Page 35 of Romance Reset
Amelia shook her head and sniffled. “Actually, I think maybe it is.”
“Come on, Amelia. You can’t be serious. Let’s… Look, come away with me.” The words came out of nowhere, and he was almost as surprised by them as she seemed to be.
“What?”
“Filming is supposed to wrap up next week, right? I’ll have the twins settled in school by then.” He stepped close and gently rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “Let’s go away somewhere. Just you and me. I’ll book us separate rooms and we can talk and—”
“I can’t.”
He froze, not liking the way she couldn’t make eye contact. “Can’t? Or don’t want to?”
“Lincoln… I should’ve brought this up sooner. A lot sooner. I-I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about not having kids, but now that I see that you do, there’s something—”
“What?”
She tucked her head to her chest and moaned softly.
“Izzy. Izzy set me up with Marsali, remember?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, it was because… I have an appointment in Atlanta at a clinic.”
He watched her closely, unable to read the emotions flickering across her face in rapid succession. “Amelia? Are you sick?”
“No… No, I’m not sick.”
Relief poured through him. “Thank God. So what are you doing? Some kind of plastic surgery? Honey, you don’t need it. You make my heart stop every time I see you now.”
She tilted her head to one side, her expression softening. “Thank you. Right back at you,” she whispered. “But I’m not having plastic surgery. I’m… getting pregnant.”
Shock rolled through him and he told himself he’d misheard her. “What?”
“Izzy felt like I’d given up on falling in love and doing things the old-fashioned way, and she was right. I had. So she contacted Marsali and hired her to match me, hoping I’d find someone and fall in love. I agreed to three dates before my appointment on the off chance I’d meet someone I’d want to be with,” she said in a rush, arms hugging her front tightly. “I never expected it to be you.”
“Pregnant?” he asked, still trying to get his brain to work enough to process the news after Breanne’s shock from earlier. “You’re telling me you’re going to a clinic to be—”
“Yes. The first appointment is an assessment and to go over expectations and guidelines, but if things go well, I’ll move forward with the procedure. I was planning to cancel it. Because of us. But hearing you say you don’t want kids…”
He took a step back, forcing air into his tight chest and feeling much the same as he had while waiting on Breanne to take the test. What had she called it? A panic attack? “Why didn’t you say anything before now?”
“What was I supposed to say, Lincoln? We haven’t dated that long. Should I have told you on the first date? How would that have gone? Nice to see you again, Lincoln. I know I broke your heart twenty years ago, but would you like to get me pregnant?”
“Um… Dad?”
He closed his eyes and bit back a silent curse when Breanne reentered the room in time to hear Amelia’s statement. He could feel his daughter’s gaze boring a hole in his back and turned to find her staring at the two of them. “Bree, I’ll be there in a second. Just… wait by Amelia’s door, please.”
Breanne didn’t move for a long moment but then did as ordered and disappeared once more. “Amelia—”
“Lincoln, justgo. You’ve had enough to deal with tonight and it’s not completely over yet.”
“That’s it? We find each other again and I don’t get a say in this plan of yours? The time we’ve been together meant what to you, exactly?”
Amelia met his gaze with a look that took his breath away and broke his heart all over again.
“It meant everything. I love you, Lincoln. I neverstoppedloving you all of these years, and nothing would make me happier than to turn that love into a baby of our own, but if you’re so set against it… This is a deal breaker for me. I want kids. You don’t. Since we can’t agree on this, how can we possibly have a future together?”
Chapter 14
