” he growls, closing the distance between us and grabbing my face to force my gaze to his. “You are. Why did you leave me?”
“You know why,” I whisper, unable to make the lie sound anymore convincing as his eyes fight to pry the truth from my lips. His gaze hardens.
“Before I came over here, I wasn’t sure if Eden was telling the truth or not but now I know she was. You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Pip.”
I rip my face from his grip. “Stop calling me that.”
“Tell me why you left me.”
“No,” I repeat, leveling a glare at him as I feel some of my strength slipping away. It doesn’t matter how much he begs, demands, or asks, I can’t tell him the truth. The way he sees me now, as a cold callous bitch, who ripped his heart apart, is better than the way he would look at me if I told him what really went down. This is for the best.
“Goddamn it, you’re so fucking stubborn,” he seethes, taking a step back as he takes a deep breath. I arch a brow.
“Look who’s talking.”
He shakes his head, staring down at my kitchen floor for a second before he looks up and meets my gaze, his eyes blazing. “If you want me to help you have a baby, you have to tell me. That’s the only way I’ll agree to it.”
My head spins as I try to work through his train of thought.
Is this all about my request to have a baby?
Or is there more to it?
Is he just here playing games with me?
If he is, I’m fucking done going along with it. Shaking my head, I turn away from him.
“Forget about it. Like I said, it was a bad idea and I never should have asked you. I’m sorry.”
He grabs my arm, spinning me back to him and pulling me into his arms. I suck in a breath as I look up and meet his eyes. “What if I don’t want to forget about it? What if I don’t want to try and forget about you anymore?”
“What are you saying?” I whisper, searching his gaze but he doesn’t give anything away. My heart hammers in my chest as my body wants to melt into his as he presses himself against me, his arms locked tight around my waist.