Emma raised her eyebrows at him. “And what would you like me to say?”
“I don’t know…just anything to keep you from looking at me like that.”
“Well, frankly, I think your female friend said it best. You’re a fucking bastard!”
“I agree.”
“And that’s all you have to say for yourself? Not that you’re sorry you valued the importance of today so little you skipped out on the ultrasound to cheat on me?”
Aidan shook his head. “I didn’t sleep with her.”
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “You were going to before I interrupted you!”
“I swear to you I was not going to screw her. I had just told her I couldn’t, and that she should leave. Jesus, you heard her yourself say I couldn’t get it up!”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better about the fact you had some skank riding you when I walked in here?”
“Look, I admit I fucked up. But I am sorry.”
“Oh, I guess you’re also sorry you lied to me when you said you would change. God, I was so stupid to believe you would treat me any different than Amy or the other women. I should have realized this is who you are and what you do.”
“Emma, please, I am sorry!”
“Really? Do you honestly feel that or are those just some words you think you can say to make things right between us?” Her voice choked off with the sobs rising in her throat. “Are you really and truly sorry you broke my heart?”
Aidan winced. “You have no idea what I’ve been going through lately. I’m never going to be all that you need me to be, Emma. And the pressure from trying just broke me.”
She didn’t bother wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. “So what you’re saying is trying to have a relationship with me drove you into the arms of another woman?”
His expression became anguished. “No, that’s not what I mean.” He shook his head wildly. “I’m fucking up what I need to say and do. And you’re making this harder on me. I feel bad enough for what I’ve done.”
“Harder on you?” she questioned, her voice raising an octave. “How could this possibly be hard on you? I’m the one who opened myself up to all this pain despite my better judgment.” She ground the tears out of her eyes with her fist.
He took a step towards her, but she backed away from him. “Don’t you dare touch me after your hands have been all over that whore!”
“Emma, please don’t do this. I told you I was sorry. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”
Without even thinking, Emma blurted, “Tell me you love me.”
He stared at her, unblinking and unmoving. “What?”
“You’ve been emotionally shut off from me since the day I told you I loved you. So if you really mean it when you say you’re sorry and you really don’t want me to go, then say the words. Tell me you love me.”
At his hesitation, stabbing pain crisscrossed through her chest. The silence echoed through her as loud as a freight train. She shook her head. “That’s what I thought,” she murmured.
Her hands went to the purse at her side, and she fumbled for the DVD of the sonogram. Using all the hurt and anger welling inside her, she chucked it at him. It smacked hard against his chest, causing Aidan to wince. “Not that you’re even interested, but that’s a video of your son. I can only hope and pray he grows up to be nothing like his father!”
Sobbing, she turned and fled from the room. Beau followed her out the door, howling and crying right along with her. As she fumbled with her keys, Aidan called several times for her to come back, but she refused. Then he started calling for Beau.
“Go back, boy,” Emma instructed, pointing a shaky finger to Aidan. She flung open the car door, but he still wouldn’t leave her side.
“Dammit, Beau, I said come!” Aidan shouted, stepping off the porch. He stalked over to them and tried dragging Beau back by the collar.
But Beau jerked away. His nose nuzzled Emma’s belly, and he whined. Emma met Aidan’s horrified glance. “Yeah, that’s right. Your dog is even more loyal to me and your son than you are!”
With a defeated look, Aidan hung his head and released Beau’s collar. “Fine, take him.”
“Come on, boy. Get in the car,” Emma instructed. Beau wagged his tail and eagerly hopped inside. Without another look at Aidan, she slammed the door. Squealing out of the driveway, she tried to keep her emotions in check. But it was no use. She got half a block down the road before she had to pull over. Tears blinded her eyes to where she couldn’t see in front of her, and she couldn’t breathe from the sobs raging through her chest.
A knock at her window caused her to jump. Hope ricocheted through Emma that Aidan had come after her. Glancing up, her heart fell.
Becky stood outside the car, peering curiously at her. “Emma?”
Damn. She hadn’t even thought about the prospect of ending up on Becky’s street. The last person she wanted to see was one of Aidan’s sisters. Mortified, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to compose herself. Finally, she pressed the button to roll down the window. “Hi,” she said, meekly.
Becky sucked in a breath. “Oh God, he didn’t?”
Tears once again filled Emma’s eyes. Unable to speak, she merely bobbed her head.
“I’m so, so sorry. He loves you, sweetheart. I know he does. The whole family knows it. He’s just being a stupid asshole.”
Emma hiccupped between a sob. “Tell that to him and the woman he was about to sleep with before I walked in.”
Becky’s eyes widened. “I’m going to kill him,” she muttered through gritted teeth. She shook her head. “And if I don’t, one of the other girls will. God forbid this gets back to Pop.” Becky opened the car door. “Get out. You’re coming inside with me.”
“No, I can’t. I’m a mess. What would I say to the boys?”
“Tate’s got them at movies tonight. It’s just me.”
When Emma continued to hesitate, Becky crossed her arms over her chest. “Listen, you’re coming in the house with me if I have to drag you myself.”
“I’m parked on the side of the street.”
“It’ll be fine.” Becky eyed Beau in the backseat. “What are you doing with him?”
“He wouldn’t let me go.”
Becky snorted. “Whoever said men are dogs missed the mark. Beau’s got true loyalty.”
Emma gave a half-hearted smile. “Tell me about it.”
Becky pulled Emma out of her seat and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Listen, we’re going to order in some Chinese or pizza or whatever you and the baby want. Then I’m going to call the girls. We’re going to have a strategy meeting about Aidan.”
Emma threw up her hands. “And just what do you hope to achieve? Hog tie him and force him to be with me? In case you missed the memo, he doesn’t want me! He’s made that abundantly clear not only by almost screwing another woman, but by not being able to tell me he loves me.”
“It’s not like this is the first time he’s done this, Em. Surely he’s told you about Amy?”
“Yeah, how he wouldn’t propose, and then she caught him with another woman and broke up with him.”
“Did he also tell you how he spent the better part of that year drunk and in and out of therapy because he had a nervous breakdown over what he did to her?”
Emma gasped. “No, he didn’t.”
“Hmm, I guess he also managed to leave out the part where he tried over and over again to get her to come back to him, but she refused? He finally had to give up when she married someone else.”
Emma could hardly believe her ears. Aidan had lied to her about what had happened with Amy. He had never allowed the true depth of his feelings for Amy to be known. “He never told me any of that.”
“I know my brother. He did what he did to you tonight to push you away, not because he wanted to screw another woman. He self-sabotages himself every damn time!” She grunted in frustration. “By the way he acts abou
t relationships, you would think he was raised in some dysfunctional home by crack-heads or something.”
Emma leaned against the car and put her head in her hands. “I don’t think I can handle all this!”
Becky pulled Emma’s hands away, and then stared her in the eye. “You’ve got to decide right here and now if you’re going to fight for him.”
“Me? Why the hell do I have to do the fighting? He’s the one who fucked up royally!”
“I didn’t say he didn’t. But fighting for him doesn’t mean you’re a doormat and go running back to his open arms, Em. It means you’re willing to put up with whatever bullshit it takes to get him to win you back.”
“You actually think he’s going to try?”
Becky grinned. “Oh yes. Tomorrow morning, maybe even tonight, Aidan Fitzgerald is going to rue the day he ever let you walk out of his life, and you’re going to get to enjoy every minute of it!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Aidan sat in the pitch black living room for hours after Emma left. He would reach for his phone to call her and then stop himself. He would start to get up to go after her and then think himself a fool.
No, he wasn’t what she needed. He could never live up to her expectations of what a husband and father should be. They were both better off. He had wanted a way out for the past week, and he had found it.
But instead of feeling relief, he felt misery.
Freedom from the choking and suffocating emotions hadn’t come with Emma’s departure. Instead, they felt tighter around him than ever before. Defeated, he rose off the couch to grab a beer. His foot accidentally kicked the DVD case across the room. He left it laying there as he headed into the kitchen.
After snatching the six pack out of the fridge, he started back into the living room. His eye caught the plastic DVD case, and he stopped to pick it up. Tossing it on the table, he turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels.
It was after his third beer that the curiosity finally got to him. He took the DVD out and put it in the machine. The sound of the latest basketball game faded, and it was replaced by a thump-thumping echoing through the room.
His son’s heartbeat.
Frozen, Aidan stared at the grainy image on the television screen. The last time he had seen the baby it barely resembled anything. It was a strange tadpole looking thing. Now its features were prominent—its arms and legs flailed while its tiny mouth fluttered open and shut.
If he had been paralyzed by the emotions when he felt the baby move, they were nothing compared with actually seeing his son. A part of him was growing strong and healthy inside Emma. A child that he had promised his mother he would have.
But his son was gone. And so was Emma. He had thrown happiness away with both hands. Sinking down on the couch, he allowed the sobs to roll through him. The last time he had cried had been when he had lost his mother. Now he was experiencing another soul crushing loss.
With trembling fingers, he reached for his phone. After dialing the familiar number, he brought the phone to his ear. “Please answer, please answer,” he begged.
“Hello?”
“Pop, it’s me. I’ve fucked up, and I need your help.”
To be continued in The Proposal out March 15, 2013
Acknowledgements
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it certainly takes one to make a book come to fruition. The bulk of The Proposition came out of one of the darkest times of grief and despair in my adult life. It was a tiny ray of sunlight that broke through the dark clouds surrounding me. Spending time with Emma and Aidan and the cast of characters has been such a comfort and joy. I thank God from whom all blessings flow for giving me a gift of story-telling.
First, I have to thank Kelli Maine, Emily Snow, and Michelle Valentine for being treasured friends, writing buddies, and critique partners over the last three years. I don’t know what I would have done without you ladies in both the professional and personal side of life. Thanks for talking me down from the ledge numerous times!! YOU ROCK!! GGBT FOREVER!!
Thanks also to Emily Snow for all things formatting and book trailers and questions!!!
Thanks go to my newest bestie and member of the Naughty Mafia, Kristen Proby. I feel like people are put into our lives for a purpose, and your friendship, help, support, and “ending magic” is appreciated more than I can ever say.
To my other beta readers: Rachel M, Riley G, Rachael A, Lori, and Rachel S: thanks for helping make The Proposition as amazing as it could be!!
To the ladies of LB for allowing me to share snips for critiques & giving me great support and feedback.
To Marilyn Medina for her unending support and pimping The Proposition as well as being an “eagle on” on the scene for typos. I feel like you were brought into my life as well—especially considering we are twinsies in so many ways!
I can’t help but give an ENORMOUS heartfelt thanks to the writers, readers, and bloggers of the Romance community. After being held POW in the Young Adult world for two years, it has been a breath of fresh air being so warmly welcomed by you. Your support, your fangirling, your camaraderie is like nothing I have experienced before, and I am eternally grateful. You made writing enjoyable for me again.
Thanks also go to my family and friends who have always supported me in everything I do, including my writing. I love you all lots.
About the Author
Katie Ashley lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She is a writer of Romance and Erotic fiction. She has a slight obsession with Pintrest, The Golden Girls, Shakespeare, Supernatural, and Scooby-Doo. If speaking pretentiously, she has a BA in English, a BS in Secondary English Education, and a Masters in Adolescent English Education. By day, she educates the Youth of America by teaching high school English in the burbs.
She is the author of The Proposition and Music of My Heart, which debuts Winter 2012
The Proposal, the sequel to The Proposition, will be out March 15
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Katie Ashley, The Proposition
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