Page 123 of Other Side Of Never
I pointed, my vision glazed.“These are mine.”
Voice gritty, Kian answered, “Everything is yours.”
Hope rose as high as the waves on the lake in a summer storm and flipped my panic switch.
Spinning away from him, I protested, “Kian, this—this is not—it’s so—” I flung my arm out to encompass the industrial kitchen that near knocked me on my pudgy ass.“This isn’t—this has no resale value!You can’t sell this!How could you just go all in on this?”
Hitching his hands on his hips, he stared back at me steadily, but I couldn’t hold his gaze.“All in is the only way I know how to be with you, Bridget.I’ll never be any other way.”
I shook my head and looked down at the floor, my heart fluttering wildly in my chest.“You can’t know that for sure.”
“I do—”
“You don’t,” I snapped, facing him.“If it comes to a choice between me and Isaiah, it will be and should be Isaiah!And where does Jake fit in all this?”
Stepping close, he firmly cupped his hands around my face and held me still.“Bridget, I will always, always, always choose us.Jake is part of us.”
“You can’t.”I panicked, the cumulation of everything I might one day lose reaching astonishing heights that had the power to crush me.“Isaiah comes first.He has to.”
He shook his head gently, his eyes warm and reassuring.“Isaiah needs me at my best.You’re what’s best for me.”
I closed my eyes and fought my tears.
He continued, gently cupping his big, calloused hands around my face.“Isaiah needs a stable, loving, environment.You give him that.”
I swallowed my sob but it came out my nose.
He chuckled and kissed the tip that was sure to be red to match my blotchy face.
“Isaiah needs a family.”He swallowed audibly.“And that’s what we are.”
Throat too tight for words, I nodded.
“He needs a mother, Bridget.You up for that?”
I nodded again, this time with a garbled laugh as I covered his hands with mine.
He frowned.“I’m afraid I’m going to need you to do better than that.”
Stomach dropping, I blinked up at him.“What do you mean by better?”
He shrugged and brushed his thumbs over the apples of my tear-stained cheeks.“You’ll have to sign your life away.Twice.”
I blinked and drew back, dropping my hands as realization hit.“Of course.I understand completely and I have no problem signing a prenup.”
He shook his head as he dropped his hands.“Oh no.I need much more than that.I have the papers with me.I’ve already done my part.As soon as you sign, I’ll file them.”
I cocked my head to the side.“You want to do this now?Like, right now?”
He dropped the stern façade and offered me his sweetly crooked smile.“I think it’s best we don’t have any misunderstandings going forward.”
I was living in the twilight zone, the space between wake and sleep, between dreams and reality.
North was south and left was right.
Lacing his fingers through mine, he led me back up to the house and straight to the long narrow desk lining the wall of the soon-to-be library I envisioned.The surface was clear save a pen and a manilla folder I hadn’t noticed when overwhelmed with everything all at once.
Dropping my hand, he jerked his chin toward the folder and stepped back.“I’ll give you a minute to read it over.”
