Page 56 of Dr. Baby Daddy

I take his hand and stand. “Take me home. We can talk there.”

My heart flutters in my chest as I collect the rest of my things. He loops his arm around my waist as we leave the club, heading for the cab waiting by the curb.

As I get in the cab, all I can do is hope I’m not making a huge mistake.

When we walk into my apartment, I kick off my heels and head straight for the couch. If this is going to be a long conversation, then I want to be as comfortable as possible.

Oliver sits beside me, his knee brushing against mine and sending the familiar tingles through my body. “I’m sorry about the way that I’ve been acting. I treated you like you meant nothing to me when the truth is you’re my entire world.”

“I want to believe that.” I tuck my legs beneath me. “But before we get into this, you need to know that I’m?—”

“Pregnant. I know.”

My eyes go wide, my bottom lip shaking all of a sudden. “How did you know?”

Oliver bites his lip. “I was at the hospital, and I overheard some nurses talking. No one is to blame, but… yeah. I heard something and I put two and two together.”

I take a moment to process that. “Okay. Well, you should also know that the baby is yours, and I’m keeping it. You can be part of the baby’s life if you want to, but I know that this isn’t what you wanted.”

Oliver takes my hand and laces his fingers with mine. “All I want is you, Izzy. Well, you and our baby now, and I will spend the rest of my life proving that to you if I have to.”

“Why did you do it?” My voice is choked as I look down at our joined hands. “If I mean the world to you, then why did you break my heart? Why couldn’t you just talk to me about whatever was going wrong? I spent weeks thinking that this was my fault.”

“It was never your fault.” He kisses the back of my hand, his thumb smoothing over the skin. “Never. I knew I wanted you from the moment you came into my life. It scared the hell out of me. You’re the one thing that I’ve been sure of from the beginning, but I was positive that I could never be the man you deserved. I work too much. We’re two very different people with very different lifestyles.”

“But we were making that work.” I hate the way my voice cracks. “At least, I thought we were making it work. And then I started getting in my own head. I thought you were doing things just to make me happy.”

He shakes his head. “Everything I’ve ever done for you is because I wanted to. I never would have agreed to anything I didn’t want to.”

“Why did you get on that stage tonight?”

Oliver smiles. “Would there have been any other way to convince you that I mean what I’m saying? That I want to be with you and I’m going to face my fears to make it happen? I want to be part of your world, Iz, and that world involves being on the stage and performing for a crowd.”

“You mean that?”

“I do. I am so sorry for pushing you away. I’m sorry that I stopped talking to you. I’m sorry that I ever made you think that you might not be the person I’m in love with. Because it’s not true. I love you, Izzy. I’m in love with you, and even if you don’t want to be with me after all that I’ve done, you should know how I feel about you. You should never have any questions about that.”

I don’t know what to think. I want to believe him. I want to be able to trust that when I give him another chance, he isn’t going to drag my heart through the mud again.

That’s what love is, though. It’s giving people the power to break your heart and praying that they don’t. It’s trusting them enough to give them a second chance when they admit their mistakes.

Love is getting through the hard days and coming out on the other side stronger for it.

And man, do I love him.

“I love you too.” My breathing is ragged as tears stream down my cheeks. “This is the only chance I’m giving you, though. We’re going to have a baby. We both need to be in this. When we have our doubts, we need to talk to each other. No more pretendingthat the tension is going to go away if we just pretend it isn’t there.”

Oliver cups my face and leans in, his gaze searching mine. “I’m yours, Iz. Through all the good times and the bad. I’m not going anywhere. I will do everything in my power to make this work because I don’t think it’s possible to ever love another person the way that I love you. And quite frankly, I never want to find out.”

I close the distance between us, gasping when he pulls me into his lap. His mouth moves in time with mine, our tongues tangling. My hands roam his body as I straddle his lap.

Oliver kisses his way down my throat, nipping at the sensitive flesh. “I’ve missed you so much, Iz. I’m so sorry.”

I run my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer as he sucks the top of my breast. “No more apologizing. We’re starting fresh.”

He groans as I slide my hands beneath his shirt and pull it off over his head. Oliver grabs the zipper at the back of my dress, pulling it down. Shivers run down my spine as his fingers brush against my skin. His hands sink into my hair, pulling me in for another kiss.

I roll my hips, grinding against his hardened cock as wetness soaks my inner thighs. With a moan, I haul the dress over my head and toss it to the side.

---