Page 36 of Don't Lie to Me

“Let’s go to Vegas, baby.”

My jaw dropped. “We can’t go to Vegas, we have school.”

“Let’s go get married. We’ll be a family just like we want, it’s just happening sooner than we expected.”

I squeezed his hand and laughed nervously. “You can’t be serious. We have school….and your dad….”

His smile turned into a serious expression. “Screw my dad, Emma. I’m going to be a dad…and I want to do it right.”

I shook my head again, trying to clear the fogginess in front of me. He couldn’t be serious. Was he? I closed my eyes tightly. This must be a dream. I was simply dreaming of Marcus being on his knee in front of me telling me he wanted to marry me.

When I opened them, I blinked a few times, shocked Marcus was still on his knees. He looked worried and happy at the same time if that was even possible.

“You can’t marry me just because I’m pregnant.”

One side of his lips twisted up into a playful smile. “No, but I can marry you because I love you and want to be with you forever, now I just don’t have to wait any longer.”

I thought of how much I loved Marcus. We had dated for two years already, meeting during our second year of college and instantly became fast friends. That friendship changed at a Halloween party and we began dating after I lost a bet during a game of beer pong and had to go on one date with him. One date changed to two….and soon we were a couple. I loved him. He loved my parents and they loved him. And he loved me. And instead of running, or being angry, he was on his knees in front of me, asking me to rush off to Vegas to get married. It was romantic. I couldn’t say no.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I smiled and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

I threw my arms around him and we fell back to the floor as I fell on Marcus and tipped him off balance.

He moved his hands to my cheeks, holding my face so I was just a few inches from him and smiled at me, happily. “I love you Emma. Marry me.”

“Okay, Marcus. I’ll marry you.”

He pulled me down close to him and my lips touched his. Our kiss was soft and gentle, but soon I felt the familiar stirring in my belly as we moved together on my kitchen floor.

“Damn it!” I shouted and jumped up from my chair. I paced around my small living room feeling like a caged lion, upset at myself for remembering. I didn’t want to remember how much I loved Marcus or how wonderful he had been. He left me and allowed his dad to pay me off and I never heard from him again.

I balled my hands into fists as my blood began to boil inside me. Anger was good. I could handle anger; I needed to be angry with him still. I needed to forget.

I jumped at the shrill sound of my cell phone ringing and ran to pick it up. It was Jack. For a second, I thought about ignoring it but I figured he’d probably stalk over here in the middle of the night and show up pounding on my door like he did last week. Best to avoid that again.

“Hey Jack.” My words came out slurred and I looked at the wine bottle. It was almost empty. No wonder why I suddenly felt so dizzy.

“Are you drunk, Emma?” He sounded pissed. Just what I needed on top of everything else.

“Probably a little. What do you want, Jack? I said we’d talk tomorrow.” I didn’t mean to sound bitchy, but I was exhausted and all of a sudden my bed felt like a really good place to be.

“I need to see you. Can I come over?” His voice sounded softer. Maybe he wasn’t pissed after all. Maybe, he was just worried about me. It was sweet; him needing me, since I knew Jack needed no one. It made me feel safe and protected. I desperately needed to feel safe.

“Sure…” Before I finished my sentence, I heard a quiet knocking on my door. “Are you at my door?” I didn’t bother trying to hide the smile, even though he couldn’t see it.

“Answer your door, babe.” He hung up, chuckling softly.

Jack looked like shit and I frowned when I saw him. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, that fit perfectly, but his eyes were tired and there were lines of stress around his eyes and his forehead that weren’t there when I left him several hours ago. His hair was sticking up in all sorts of directions.

Before I could even ask him why, his strong arms picked me up and held me in his arms. I relaxed immediately, wondering how could he make me feel so safe and calm when just a few minutes before I had felt like scratching all the walls like a wild animal. But he did that to me, and I liked it. I needed it.

He buried his head in between my neck and shoulder, kicked the door closed with one foot, and carried me to the couch without saying a word. I just breathed him in because he smelled so good and I needed him as close as possible. Who knew what he would do once he found out my news.

Once he had me curled up like a little doll in his lap with my arms still wrapped tightly around his neck, he slowly brushed my hair out of my face. His eyes were softer, more caring than I had ever seen them.

It suddenly hit me – Jack cared about me. I wasn’t just sex or a fling or an employee to him. He really had been telling me the truth that he cared about me and wanted me. I could see it in the depth of his brown eyes as he stared straight into mine. His were filled with worry and fear and I wanted to ease all of his concerns, but I knew that I was just about to add to them.

“Are you okay?” he asked me slowly.

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