the idea that I’m pregnant with your baby…I don’t want to be that woman who feels like she needs a man in her life, but the last few days with you…”
My voice trailed off for a moment before I went on. I knew I needed to be honest with him about my fears. “It scares me how much I love you, and I’m even more scared that you’re going to slip out of this confused daze you’re in and realize this isn’t what you want. I’m not what you want.”
He remained silent as he stared at me. He cleared his throat, and for a brief moment, I was terrified he was going to agree with me.
“I know I haven’t given you reason to believe my one-eighty. The only thing I know to do from this point on, Merit, is to prove to you how much I do want this. You, the baby, a life where I go to sleep and wake up with you in my arms. Today, when I saw you fall, it was the worst moment of my entire life. All I could think about was how I had finally gotten my head out of my ass and now you were going to be taken away from me. The fear I had…” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Fuck, I was so scared.”
“I’m okay, and the baby is, too,” I whispered as I brought his hand up to my mouth and kissed it softly.
“I know. And if I didn’t think I’d end up in jail, I would hunt your father down and kill him with my bare hands.”
With a humorless laugh, I said, “I’m pretty sure Michael wants first dibs on that.”
Dirk shook his head. “We’d have to fight for who got to him first. The point I’m trying to make here, and not doing a good job of it, is that you are my everything, Merit. I fought these feelings for entirely too long. I tried my best to forget you, but you’ve always been at the back of my mind, never letting me forget the mistake I made. The way I hurt you. I’ve been given a second chance with you, and I know how rare that is. I’m not going to mess this up.”
I smiled as a rush of both happiness and desire came over me.
The door to the room opened, and the nurse knocked lightly before making her way in. “Here’s the water. This is the call button if you need anything. I’ve already sent for a tray of food for you. The only thing you need to do now is rest.” She looked at Dirk. “The chair slides out and makes a bed. I’ll be sure to bring you a pillow and an extra blanket so that you can stay the night.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Dirk said, his eyes still focused solely on me. I could practically feel the love ebbing off of him.
After the nurse left, Dirk motioned for me to move over some, and he lay down in the bed next to me.
“You’re going to get us in trouble,” I said in a hushed voice.
“Only if I do naughty things to you. For now, all I want to do is hold you.”
I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, or possibly the pain meds kicking in, but my headache felt like it was fading some.
“That sounds amazing,” I said on a long sigh.
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt his warm breath against my ear as he asked, “Will you marry me, Merit?”
A smile formed across my face as I replied, “Yes.”
Timberlynn and Lincoln stared at me with disbelieving expressions, while Kaylee sat there with a wide, knowing smile.
“I knew that man was in love with you the moment Stella mentioned your name in the kitchen before New Year’s Eve,” Kaylee stated as she patted Rose softly on the back.
“Did you?” I asked, a hint of surprise in my voice.
“Hell yeah, I did. And I’ll be honest, I thought I would have to work harder at getting him to realize it, but I underestimated the power of fate and the love you two share.”
For a moment, I felt so guilty for ever being jealous of Kaylee. I, of course, had already confessed to her about it, and she laughed her ass off. I really did adore her, as well as Timberlynn and Lincoln.
“Dirk asked you to marry him?” Timberlynn asked for the third time.
I laughed. “Yes. Twice