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She threw the words at him, as if she knew he would balk.
But couldn’t she feel what was already rushing through his veins, heating his skin, making his heart race the way it had when he’d heard the heartbeat and seen the baby on the screen? He already wanted her with every cell in his body, the way he’d never wanted anyone or anything before.
But she was asking for more than just attraction and friendship. She was asking—no, demanding—love.
He had to widen his stance to keep his balance, take deep breaths to steady his heart.
Could he do it? Could he give and accept love without the shadows from his past dragging him back into the cold, hollow place he’d lived in for so long?
He looked into her eyes, saw the challenge, saw her doubt. And he knew that if he didn’t rise to this challenge, if he didn’t do everything he could to love her and make her love him, he’d end up on the periphery of her life, only there for the baby’s sake, his days and nights empty and bleak. It wouldn’t even be half a life.
It would be the barest shell of a life.
Right here, right now, Lyssa was giving him one final chance to have and to hold everything he’d been so sure had slipped through his fingers.
“Mission accepted.”
She blinked at him. “Wait…you’re up for this?”
“I am.” He felt his lips lift into a smile. “You’re going to fall in love with me so hard you’re not going to know what hit you.”
“And…?”
He reached for her hand. “I’m going to fall just as hard in love with you.”
As the feel of her hand in his resonated through every cell in his body, he realized he just might be there already.
Chapter Seventeen
Lyssa could hardly believe what she’d just done. Had she really challenged Cal to make her love him?
And worse, had she actually challenged him to fall in love with her too?
Oh. My. God.
The scared part of her—the one she’d always pushed away when she was younger in order to keep up with her big brothers—wanted to grab the words back. Wanted to say “just kidding” and laugh it off.
The hurt part of her—the part that had ached since he’d flown away from Catalina Island as if he couldn’t leave her behind fast enough—wanted to deny it could ever happen, wanted to proclaim her heart immune to him and her trust in him obliterated.
But she’d been letting fear get the best of her for too long. From the moment Cal had put her into the cab at SFO and walked away, she’d been too scared to confront him. Until Catalina Island. And even then, she’d let him leave her again without calling him out on what he’d done. Until she’d realized she was pregnant and no longer had a choice about confronting him.
But now, putting all her fears and hurt aside, she knew what she wanted. The kind of love her parents had. The love all her brothers had found.
Could Cal be the one?
Was there any chance that a one-night stand and an accidental pregnancy could lead to a deep and lasting love?
And how would she ever find out if she didn’t open up a tiny part of her heart to her own challenge? How would she ever know if she didn’t take one last risk with Cal?
The potential repercussions were massive. The likelihood of heartbreak was at an all-time high. The possibility that she’d look back on this and realize it was the biggest mistake she could ever make couldn’t be ignored.
And yet…
She was pregnant. With Cal’s baby. Whenever she looked at him, whenever he was near, whenever he touched her, her heart cried out for more. She’d never imagined it was possible to feel this much yet find it terrifying at the same time.
“Do we have a deal?”
His words jarred her out of her head and back to the moment. Back to the sidewalk where businesspeople and tourists scurried around them as they stood in the middle of the city’s bustle.
And she made the biggest, most important decision of her life.
“Yes.” She looked into his eyes. “We have a deal.”
His eyes lit, and he drew her close. “Can I kiss you to seal it?”
She couldn’t look away. Couldn’t stop longing for his kiss.
But she made herself pause, think. “Not yet.”
Her unspoken words—not until I can trust you not to run again—hung in the air between them.
He didn’t push it, simply nodded. “In that case, how about a burrito from our favorite restaurant to seal the deal?”
She almost laughed at the absurdity of it. They were talking about their future, their child’s future. And he was thinking about food. Yet she loved that they had a favorite restaurant. It wasn’t just the big stuff that counted in the long run. The little stuff counted too. And she was starving. “Sounds perfect.”
