by Hope Ford
I nod, smiling at her, proud of her. “You did great.”
She starts to fidget, looking everywhere but in my eyes. My stomach rolls when she says, “Thank you, but now I have to end things with you.”
I put my hand out and lean on the counter to steady myself. No combination of words have ever had so much power as those, just like a KO punch as far as I’m concerned.
“Why?” I finally manage to ask. “I’m not like Keith. I know you, I know who you are, and I’ve never tried to change you.”
She nods her head in agreement, but there’s still a stubborn tilt to her chin. “That’s true, but this has to end. It’s finished. We’re just friends now and that’s it.”
I shake my head trying to find words when I’m so mind blown as she moves past me and gets her purse. She goes out the door, and I follow her and stop her, kicking her car door shut. “No. I have a say in this too, Laney. Tell me why.”
She swipes at her eyes, wiping away tears and proving to me that she doesn’t want to break up either. “Because we have to. We don’t want the same things. You don’t want what I want, and I know that if one day I walk in on you and find you with some other woman, I won’t walk away. It’ll kill me.”
Since I’m blocking her way to her car, she retreats and goes back into the shop to get away from me, but clearly she’s not thinking it through.
I follow her back inside, and as soon as we’re by the front desk I pick her up, carry her into my office, and put her on my lap in the chair at my desk. “I’m not a hormone driven, stupid teenager anymore, Laney. I am a man who knows who and what he wants.”
She tries to struggle. “What are you doing?”
I hold on to her, knowing that no matter how much she wants to leave, I can’t let her go. I won’t. “If you’re going to break up with me, you’re going to do it from my lap. Face to face. No running. Just the truth.”
Her sexy lower lip quivers as she tells me, “It’s time, Austin. We have to move on.”
God, even as she says it, I can tell her heart is breaking in two. Why is she doing this? I put my hands on each side of her face and hold her, looking into her eyes and telling her as calmly as I can, “I can’t. There is no moving on. You’re the one for me, Laney. You always have been. I know that. There will not be another woman for me, ever. There won’t be because I can’t feel this way about another person on this planet. I love you, Laney. I love you endlessly.”
She closes her eyes, shaking as tears streak down her face. I’m holding my breath feeling like I’m going to die.
She looks so unsure, but my gaze doesn’t waver. If she doesn’t believe me now, I’ll never give up trying to convince her. Her hands go to my chest and when they do, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. She asks me softly, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to scare you away. I didn’t think you were ready,” I say and kiss her, molding my lips to hers.
“I love you too,” she tries to tell me, but I already know. We sit there for the longest time, her in my arms, and I show her just how much I love her, not holding anything back.
Epilogue
Austin
Three Months Later
“Can I talk to you, sir?”
Jerry looks at me on the couch in surprise. “Sir? This must be serious. Let’s go outside. I’ve been waiting on this.”
Laney and I came over to her parents’ house today for dinner, and Julia has promised me to keep her occupied. The last three months have been the best of my life and I know that I want to keep this feeling forever. I’ve been nervous the whole evening and am finally to the point where I just need to get it over with. Regardless of how this goes, Laney will be mine. But it will make it so much easier if I have her father on board.
As we sit in the chairs on the porch, it hits me then what he said. “What do you mean you’ve been waiting for this?”
But Jerry just shakes his head. “Oh, nothing. What were you wanting to talk about?”
I take a deep breath and realize that even with all the planning I’ve done and practicing what I’m going to say, in the end I just blurt it out. “I love your daughter, sir. And I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But before I ask her, I would like to have your blessing.”
I hold my breath, waiting for his answer. Laney loves and respects her father so much, I know this, whatever he says, is going to determine what kind of future we could have. When he doesn’t say anything, I continue. “I know I’m probably not the man you would pick for her. I know I’ve made mistakes and you’re probably worried… Well, I know Laney deserves better than me, but I love her, and I’ll spend my whole life making sure that she’s taken care of and she never doubts how much I love her.”
Jerry seems to take it all in, rocking back and forth. When he stops suddenly, I sit up straighter in my chair, making sure that I’m looking straight into his eyes. I want him to see how much I mean what I’m saying.
But absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what he says. “I’ve been waiting for this… That’s what I said earlier. I’ve been waiting since you and Laney were in tenth grade, knowing that one day you would come to me wanting to marry my daughter. Even when she got sidetracked and met—well, you know, the asshole—I knew even then that you would be the one coming to me and asking for my daughter. I never gave up hope, son.”
Confused, I question him, not understanding. “Hope?”
He just nods his head and starts rocking again. “Yep, hope. Even then it was obvious how much you loved my daughter. Hell, I don’t even think you realized it, and what with the history of your mom and everything, I get it. And yeah, you were a little rebellious growing up, but you’re a good man, Austin, and you make my girl happy. I know you love her and will protect her. And that’s all I need to know. You have my blessing.”
Stunned, I have to choke back a little emotion. I reach my hand out, wanting to shake his hand, but I think I shock us both when I pull him up out of the chair and give him a man hug, slapping him on the back. I pull back and feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. “Thank you, Mr. Gowan.”
He laughs. “Jerry. Jerry is fine, son.”
We both turn when the front door opens and Laney walks out. “What’s going on out here?” Her mom is standing behind her looking at me apologetically, but I just smile at her.
“Oh nothing, just having a talk,” I tell her.
Laney then pulls a basketball from behind her back. “Look what I found. You up for a game?”
I can’t help but laugh. “What? I didn’t beat you enough in high school?”
She walks off the porch with the ball under her arm. “I think I got you now. Plus, you’re old now. I can do this.”
I shake my head. She always did talk a lot of smack. I leave her parents on the porch and follow behind her. “You do know we’re the same age, right?”
She stops suddenly, fire flashing in her eyes. “I’m not old.”
I steal the ball from her hands and shoot it easily through the basket. “Neither am I… and I still got it,” I tell her as I drain it, nothing but net.
She gets the rebound, dribbling around me, does a fake, and then shoots the ball, making it. We spent hours doing this when we were younger and it brings back a lot of memories.
“Maybe we should play ‘Have To,’” she says before she shoots again.
‘Have To’ is a game we played where the loser had to do whatever the other one told them to do. I laugh, because I know Laney. I won every time and when I told her what to do, she would always convince me with her puppy dog eyes to take it easy on her. She always ended up doing what she wanted to do. I hold the ball at my hip. “I’ll play, but this time no cheating or trying to haggle. I win, you do what I say.”
She acts affronted. “I never cheated. And when I win, you do what I say.”
I hold my hand out to shake on it. “Deal.”
She puts hers in mine and I resist throwi
ng down the basketball and pulling her into me. “Deal.”
We play a few minutes and I have to give it to her, she’s really trying. After working up a sweat, I tug my shirt over my head and throw it to the side. She stops mid dribble. “That’s not fair. You’re trying to get me sidetracked.”
She’s walking toward me and I can tell she doesn’t care about who wins anymore; she has her mind on something else. She stops right in front of me, her eyes going across my chest, and I grunt because just her looking at me like she does fills me with all kinds of thoughts. I lean down and give her a little kiss before whispering, “I know that look in your eye and I suggest you start thinking about something else, because I really don’t want to take you right here with your dad watching us.”
I watch as her eyes go wide and then shoot up to the porch. Sure enough, her mom and dad are staring at us. She gives them a little wave, and I watch as Julia pulls Jerry back inside the house.
I steal the ball from her. “Next point wins.”
She tries to guard me and totally cheats, pressing her body up against mine. I could do this all day, but I’m ready now. Ready to get what I want. I shoot the ball easily over her head and sink it. “I won.”
She pretends to pout but puts her hands at my waist and looks up at me. “All right, what do I have to do? You don’t have homework now so I can’t do that.”
“Haha, right, I learned my lesson after you did my homework that one time and I got a C. I knew not to have you do that anymore.”
She just smiles and shrugs. “Fine, dish out my punishment. I can take it.”
She’s all smiles and I hope what I’m about to say makes her happy. “Marry me.”
Hope shines in her eyes and then she shakes her head, slapping me on the chest. “Funny.”
My hands go low on her back, holding her to me. “I’m serious. Marry me.”
“Austin, this isn’t funny.” She acts as if I’m playing a joke on her, and maybe I shouldn’t have done this as a game. So I go back to plan A.
I drop my hands from her waist and lower down to my knee. I pull the tiny box out of my pocket, open it, and hold it up to her. “I love you, Laney Gowan. More than anything. Our relationship has changed throughout the years, but every day I fall more and more in love with you. I never want us to be apart again. I want to be by your side always, I want you to have our babies, and I want to grow old with you. Will you please marry me?”
She’s not even looking at the ring. She’s looking right into my eyes and starts to cry. “Yes. God, yes. I love you, Austin.”
I stand up, pulling her into my arms and giving her a soul-searching kiss that holds promise of what’s to come. When we pull apart, I put the ring on her finger and it’s a perfect fit. We’re kissing again when I hear her dad call out, “Let’s keep it PG. We do have neighbors.”
We break apart laughing, and she runs to show her mom the ring. Jerry comes to me and pats me on the back. “Welcome to the family, son.”
I thank him and then my fiancée walks back into my arms, her body snug against mine, right where I want her to be. With me, always.
Epilogue 2
Laney
Eight Years Later
“Hey, Momma! There’s Daddy,” my daughter says, tugging on my arm.
We’re just walking out of the elementary school where I’m a kindergarten teacher and our daughter Ashley is in the first grade. And sure enough, there’s my husband. He’s standing on the sidewalk and a few of the PTA moms seem to have him cornered. Jealousy instantly flares in my belly, but he’s watching me, and I can tell he sees it. He says something to them, but his focus is on me. We walk to meet each other and I try to hid my jealousy from him. “It seems you have a fan club, husband.”
He just laughs, his arms going around me before he bends down and kisses me. “I only have eyes for you, baby.” And even when he says it, I know it’s true.
“What are you doing here, Daddy?” Ashley asks him.
“Yeah, is everything okay?” I echo.
He gets down on one knee and says to our daughter, “You know how we have our daddy/daughter date tomorrow afternoon?”
She nods her head. Of course she remembers; that’s all she’s talked about all week. “Well” Austin starts, “I thought maybe you could go over to Grandma and Grandpa’s tonight so that I could take your momma out for a date tonight?”
Excitement blooms on her face and sure enough, I spot my parents in the parking lot. Ashley is jumping up and down with excitement, and we watch as she runs off to my dad. As soon as he has his hand wrapped around Ashley’s, I turn in my husband’s arms. “What are you up to?”
“I was thinking today that we’ve both been busy lately and I need to reconnect. I’m more centered with you, Laney. You make my world right.” Austin is a man of few words, so when he bares his soul to me, I don’t take it lightly.
I have a little flash of guilt, knowing that I’ve been avoiding talking to him about something.
He takes my bag from me and holds my hand to walk toward home. We bought a house close to the school and Ashley and I walk to and from school every day. We’re quiet for a little while and I try a thousand different ways to tell him what I’ve been thinking, what’s been weighing so heavily on my mind. As soon as we get into the house, I try to shake it off. “So, what were you thinking? Where do you want to go?”
He doesn’t look at me. He pulls me into the living room and into his lap on the couch. I laugh. “What are you doing?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “This seemed to work for me the last time. Now talk to me.”
Instantly, my mind goes back to that day that I tried to end our relationship all those years ago and he wasn’t hearing it. He made me sit in his lap face to face and talk it out.
I struggle to get up, but he holds on to me. “There’s something going on with you, and I want to hear it. Tell me, baby. Are you not happy? Tell me what I need to do. I’ll do anything… but you’re not leaving me.”
His voice is raw and filled with emotion. I gasp. “Leave you? God, I would never leave you. What are you talking about?”
“I’ve felt it, Laney. You’re off, you’re not happy. Talk to me and tell me what’s going on?”
Unable to hold it back any longer, I blurt it out. “I want another baby.”
His eyes go wide and he drops his head against my chest. I stop breathing, worried that I just told him the thing I want and he’s trying to figure out a way to tell me no. We talked about only having one kid, but now I’ve changed my mind.
“Austin, talk to me.”
He lifts his head. “Baby, I thought it was something else. I thought you were unhappy with me. Why didn’t you just say so? I would love to have another baby. I didn’t want to bring it up, though, because you finally got your full-time teaching job and it’s what you’ve always wanted…”
I interrupt him. “You. You’re what I’ve always wanted. And I do, I love teaching, but I want this more. I want one more and God, I know I should want a girl, but I want a little boy, one that is just like you. I’ve pictured him in my mind so many times, Austin. I don’t know what it says about me, but I don’t care about having to take a break from teaching if it means I get to spend more time with you and our family.”
He lifts me up from a seated position and carries me down the hall to the bedroom. “You know I love you, Laney, and I’ll always give you everything you want. I want another baby with you. I want it all… with you.”
And he wraps his arms around me and proves to me just how far he’ll go to keep me happy and satisfied. I don’t know how we’ve made it this far, but my bad boy best friend has turned into the love of my life, and I’m the luckiest woman in the world.
THE END
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Bestselling short romance author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. She loves tattooed, alpha men, instant love stories, and ALWAYS happily ever afters. She has over 80 books and they are all available on Amazon.
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