Page 17 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

“How much do you regret coming here?”

“I don’t believe in regret.”

We walked in more silence. Both of us lost in our thoughts. Did this man have any idea how much he meant to me? He had never missed a step in taking care of me, protecting me, looking out for me.

His question broke my train of thoughts.

“Why don’t you want to get married? Be real with me.”

I stopped walking and looked up at him. Just the sight of him made my heart sigh. “Because I’m in love with you and you don’t love me.”

His head jerked back like I had slapped him. He winced slightly.

Yup. How is that for getting real?

“Emily.”

“Jackson, when you left because you thought it was for the best, it crushed me. I felt such a sense of loss it was stupid. Marrying you when I know that you don’t have feelings for me, is emotional suicide.”

The words blurted out of me. This was the truth. I hadn’t even been able to admit that to myself, but I was terrified of further entangling myself up with this man. Yes, he would be able to make it work, but one day he might decide he didn’t want to make it work. And I would not survive that.

“You don’t trust me.”

“I've never trusted anyone more in my life.”

“But you think I’ll hurt you.”

“Not intentionally. I think your intentions are extremely honorable.”

He picked up the ball for Chloe and fired it so hard it disappeared into a grove of trees. She took off after the ball, but once she was at the trees, she looked back at him in bafflement.

He turned to me. “I’m offering to marry you. I’ll take that commitment seriously.”

“I know you would. But your commitment is out of a sense of obligation, not love.”

Chloe barked at the trees.

“What's the difference?” I could hear the frustration in his voice.

I turned my face up to this man, and I saw the little boy who grew up in such a harsh world. Someone who didn’t know the difference between obligation and love had never really been loved. It made my heart ache.

Chloe sat down in front of the trees, threw her head back and howled. Jackson gave me a hard-to-read look before he jogged towards Chloe. He talked to her. The two of them disappeared into the dense patch of foliage.

It struck me that the man would be an incredible father. He waspatient and protective. Intelligent and kind. My heart flopped around like a fish on dry land. Gasping last desperate breaths. Did I have the right to keep this man from raising his child?

A ball sailed out from the bushes and then Chloe crashed after it. With ears bent backward and a happy smile on her face, she ran full throttle towards her ball.

If we got married, he'd become the center of our child’s universe. An innocent child who only knew how to love with a full heart. And if it didn’t work out? If something went sideways? If, for some reason, he decided to leave us? That child would feel the impact of that for the rest of his or her life.

Jackson jogged back to me. He continued to pick up the ball and fire it for Chloe, but he avoided looking at me. Some part of him had just shut down. He had retreated so far back behind his walls, and I could no longer feel him.

“Want to head back?” he asked lightly. He was so good at pretending. I felt tears prick behind my eyes.

“Sure.”

CHAPTER 5

As we walked backto the loft, I received a text from Matt.

---