She pushed me as hard as she could, and I barely wavered. I was expecting it. Belle had one move, and it was always to shove me away from her personal space which was my favorite place to be. The girl I’d first met might have looked different.
However, she would forever have a blazing fire deep in her soul. I once took pride in making sure she was aware that she wasn’t just the granddaughter of Chance Montgomery, and she had a mind of her own.
The woman standing before me was who I always knew she was capable of becoming.
I was damn fucking proud of what she’d accomplished, following her career without anyone knowing was what I did best. I couldn’t help myself. Not with the way I left things. I never wanted to hurt her, at least not like that. Though the longer we snuck around, the more evident it became I’d have no say in the matter.
Our families made sure of it.
Belle was the only girl who ever meant something to me. Granted, we were young back then. Even now, having her this close to me for the first time in what felt like an eternity was as if no time had passed between us.
The spark.
Our instant connection.
It was still there.
Despite her pretending it wasn’t, she couldn’t fool me. Not for one fucking second.
Reading my mind like I knew she would, she acknowledged, “You have no right to say that to me.”
“From where I’m standing, kitten, I have all the right in the world to tell you how I feel. You wanted the truth, so here it is. You carrying my last name and my child isn’t a future I contemplated after I left. However, now that it’s a possibility, it’s become the only thing I find myself thinking about.”
Her chest rose and fell with each word I confessed.
“You always knew how to say the right things, Tristian Hawkins. It’s the Southern gentleman in you.”
“Let’s get one thing straight, kitten. You never liked gentle.” I leaned in closer to her mouth, rasping, “Now the question is, are you going to deny me, Miss Montgomery?”
The sound of the door opening behind us wasn’t enough to break our trancelike state. Neither one of us moved from the compromising position I’d intentionally put us in.
“Good,” Mr. Montgomery announced. Her grandfather’s voice echoed off the windows and walls. “You’re not wasting anytime in getting reacquainted.”
I peered over my shoulder. “We need another minute.”
He nodded, grinning like a fool, and left. My eyes met hers once again.
“Are you ready?”
“No.”
“Tell me what I can do to make this better for you.”
“Nothing you can do will make this better for me, and don’t you ever forget that.”
“Isn’t love supposed to conquer all?”
“Love?” She jerked back with wide eyes, startled by my question. “You think love is involved in this merger?”
“I think it can be.”
“Wow,” she breathed out. “You’ll say anything to get what you want, won’t you?”
“It’s what we both want.”
“At what cost?”
“I can think of worse things than you being my wife and the mother of my children.”