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Oh God, I hoped he was doing this for the right reason. He really would be screwing shit up if he were doing it for any other reason.
When he flashed his breathtaking Nash Walker smile at me, the knots of worry in my tummy settled. “I’m doing it for me, babe. This is my chance at something I’ve always wanted but never believed I’d ever get again.”
And there were the words I’d wanted to hear. “You need to go and tell Velvet straight away, but first you have to promise me something.”
He groaned. “God help me, Madison. I dislike making you promises, with a passion, because you always extract blood from me.”
Laughing, I ignored him. “Promise me you’ll start trusting yourself and your ability to be the man Velvet needs, because believe me, you’re already that man, and I know for a fact that she wants you in all your imperfect ways.”
His body stilled and he allowed my words in. Then he leant closer to me and murmured, “Somewhere along the way you became the wiser one of us.”
I smiled. “That’s because somewhere along the way, I started listening to you a lot more.”
As I watched him walk away, in search of Velvet, I let hope bloom in my soul.
Maybe the hard times would ease soon, and we’d all know happiness again.
6
Chapter Six
Velvet
I sat staring into space while the conversation carried on around me. Voices drifted in and out, but I paid no attention to any of them while my thoughts consumed me.
He doesn’t want kids.
That was the predominant thought, the one I couldn’t shift. And that thought scared the shit out of me, and almost made me wish I’d never talked to Nash about my desire for a child.
“Velvet,” Harlow said as she nudged my arm with hers. “Nash is trying to get your attention.”
I looked up to see him jerk his chin at me, indicating that I should go to him. Without hesitation, I pushed my chair back and walked to where he stood. If Nash was ready to talk, I was, too.
“Hey, sweet thing,” he said softly, his thumb grazing my cheek.
A whoosh of nerves rushed through me. His tone surprised me. The gruffness I’d heard in it all week had been replaced with a tenderness my heart ached for. “Hey, baby,” I greeted him.
His eyes searched mine. “We need to talk,” he said and led me through Madison’s house and outside to the front verandah. Once we were settled on the chair near the front door, he turned to me. “I’m sorry I’ve been an asshole all week.” The sincerity in his voice was clear and I appreciated that he acknowledged it.
“I know you didn’t mean it, Nash, and I can also grasp how hard this must have been for you.” I swallowed back my fear. Unsure of where he would take this conversation, all I could do was sit and listen. But my worry he would say the words I didn’t want to hear had me on edge.
“Yeah…” his voice drifted off but his eyes never left mine. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, until he took a deep breath and continued, “I’ve always wanted a family… kids of my own and a wife to come home to at night, but I gave up on that when Gabriella screwed me over. I shoved that so far down that I forgot how much I wanted it. Much easier to forget something than let the thoughts of it consume you. And on top of that, I denied myself even the thought of having another child.”
“I know - ”
He silenced me by pressing his finger gently to my lips. “Shhh,” he murmured, his voice still tender. “I need to get this out.” He took another deep breath. “The thought of building a family with you makes me feel like all the shit in my past – in our pasts – might have been worth it to finally have a shot at the one thing I’ve always wanted. I’m not saying for one minute that this is gonna be easy for either of us, but what I am saying is I’m ready to go there with you when you’re ready, whether that be tomorrow or next year or in five years. I love you, Velvet, and I want everything that love can give us.”
His words took me by surprise – they weren’t the words I’d expected from him, but they were the words I’d yearned for. Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt a little light-headed as the relief engulfed me. We will be okay. I took a deep breath as he wiped away the tears that had spilled down my cheeks. “I thought for sure you would say no to kids. I thought you’d walk away from this,” I said as I shifted closer to him. I needed to touch him, to hold him, and to have him hold me.
His arms circled me and he pulled me close. “I don’t want you to ever worry about that again,” he said with conviction. “I’m fully on board with this now, and you can count on me to do my part.” His face was so serious and his expression so earnest that I knew he meant every word he’d said.
Smiling at him, I placed my hand on his cheek and whispered, “I love you, Nash Walker.”
His lips turned up in a smile and then he bent his face to mine and kissed me. Our arms slid around each other, and within a few moments, he’d pulled me into his lap as he deepened the kiss. It had been almost a week since he’d kissed me, or touched me, and my body reacted to him as if he hadn’t touched me in years. I felt his same need and knew that if we didn’t end this soon, it would be damn hard to walk away fully clothed.
I pulled my lips from his, and he groaned. “Jesus, Velvet, the last few days have been hell, baby. You got any idea how fuckin’ hard my dick has been for you all week?”
“Have you got any idea how wet I’ve been for you and your dick?”
