Page 295 of Billionaire Temptations

“It’s rude to reach over someone. You could have asked me to hand you the basket.”

“I was afraid to talk to you. But I guess if I had, I wouldn’t have gotten stabbed with a fork.” I cocked my head, and a small smile crossed her lips.

There was so much I still had to say to her, but it wasn’t the right time. I tried to talk to her in the hospital, but she wasn’t having any of it. We needed to talk about the baby. I wanted to let her know that she wasn’t the only one suffering. Plus, I wanted to know how the hell she got pregnant on the pill.

After we ate, Emily went and sat on the couch while I cleaned up.

“What about your job?” she asked.

“I’ll work from here. It’s not a problem. Can I get you anything?”

“No,” she replied.

I grabbed a box of chocolates and took them over to her.

“I bet you’d like one of these.” I grinned as I held the box in front of her.

She looked at me with a narrowed eye and then down at the chocolates.

“Maybe just one.” She took a truffle from the box.

Chapter Forty-Three

Emily

I turned on the TV and glanced over at Jackson while he finished cleaning up from dinner. I looked at how sexy his arms were with his sleeves rolled up as he washed the dishes and put them away. The way his ass looked in his pants that were tailored to him perfectly, and the way he told me he loved me even though I didn’t want to hear it.

I was flipping through channels as Jackson sat on the loveseat and opened his laptop. Even though I had this love/hate thing for him, I was happy he forced his way back into my life. I turned the TV off and stared at him as he typed away on his laptop, trying to find the words that I needed to say.

“I was going to tell you about the baby when I came back. And I was also going to relieve you of your parental responsibilities and raise the baby on my own.”

He stopped typing and looked up at me.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you had no room in your life for me, let alone a baby, and I didn’t want to further complicate things for you.”

His eyes burned into mine for a moment before he shut his laptop, walked over, and sat beside me.

“I always had room in my life for you, Emily. I was just scared because I was afraid of losing you down the road if things didn’t work out. So, I thought it would be easier to cut ties right then and there before we became more than what we already were.”

He ran the back of his hand down my cheek. “The day of the accident, I had decided that I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t go on without you in my life. I felt empty and lost. I felt as though I didn’t have a reason to get out of bed anymore and I was going to come see you the next day to apologize and beg for another chance.”

I gulped as tears filled my eyes. “I lost our baby because of me. If I had stayed put and not rented that car and got on that highway, our baby would still be inside me, and that is something I will live with for the rest of my life.”

“Emily,” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around me. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart, and I will not allow you to blame yourself.” He kissed my head and held me close.

“I don’t want to love you, but I can’t help it.” The tears fell down my face. “Everything I did, said, and saw always came back to you.”

“The same for me too. I even told my secretary she couldn’t wear her Joe Malone perfume to the office anymore.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I broke our embrace and saw the bright smile on his face.

“I’m so sorry for everything,” he spoke. “And I promise you that I will spend eternity making it up to you. I’m begging for your forgiveness, Emily.”

“You hurt me, Jackson. You hurt me so badly, and even through it all, I never once stopped loving you. As much as I wanted to, you’re impossible not to love.”

He placed his thumb on my chin. “So, what do you say? Shall we give this relationship thing a try? No contract this time?”

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