Page 54 of Billionaire's Accidental Marriage
“It’s okay,” he whispered as he slipped into bed with me, “we’re going to be just fine. I swear it.”
I wrapped myself around him and cried against his chest as everything I had been holding back poured forth—my frustration at my father’s business practices and the pain I still felt because of his death, the shock of us actually being married, and the anger I held toward the press for stalking us like prized animals. I cried for all of it. I trembled against him as I let the dam burst and rush down my neck and my chest. I sobbed rivers against him for what seemed like hours before I finally came up for air.
And when I did, Mike was right there. Holding me, cradling me, and whispering softly into my ear that things would be okay, even though things didn’t feel okay at the moment.
How can such a beautiful man love someone like me?
“I don’t know where to step next,” I admitted as my tears dried up.
Mike rubbed my back slowly. “Well, then I’ll help you work through it, so long as you’re willing to let me in.”
I looked up into his face. “Do you really love me? I mean,love melove me?”
He nodded without hesitation. “I really do, Maggie. With everything I am.”
I swallowed hard. “I can’t say it back. I—I’m sorry, Michael. But—I’m just—I’m not there yet. I don’t think I am, at least.”
He chuckled, and the sound rushed relief through my veins. “It’s okay, Mags. Really. I’m not the least bit concerned with that right now, anyway.”
“You’re not?”
“Nope.”
“So, you’re not upset at me?”
He shrugged. “What’s the point in being upset? I love you, but you’re not there yet. I can’t fault you for that. It’s your heart, and your mind, and your life. All I can do is show you the kind of man I could be if you chose me, and I’m okay with that.”
I shook my head. “How are you so amazing?”
He smiled. “The only thing I need you to know right now is that I’ll always be here for the child we’ve created. Always. Even if we go our separate ways, I’ll make sure the two of you are taken care of. I’ll be an equal partner in this, even if it means cutting back my hours at work.”
My eyebrows rose. “Wow, you’re really serious about this.”
“You don’t know this about me, but I’ve wanted children for a long time. I just never found the kind of person I wanted to have children with.”
“Until me?”
He nodded. “Until you.”
My heart warmed, and my soul surged with delight. I raised my face just a tad, pecking my lips softly against his. I snuggled against his shoulder, allowing myself a brief moment of nothingness as I listened to his heart beating against my arm as I tossed it around him. I stole his warmth, taking it for myself. I closed my eyes and imagined what I might look like as my stomach grew with this pregnancy.
But a question lingered in my mind that I needed to have answered. “Does that mean you’ll always be there for me, too? Since I’m the mother of our child?” I asked.
He kissed the top of my head. “I would’ve been there for you either way, with or without this child.”
I sniffled. “Dammit, stop making me cry.”
He held me close and peppered my forehead with kisses. “As long as they’re happy tears and not sad ones, I can deal.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I didn’t know whether to demand my discharge from this hospital or stay there with him as long as possible. I’d never felt so confused, yet so safe, in all my life. And I started wondering if things would always be like this.
Safe, I mean. I wondered if Michael’s arms would always feel this secure. I wondered if his voice would always provide me with some relief. I wondered if the sex would ever grow dull or if we’d fuck like kinky little rabbits until we were old and gray and needed pills to keep shit up and wet enough for the fun. I wondered what our child might look like. Would he have my eyes, or Mike’s? Would our little girl have his hair or mine? Would she stand tall like him? Would our son be short like me?
Suddenly, I wanted all of the answers to those questions and more.
My God, I think I really do love this man.
I still couldn’t say it, though. I couldn’t get my lips to utter the words. So, I kept my thoughts to myself. I relished the silence and how time seemed to stand still for us as we lay there in that hospital bed. Michael handled as much of my discharge as he could. He didn’t move unless he and I needed to sign some papers. He didn’t shift unless there were something the doctor handed him for me to take home. He even helped me into the wheelchair they wanted to push me out in once it was time to go back home.
