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He sat down beside her, pulled her in close, and when he rested his hand on her belly it was like the world had finally fallen right in place.
“I will be the best father I can be to you, and never let you down,” he spoke softly to the baby, and she smiled wider. “And I will always try and make you happy, Shoshanna.”
She leaned back and stared at him. “And you are, Toby. I love you.”
He cupped her cheek, smoothed his hand back behind her neck, and pulled her in for a kiss.
Yes, the world had definitely fallen into a good and perfect place for her … finally.
23
Ace hung up his phone and smiled. Toby was going to have a baby. It was a crazy fucking thought, and one he didn’t think he’d ever see, but he’d heard the happiness in his friend’s voice. He put his cell in his front pocket, and walked into the bookstore.
He searched the small room that was only about a thousand square feet, trying to find Lauren, and smiled when he saw her standing on a stepstool trying to reach a book. She stretched, her body on full display, her ass wrapped in a loose flowing skirt, and not hiding that the woman was curvy as fuck.
But he shouldn’t be thinking of her like that, shouldn’t want the woman that had been there for him when he moved into this town all those years ago. His freshman year of high school had been one of isolation, but then he had met Lauren, and she had helped him through his anger and pain, the need to always want to lash out.
He had been cruel to her at first, wanting to ignore her kindness because he couldn’t believe someone would want anything to do with him.
He thanked his father for that distrust. But she hadn’t given up on him, and when she had come to his place and seen that his dad had smacked him around, something between them had clicked.
Ever since then she had been by his side, and the only other person besides Toby that he’d felt close with.
He walked up behind her, inhaled the scent of strawberries that always seemed to surround her, and clenched his hands at his sides. She was twenty-three, the same age he was, and he had wanted her from the moment she had spoken to him all those years ago.
“You’re going to end up falling on your ass,” he said and chuckled when she looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at him.
Lauren climbed down, smoothed her hands along her skirt, and grinned. She looked fucking beautiful, so fresh, pure, and the nicest person he had in his life. Her reddish blonde hair was in a loose braid and hanging over her shoulder, the long strands nearly touching her waist.
The sight of her breasts nearly spilling out of her tank top had his cock jerking, and he felt like a damn pervert and asshole for even thinking of her in that way. The small, almost unnoticeable diamond stud in her nose glinted faintly when the sun peeked through the blinds of the shop window.
She was so damn gorgeous, with her splattering of freckles, and the way her light blue eyes were so open and honest whenever she looked at him.
She was the one person he had ever seen himself with, the only women he ever wanted for more than one night. She didn’t judge him, not even when she’d seen him at his worst, drunk, marks on his body from his father hitting him, or catching him passed out with a naked, random chick sprawled over him.
He wasn’t any good for her. She was clean where he was dirty. She was whole where he was broken. She’d never give him a chance, and he didn’t blame her.
Ace could never give her what she needed, and that was a wholesome, true and unobstructed life. He’d always have issues, ones buried deep.
Ace had never been in a relationship, had never been with a female that didn’t consist of taking her to a cheap motel and fucking her for a few hours. He was a sick fuck in that department, because he might care for Lauren so damn much, yet he was out using his hatred and anger fucking random women.
He’d never been with a woman that he saw himself staying with, giving his life to, and making sure she was always happy. But he dreamed about that with Lauren, wanted to protect her so she never knew a day’s worth of pain like he had while growing up. And if she did he’d kill the person who wrought it.
“Maybe I like being on my ass.” She chuckled and moved passed him. “Hey, I have something for you.”
He followed her over to the counter, and stopped when he saw her bend over to grab something. Fuck, her ass was visible through that skirt, the material tight and conforming to her body. She had curves that went on for miles, but he could see it all, and he fucking wanted every part of her.
