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“You don’t have to. We were going to have pizza and watch a movie.” She sounded lame.
He glanced up at Gerard and then signaled for her to step aside so he could say something to her. He must not know that Gerard would hear whatever he had to say. “It’s clear you want to be with him, Lachelle. I wondered about you all this time. It seemed like your heart was spoken for. I just kept hoping that would change. Now that I know it’s him you love, I’ll step aside.”
“Malcolm, you don’t understand. Gerard and I—”
“It’s fine. And just so you know, I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m not mad at you. I care about you, Lachelle, and I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m crushed that things turned out like this. I wanted to try to be his dad.” He nodded at her belly and then glanced over her shoulder at Gerard. “I can’t replace him. Not in a million years. Good luck.”
He disappeared before she could respond. Her heart broke afresh because Malcolm was such a great catch. Some woman who knew his worth should have found him by now, but it wasn’t her.
“Why are you hurting?” Gerard cried out. “You loved him? He said you love me.”
The big guy towered behind her with pain and confusion in his eyes. Her heart stirred, and he wrinkled his brow, even more baffled. She laughed, not finding his emotions funny but in a way just as confounded by him as he was by her. She’d forgotten just how much her wild swing of emotions drove poor Gerard bananas.
She faced him and reached up to touch his cheek. “Calm down. It’s not like that. Come inside. I’m hungry. Oh and if Kelly’s with you, she’s not welcome in my cottage. If you don’t like that, you know what you can do.”
He followed on her heels into the cottage, and for the first time she realized how low the ceilings were built. Gerard’s head nearly brushed the textured ceiling. At the very least, he could reach up and touch it without a ladder. The small house shrank more with him in it.
“You look terrible, Gerard. You haven’t been taking care of yourself. But never mind that. Why are you here?”
“It’s simple,” he told her in no uncertain terms. “I’ve come for you.”
Chapter 16
“Wha—” His claim stole her breath. She blinked at him, staggered, and then had to find a chair to sit down. Her legs gave out. He was there in an instant, hands around her waist as he assisted her to the armchair.
Even having him touch her flooded her mind with memories of their time together. Bending over her, he filled her nostrils with his familiar scent. The chill from his fingers reminded her of his cool body temperature. The way they warmed up as he drew heat from her body made her battle between pushing him away and drawing him closer.
“I told you,” she panted. “I won’t live there, watching you married to her. You let me go all this time. You chose—”
Her voice broke, and to her shame and surprise tears filled her eyes and tumbled down her cheeks. This couldn’t be happening. She’d cried it all out months ago.
“You can’t be this ignorant, Gerard. You come here, knowing you’ll stir things up again? Is that what you get off on? Making me miserable?”
“Does it make you miserable to see me?”
“Yes!”
He crouched in front of her, holding onto the chair arms either side of her, trapping her in place. “It makes me miserable to not see you.”
Her mouth fell open.
“I am lost without you.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth to halt a sob. “You wanted to be with your mate. You said so.”
“I still want to be with my mate.”
She shoved him as hard as she could, but the idiot didn’t fall over. So she had to fight to get around him and move away. “Well, you can forget about having your cake and eating it too, you jerk! I’m not living with you and her. Never!”
“She’s not my mate.”
“What did you say?” She must have heard wrong.
“I said I want to be with my mate. That’s what my heart says, my gut, everything inside.”
Gerard had never been elegant of speech. She found herself amused despite the confusion on what he tried to say.
He rose and walked toward her holding up a finger and adding to it as he spoke. “One, I want to be with my mate. Two, I want to be with you no matter who my mate is. Three, you must be my mate.”
