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He came towards her then, with a savage look on his face. Rose only knew she’d backed away when she hit the railing where they’d stood and looked out over the view that first night. Dammit, she wished the memories would quit. She was going mad.

‘You think I brought you here like this as some sort of twisted fantasy? That I’d get a kick out of seeing you in that dress again and just want you for a finite amount of time?’

He’d put his hands on the railing now and boxed her in. He was so close that her belly was almost touching him.

‘You do owe me...’ he said then.

‘I know I do!’ Rose almost wailed it, willing herself not to respond and melt. ‘No one knows that more than me.’

He lifted a hand and cupped her jaw, and every sinew in Rose’s body pulled taut against her inevitable reaction.

‘For the past couple of weeks you’ve been keeping me at a distance and I won’t have it—not when you told me you loved me. Why are you acting as if you didn’t?’

Rose’s breath stopped dead. She wanted to dissolve and disappear. This was excruciating. She’d thought Zac was ruthless before, but this...this was sheer cruelty.

Angry at how he was forcing her complete humiliation, she said, ‘Because I’m not a masochist. That’s why I can’t do this...’

He said now, ‘When I said you owe me, I meant that you owe me nothing but your trust. Do you know why I asked you here like this? In this dress?’

Rose tried not to seize on what he’d said about her only owing him her trust. It was too dangerous.

‘Because you want me to start paying you back... Because it turns you on... Because I embarrassed you when I turned up at the function... I don’t know, Zac...’

‘You’re right about one thing: it does turn me on.’

Rose felt her nerves sizzling.

‘But the real reason is because I want to start again. I want us to recreate that night—except this time without any malevolent manipulation dictating events. We’re just two people who’ve never met before. No agenda.’

Hardly daring to breathe or to hope, Rose whispered, ‘Why? If all you want is an affair—’

‘Your words,’ he cut in. ‘Not mine.’ He shook his head. ‘You still don’t get it, do you? I haven’t brought you here just to sleep with you, or to continue some temporary affair. You’re here because you’ve brought me to my knees. Because everything that I ever believed was important means nothing unless you’re with me.’

He wasn’t finished.

‘I don’t just want one night...or a few weeks or months. I want every night and day. I want you and me and our baby—together. And I want that forever.’

Rose shook her head incredulously. Her heart was pounding wildly. ‘You didn’t believe me when I told you how I felt... How do I know you believe me now?’

Zac was intense. ‘Because I trust in that girl I met who was so conflicted...who just wanted to do the right thing but was falling, just like I was. I trust in the purity of what we felt for each other, regardless of how we came to meet.’

It was too much. The hope was too much... She had too far to fall, and Zac had distrusted her for so long.

She broke away and turned her back to him, standing at the railing, holding on with both hands, knuckles white. Her throat ached...her eyes burned. And then she closed her eyes helplessly when she felt him behind her, wrapping his arms around her. His hands spread across her swollen belly with a possessiveness that made her blood sing.

He said over her head, ‘I love you, Rose, and I’m not letting you go. Not until you believe me.’

She was crying now in earnest, silently. But he could feel her sobs and he just held her until they stopped. The baby kicked under his hands.

She felt Zac go still behind her, and then he said with a choked voice, ‘See? It’s two against one.’

As he held her and she looked out over the view, she felt something wild and soaring take root inside her. The past and the present...and the future? Could it really start here again?

She gathered all her courage and turned in his arms and looked up. Her face had to be ravaged from her tears, but she didn’t care. She looked, deep into those blue eyes, and saw nothing but a blazing truth, as if he could burn it into her with sheer will. And a question. Could she give them another chance? Could she trust him?

Rose tugged free of Zac’s hold and stepped back. The stark pain she saw in his eyes when she broke free told her everything. And that she never wanted to see it again.

She took a deep, not entirely stable breath and held out her hand. ‘I’m Rose O’Malley—nice to meet you.’

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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