Page 87 of Porter's Angel

She lifted her chin to look up at him. “Nash saw me puking into a plant after I caught Lacy cheating on me. I told him that I was pregnant. It just came out.”

“He just didn’t know that you were going by Angel now,” he said. “And then when I saw your work papers, my suspicions that you were scamming us blew up in my mind. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I have nothing to do with what Lacy is pulling over on Harvest Ranch.”

He knew that now. Porter had driven here with every intention of pulling the rug out from under WhiteBoulder as his final prank against “Angel.” He’d called Funches on his way over to try to steal that land back. He’d been ready to work a loan off until the day that he died to keep it out of Lacy’s hands, but Funches regretfully informed him that the sale was already a done deal.

Porter had seen other names of potential clients on those work papers—some of them good friends. He’d look through the rest of those papers and find everyone who WhiteBoulder had contacted and call them too, but if it came down to it, there was no way that he could actually outbid Lacy’s rich investors.

The guy reallywouldown this town.

A tear fell from Cadence’s already glistening eyes. “Th-then… you don’t want me to get rid of my baby?”

His heart dropped. She actually thought that? He replayed their conversation through his mind and had no idea how she came up with that, but if Lacy had demanded it of her, then why wouldn’t she be paranoid about that? “Of course not!” He tried to reassure her. No wonder she’d been so angry. “I’d never ask that of you.” He did his best to soothe her with kisses against her cheek. “It’s going to be all right, Cadence. Was that what you were trying to tell me before?”

She nodded.

He studied the soft lines of her familiar face, the sweetness of her dark eyes—they made his heart pound more intensely than ever. “I’m here for you.”

She broke into a sob. “You really are?”

Her relieved cries turned his stomach. With difficulty, he stopped himself from pressing her up against the wall and kissing her until she knew how serious he was. “Cadence, there’s one thing that you should know about me. Iamthe kind of man who stays.”

Her lips parted in surprise. Next to her delicate chain necklace, he noticed a throbbing under her soft skin as her breath quickened. “But my baby isn’t even yours.”

Oh, it would be. He shook his head and began the work of kissing those tears away that Lacy had put there—he regretfully conceded that he might’ve been the author of too many of those himself. She let out a gentle sigh.

“Honey,” he said after a moment. “You sure that baby isn’t mine?” He gave her a playful wink. “I just heard you tell Lacy that your baby isn’t his… so whose is it?”

“Oh c’mon, Porter!” She turned away, her fluttering lashes catching more tears, even after all his hard work to make them go away. “I don’t deserve you, do I?”

He almost laughed at that, though this had all turned very, very serious. “After everything I’ve done to you? I’m surprised you still think that.” What insane assumptions they’d both jumped to, and yet, they’d been doing that from the very beginning. He could kick himself.

Never again! He was changing his ways.

“Cadence?” He tilted her chin with his fingers, so she could see his sincerity. “From now on, we’re talking to each other. I want to know every passing thought that goes through your mind and I’m clarifying everything between us because I almost lost you, I was such an idiot… and, I’m afraid I’m always going to be one,” he admitted, “but I’m an idiot who loves you. I hope you know that.”

She hugged him tightly in return. “I’m so sorry,” she cried, “for everything!”

His hands went to the delicate bones against her back. She’d been through so much. The thought that she’d been facing that horrible monster on her own was almost more than he could stand. Porter wanted to run his fist into that jerk’s face again and again. He’d heard enough of their conversation to know that Lacy thought of Cadence’s pregnancy as a threat against him.

Porter let out a labored breath. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

She’d need him.

Lacy had the power to go up against them with everything that he had. This wasn’t over yet. There was no telling what Lacy would do to them in the next few days, but no matter what happened, they had to stick together.

His eyes went to her box of belongings. They’d somehow ended up on the ground. Lacy would try to come back for her. “I’m staying here.” Until he could convince her to come home with him, he had to keep her safe. He picked up the box with one arm. The other went around her waist, and he took her up the stairs to Emily’s place. As soon as she got the door open, he shut it behind them.

They were finally together! She couldn’t accuse him of not knowing her, and he had every intention of showing her exactly who he was.

Her turquoise floral shirt with a blue ribbon collar that rested against the daintiness of her collarbone provided the perfect foil against her creamy dark skin. Had Lacy really sent her these? She’d asked him at the parade if these clothes came from him. Her ex had been stalking her for a while. Her eyes seemed almost black as they pooled with more tears. She watched him with a grateful expression. There was no way that he could keep his hands from her anymore.

He scooped her up in his arms, kissing her like he’d wanted to kiss her every time that they crossed paths. How had he been so lucky as to find her?

It wasn’t luck. It was providence.

He absolutely felt that with every ounce of his being.

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