Page 69 of Beck and Call

"You were in high school and barely a man at that point. Besides, even if it happened today, it still wouldn't have been your fault. You have many gifts, but reading women enough to know what we are thinking is not one of them."

She dropped her hand and paced away from me. "This is the reason you have been pushing me away? Did you think you'd cause me to kill myself?"

I shrugged. "I think at first it's what I thought would happen, but really I was afraid of getting hurt. With Callie, we were young, and everything was so new. I thought it was love. But since I met you I realize nothing I had with her even came close to what we have. I feel guilty, because she's never going to have more than the life she's living right now. I drove her to try and kill herself, and we didn't even have the real thing."

Evie walked back to me, and I pulled her into my arms. I'd expected her to run away when she found out about Callie, but she surprised me. She was always doing the opposite of what I expected. "You didn't drive her to kill herself. It sounds like she is mentally ill."

“Are you really okay with me visiting her?” I asked.

She thought for a moment. “Yes. You aren’t the type of man to abandon someone who needs you. But I don’t want you using that poor woman to torture yourself anymore. She’s a part of your life, then we both go sometimes. You need to bring life to her, not continue to dredge up the trauma.”

I nodded, dropped my head to her chest, and held her against me. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before. I love you. I want you to come home, and I want to marry you."

"I love you too, but I'm not going to move back in with you. I've realized something, especially tonight."

Whatever it was, I would change her mind. "What is it?" my voice came out raspy from the strain I felt in my throat.

“If we knew each other better, if we had more of a history, a lot of the misunderstandings we've had could have been avoided. Yes, we love each other, but if we don't build a stronger foundation, we're going to ruin our relationship."

"What are you saying?" A felt a flicker of hope, but I wasn't sure where we stood. She loved me, but she wouldn't come back to me.

"I'm going to stay with Jana for a while longer, and we are going to date like we should have before you moved me out of my apartment without talking to me."

I lifted my head and looked her in the eyes. "You really need this?"

She nodded. "For me your accusations felt like the end. I couldn't imagine how we moved on from that, even though I knew what the results were going to be. Tonight, Sabrina told me it wasn't that crazy you were suspicious considering you had a vasectomy."

"Does everyone in the office know?"

She gave me a withering look. "When you throw things and shout, it tends to get people's attention. Anyway, she said if we'd known each other longer maybe you wouldn't have jumped straight to the wrong conclusion."

I knew that wasn't true though. "I've known Colter almost my entire life, and I accused him."

"True," she conceded. "But that's where the familiarity is important. He knew you well enough to fight for your friendship. We aren't going to develop thirty years’ worth of history, but we need something more than sex to hold us together."

I stroked my hand against her lower abdomen. "Don't we already have something more? I want us to be married. I want to raise our child together."

"Children aren't enough to make couples stay together. My family tree is filled with single mothers. Besides, we have months before this baby is here. This once, will you please give me time?"

"So instead of being at my beck and call, you want me to be at yours?" I asked.

"Sounds good to me."

"I'll try," I promised.

* * *

Evie

Making up didn't take as long as my father expected. Not that I would share the details of making up with him.

"Say it again," I asked.

"I love you. I'll tell you every day, all day for the rest of our lives. Right now I'd like to show you."

I grabbed his hair, and kissed him. He wasn't used to me taking the lead, and fell backwards onto the couch with me on top.

His leg pressed up against the juncture of my thighs, and I bore down to chase the feeling of pleasure spreading through my body. Shamelessly, I rode his leg while he nibbled at my neck. In a matter of a couple of minutes I was riding the crest of an orgasm, and he'd yet to remove even a single item of my clothing.

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