Love Me Knots by Dee Tenorio Read Free Book Online Page B

Or you wouldn’t respond sexually either,” she added, a mocking smile twisting her mouth. He probably wouldn’t like that line of reasoning any more than she had, now that the shoe was on the other foot. “I’ve just come to the conclusion that maybe choosing your life partner logically, for mutual benefits, the way we did, isn’t the best way to go about it.”
    “It worked for centuries before us,” he interjected tightly.
    “Then it’s not the best way for me.” She forced her voice to be firm. “I want a man who loves me. Who’s dedicated to me, no matter what happens or how hard our lives get.”
    “And you don’t think that’s me? You think I’d leave you because our lives got difficult ?” He said the word as if it were laughable. As if she had no idea what difficult really meant.
    The implication hurt but she refused to let it temper her response—it would only give him a foothold for argument later. “I think not being emotionally tied to a person can make a difficult situation harder. I think I need someone who will hold me when I’m emotional. Not someone who’ll push me away because my emotions are messy.”
    He frowned, probably beginning to understand.
    Krista reached over and took his hand in hers. “You’re a good man, David. The best man I know. I’m proud that this baby is yours. Ours .” She looked down at the belly that had yet to curve outward. Nine weeks along and still, no changes she could see. Only a sensitivity to her skin and an unhappy propensity for losing her lunch. The baby was apparently as polite a visitor as its father. “I just want more than you can give.”
    “What if I could?”
    She blinked, tilting her head, as it was definitely her turn to frown. “If you could what?”
    “Give you what you need. Be what you want.”
    “David, I’m not asking you to change—”
    “No, you’re just asking me to leave.”
    And take my heart with you. “Yes.”
    He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
    Sighing didn’t do much to make her feel better. She tried to let go of his hand, but he held tight. “If this is about staying close to the baby, I promise, you’ll have every opportunity to be part of its life.”
    “It is and it isn’t. I want to be a father, yes. I always wanted that.” He’d been the first one to mention children when they’d begun talking about marriage. “But I want you, Krista. More than anything else, I want you.”
    Her breath shuttered and her heart absolutely stopped. He looked so earnest, so true. All the way down to her soul, she wanted to believe him. But the same heart that stopped for him feared how much he could hurt her. So she asked the one question she knew he’d never be able to answer. “Why?”
    His mouth firmed, quirking at the corners as he tried to find the words she wanted to hear. She knew that habit well. He never understood how much she wanted to know what he needed to say.
    Rather than watch him struggle, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. A goodbye kiss. He must have realized, because he held on. Held so tight she knew his hand would leave a mark on her wrist, if only for a few moments. Nothing like the indelible mark he’d made on her soul.
    She pulled away and stood, lifting her hands out of his hold. This time, his frown could have been grooved into his face for years.
    “You should go home. Get some rest. There’ll be a lot of work for you on Monday.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “Oh yes you do.” More than anything.
    “No, Krista. I don’t. I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.”
    “David—”
    “I’m not leaving. I’m staying here until you believe me.” Implacable. His voice brooked no argument. But that was the beauty of their relationship. They never had to argue.
    She walked back inside and when she left this time, she didn’t look back.

    {

    Taylor groaned in her bed, and not because anything good was going on. Opening one eye, she focused slowly on the alarm