Page 14 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

He didn’t look pleased. “That sounds like Jackson.”

I looked at my hands. “We kissed a few times, and that’s completely inexcusable.”

“But in light of what I was doing, it was pretty mild.”

“It felt like my entire world was sliding out from underneath my feet. And Jackson was there, holding it all together. But I fought that attraction. And I think he did too.”

“Nothing happened until I told you I was having an affair with Julie and I dumped you after screaming vile things at you.”

I gasped. “You remember that?”

“Bits and pieces. Jackson filled in some of the blanks this afternoon.”

“It was my birthday. It was my first time. And it was the night you had your car accident.”

He looked shocked. “Oh wow.”

“When you woke up, it was like you had traveled back in time. You were the old Matt. The one I had gotten engaged to.”

“Jesus, Emily.”

“We weren’t supposed to talk to you about things that would upset you.” I looked down at my hands. “It just became too easy to pretend that everything was okay.”

Silence descended on us. He cleared his throat. “Would you have told me that the baby was mine?”

I took a big breath. “Yes. That was my messed up plan. But I got to the front of the church, and I just couldn’t go through with it.”

“Em, how bad did I hurt you?”

I gave him a sad smile. “Not nearly as bad as I hurt myself in all of this.”

“I wish you felt you could have told me about everything. I’d like to think that after an initial meltdown, I would have come through for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I love you, so it would be easy to love your child.”

It was too much. I dropped my face into my hands, and I started to cry. Why couldn’t I love Matt like I loved Jackson? Matt was right for me in a hundred different ways. “Thank you for saying that.”

“I mean it. I know that things between us aren’t like they used to be, but you are still the woman I want to marry. And if you change your mind about it all, I would take you back in a heartbeat.”

I lifted my face and stared at him in shock. “What?”

“I don’t know what you and Jackson have planned, but I meant what I said. I would raise and love your child as my own.”

“You would?”

“You’ve been here for me every step of the way.”

I bowed my head, and my tears shook my entire body. Matt wrapped his arms around me and held me. It was familiar and reminded me of everything we had lost.

“I’m so sorry,” I said into his shirt.

“It’s going to be okay, Em. I promise.”

Matt left shortly after that.I dropped the keys back on the island. All the fight had gone out of me. Jackson was right. Running away wasn’t an option. I was emotionally and mentally exhausted. I locked up the loft, climbed into bed and went to sleep.

CHAPTER 4

---