God, he looked good, in his black pants and cri
sp white polo. Then again, when didn’t he look good?
“Long enough to think you’re not as confident about this move as you’ve let on. It’s not too late to change your mind.”
She took a deep breath, steeling herself for his verbal attack. “Being sad at saying goodbye doesn’t make me any less confident that I’ve made the right decision.”
He pushed off the doorframe, stepped into the office, and closed the door behind him.
Darby swallowed. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to deal with another fight between them. Not now, in her last minutes at the clinic.
“I don’t want you to go, Darby.”
If she’d thought she wasn’t strong enough for an argument, she certainly wasn’t strong enough to deal with his soft admission.
She took a step back. “We’ve been through this.”
“But perhaps we haven’t said the right things.”
Hope lifted high in her chest. “What right things?”
If he asked her to stay, to be a family, told her he loved her, she’d throw her arms around him and stay forever.
“You’re a part of my life, Darby. A good part that I don’t want to let go.”
“Blake, two months have gone by and you’ve barely acknowledged my existence.” Two months in which her heart had broken at every wayward glance, at every smile not returned.
“I’ve been aware of you every moment of every day. How could I not be?” he asked, moving closer. “You’re carrying my child.”
The baby. That was why he was here. Why he was looking at her with such longing. Question was, what motivated him? Actual concern for their child, or guilt that he was washing his hands of her and their baby?
“Regardless of where I am, I’ll still be carrying your child, Blake. Location doesn’t change that.”
His lips pursed with displeasure. “Location changes everything.”
Location wouldn’t change her feelings for him, but perhaps not having to see him on a daily basis would make dealing with the shattered pieces of her heart slightly easier.
She doubted it, though.
“You know where to find me, Blake.” She quit backing up, faced him. “You’ve always known where to find me. You’ve just never cared to look. Not at me. Not really.”
Inches separated their bodies. He towered over her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve always been right here, Blake.”
“Just as I’ve always been here for you, Darby. Always. Every time you’ve needed me, I’ve been here for you.”
“You have.” She swallowed the knot in her throat. What was he doing?
“Yet you feel the need to leave? To just forget about us?”
She couldn’t stand anymore. “Don’t you get it, Blake? There has never been an us.” She put her palms against his chest. “All we had was one weekend of pretense.”
“Is that what you believe?”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong.” As if to prove his point, he lowered his mouth to hers, kissed her so thoroughly her knees wobbled. “Tell me you don’t feel that, Darby. Tell me you don’t want me even now.”