Page 111 of The Ranger
I wanted someone who matched the image I had of the perfect life.Then she turns up pregnant and, my fucking god, talk about landing in the opposite of perfect.
But these past few months, I’ve been falling in love with her, and I think I’ve known it the entire time but wouldn’t admit it to myself.
“Cole,” Scarlett warns, her eyes roaming my face for answers.“Let’s not mess this up.”
She’s still scared.
“How have we messed it up, Scar?I see a beautiful little girl in that bedroom who has brought joy to a lot of people.”
Including us.
“Who deserves two parents who can raise her.”She looks away, but I take her chin in my fingers and drag her eyes back to me.
“That’s what we are doing.And I’d like to keep doing it.Under one roof.”
Her eyes dip.
“Yeah.”Scarlett pushes away more firmly this time.“I get it.But that’s not what this is.Listen, I’m going to bed.”
My heart sinks as I watch her walk away.I sit, dumbfounded, on the sofa for a long while, just staring at the carpet.There are a lot of emotions flying around right now, but I was sure she felt more.
Don’t leave me.
Never.
I know—I know—that I can’t take her words while sitting on the floor of the room she was held captive in as gospel.But what about the way she’s fallen asleep in my arms, the way our bodies crave one another, how she leans into me when we stand next to one another?
Even in public.
Or how her eyes seek mine whenever she’s nervous.How she automatically hands me tight jars and points up at high things.
I’m her person.
She is mine.
THE NEXT MORNING, I’mup early and go for a run as Scarlett and Zara do their morning routine.I want to give her space, and I still need to wrap my head around what this means if we’re not together.
When I return, sweat dripping off me from pounding the sidewalk hard, Scarlett’s eyes run over my body from top to toe.
I see the desire in her eyes.The way she bites her lip, then glances away sharply, like she wasn’t affected.
Liar.
“Great, look at you all hot and sexy, while I’m a fat breastfeeding blob,” she mutters.
Is she fucking kidding me?
I rip off my T-shirt and wipe it over my face while striding into the house further, stopping in front of her.
“Not helping, Cole.”
She’s in a pair of sweatpants with her top lifted, and Zara is feeding.
“You may not want to hear this, sweetheart, but watching you feed our daughter is hot as fuck,” I say firmly, and her mouth parts.Then I glance down at my shorts.“Case in point.”
“Oh,” she says, staring at my erection, which is impossible to miss.“Really?”
Jesus, what does she think it’s from?Like I was stroking my cock on the doorstep to fake it.
