Page 57 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

‘What are you doing here?’

It came out harsh, accusing. Breathy. Probably because seeing him standing there had knocked the very air from her lungs.Tyler. Oh, you look good. I missed you so much. Her whole body tilted forward, as if every single cell had been longing for him all this time and finally had somewhere to run to.

‘I came to see you.’ He’d been leaning against the cream rendered wall of the bank. He shot her a dimpled smile and pushed himself off the wall. Coming to face her. Two feet together. He looked like he hadn’t slept well. She wanted to ask him what had kept him up, but she doubted it was the same reason she was currently only managing to score four hours a night. If she was lucky. He looked different. More than sleep deprived. Tense. His muscular shoulders were up, she could see the corded tension inhis neck as he slowly looked her up and down. ‘Came straight from London.’

It was cold today. The winter chill in the air biting into her skin. She’d put her thick winter coat on, a cream, faux-fur affair that made her feel like Olivia Pope, if Olivia Pope was a polar bear. It fastened with one central button, and as she felt him take her in with those eyes she knew so well, she was grateful it was buttoned up. It felt like a barrier against more than the chill. A secret keeper.

‘Why?’ was all she could think to say, even though her heart was soaring.

Her question was rewarded with his trademark grumpy frown.

‘Why? Oh, I don’t know. Because I missed my best friend. Because I knew you’d be here. Sharon,’ he added with a tilt of his lips. ‘She’s like a rottweiler when she believes in something. Gave me a pretty hard time when I left too.’

Amber had a sudden image of Sharon as a huge, dark-brown dog, snarling and snapping at his heels. ‘Shazza will love that,’ she half blurted. ‘And she was only doing it to protect me. I told her it was my fault you left. I explained everything to her.’

His eyes turned shark like, deep and dark. ‘The one person you don’t need protection from is me, Amb. I know I hurt you, we hurt each other, but I…’ He huffed out a ragged breath. ‘Listen, I’m not here to make excuses. I messed up. I thought I was doing the right thing. For you. I wanted you to have your shot at your dream. It’s the only reason I stopped calling. To let things die down.’

‘The Bradley gossip did last a while. It was probably best you weren’t around for that.’ She smiled. ‘Bill says he owes you a pint though.’

Tyler laughed. ‘Good man. It made it easier to be away from you, knowing you had people in your corner. I don’t give a shit if Bradley chats shit about me every day for the rest of his miserable life; he’s a snivelling git and I should never have let you near him.’

A couple walking past her with their poodle turned back to give them a look. It made her feet move closer, towards him. He watched her for a moment and took a step forward. As if he was trying not to spook her away.

When they were close enough that she could smell his aftershave, she came to a stop. ‘I went into that relationship willingly, Ty… ler.’ Ty sounded too intimate somehow, and she needed to keep it together. Get all of this out. She thought she’d have time on the train to plan her speech. He winced at her correction, and she wanted to kick herself for ever pushing him away.

‘Not your Ty any more, eh?’ His throat worked, but he was already speaking before she could tell him the truth. That he was her Ty. Would alwaysbeher Ty. ‘Can we go talk somewhere, please?’ He was looking around, as though he was only just noticing the people milling around them. ‘You really shouldn’t be on your feet anyway. Have you eaten today?’

There he was. Her Ty. The man who she’d always confided in, told almost everything to. The man who brought her food without being asked to, the bloke who took notice of the little things. Her Ty, and he was here. She’d been going back and forth for days, ever since her scan. When everything had come into sharp focus. The irony was, the one person she’d wanted to call was him. When she’d come out of that room, black and white sonograph pictures in hand, all she’d wanted to do was pick up the phone and call him. But she hadn’t. She’d wanted to get her ducks in a row before she went to him. To show him that she didn’t need to be looked after any more; she wanted to be the one who did that for him.

‘Amber?’ He was staring at her, that familiar look of concern on his face as his eyes raked over her.

‘I have something to say to you,’ she started, but he stopped her confession by closing the distance between them. Her hands were in his before she could get her bearings.

‘Let me say this first, then I promise I’ll leave you alone if you still want me to. Sharon told me you were still sad. That you’d been asking Ben to make you my pastries. It gave me hope, a kick in the arse to come back and find out, once and for all. I fucked up a lot of things. Not just with Bradley; I should have done all of this differently. The night you met Brad, I should have told you my feelings; I should have told the little rat that you were too good for him. That I wanted you for myself. I wasted so much time, but I can’t waste another second without telling you?—’

‘Tyler, I?—’

‘I love you. Christ, I love you so much, I can’t see straight. I’ve been miserable in London. I just wanted to come home. You’re my home, Amber. I don’t need some fancy job; I never did. When you told me about the donor, I wanted to scream my damn head off. I didn’t want you to have a kid with some stranger, on your own. I wanted to be there, doing it with you. I want to do everything with you. All your firsts. Your dreams, the family. Everything. I would lasso the moon and net the fucking stars if you wanted them, Cherry. I came here to tell you that I love you, and your baby.’

She tried to speak but her throat had closed up. Her vocal cords were out of action.Your baby.He wanted to bring up someone else’s child, with her. The tears she’d been trying to keep at bay since she’d set eyes on him broke free, spilling warm and salty down her cheeks.

‘Tyler,’ was all she managed to push out on shaky breath.Sharon had told him. The little matchmaking minx.

‘I mean it, Amber. I love you, both. I want to be there. Me and you, like before. Only this time, no Bradley, no stupid lies or hiding behind our feelings. I swear, if you let me in, I will never let you down.’

‘You… I really should have gone first. You… love me?’

‘Yes. I think I always have.’

‘I… the baby…’

Shit. I really should have gone first. He wants me, the baby. I’m so damn happy, so shocked that he’s here, saying my words, I can’t even push out a syllable.

‘The baby is yours, Amber. How could I do anything but love it? I’m in. All in. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it on your computer. Being with you, helping you raise a family, that’s everything.’ He motioned to the bank. ‘I know you have your life plan, and I don’t want to derail that. If anything, I want to help you get it all. I know you think I’m putting my own dreams on hold, but this is it. Right here. Let me do it all with you. I’ll be your chef, your partner. I just want to be part of it, if you’ll?—’

She reached out, putting her hand on his chest. He stopped dead, looking down at the point where their bodies touched.

‘The baby…’

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