Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(65)

“Is too long.”

Her hand started to shake ever so slightly. Fear? Excitement? She couldn’t name the emotion to save her life. “The timing is off.”

“Why are you so against this? You’re attracted. Don’t try and deny it.”

She removed her hand from under his, pushed back from the table. “I’m an adult,” she said more to herself than him. “I don’t need to deny anything.” I’m not ready. As the words popped into her head, her body called her a liar.

“What’s the worst thing that can happen?” he asked.

I fall in love. You destroy me. The words ran through her head like a ticker tape on the evening news. None of which she could repeat without revealing too much. So she picked the words that would scare any man away. “I’ll get pregnant.”





Chapter Twenty-Four

The vulnerability on her face, the fear in her eyes. Where was the strong, confident woman he’d met on the airplane, the force of nature embodied by a woman he thought he knew?

She stood after dropping what he was sure she thought was an epiphany to him, but in fact was old knowledge.

He joined her when she turned her back; the bathrobe he’d placed in the guest room dwarfed her frame. He placed a hand on her shoulder, was surprised she didn’t jump.

Victor realized, on some level, that he was acting a little bit like a high school senior pressuring his prom date to get naked. He wouldn’t, of course. But he did want to push Shannon out of her comfort zone and make her at least consider the possibility.

“Shannon, look at me.”

She didn’t.

He ducked closer, made it impossible for her to look the other way.

With a heavy sigh, she leveled her eyes with his.

“Pregnancy is always a risk—” he said.

“I will. It isn’t a question of risk. I stopped all forms of birth control months ago. One slip, one tear . . .”

He knew the answer to his question before the words formed in his head but wanted to hear it from her first. “Why?”

She studied the floor, looked up. “I’ll be thirty-five next month.”

“And you want a child.”

She didn’t look at him when she nodded. “It’s why I was in Tulum . . . I mean, outside of your wedding.” She rolled her eyes. “Your nonwedding.”

“You were meeting somebody?”

A quick shake of her head dashed away that thought. “No. Not somebody . . . just any . . . I shouldn’t be telling you this.” She turned.

He placed a hand on her arm. Kept her from walking in the opposite direction. “You had a plan.”

“A loose plan.”

“I didn’t fall into it.”

She looked at him as if he were crazy. “No, you didn’t. You crushed it. Not that I had found someone, but you were there and reminding me that maybe there was—” She stopped short, her thoughts unspoken.

“You’re a beautiful woman, I can’t imagine you haven’t been given plenty of opportunities.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Less than you would think.”

“What do your friends think about this plan?”

She hesitated, so he talked over her thoughts. “And to be clear, you went to Tulum to have sex with someone you didn’t know for the purpose of having a child.”

He waited for her to deny him. Her expression gave her away.

“Avery hated the idea.”

He smiled. “I always knew I liked her.”

Some of the stress, anxiety, or whatever it was on Shannon’s face faded with his comment. “It didn’t happen.”

“You met me.”

“And we didn’t have sex.”

“We could have,” he said. “You didn’t let us.” Because he wasn’t a stranger. Because he brought something to her life that made her revise her plan. The more he thought about what her motivation was for not having sex with him, the bigger his smile became.

“You do realize that all of my friends would have advised me to not have this conversation with you.”

Victor stepped forward, brushed a hair from her face, and tucked it behind her ear.

She sucked in a breath.

Such a simple touch, and yet she responded in a way that few did. “And what are your thoughts on this conversation?” he asked.

Her gaze met his and paused. “It’s liberating, I suppose. Honesty. I’m not used to it.”

“Paul wasn’t honest with you,” he deducted.

Her gaze lowered. “I wasn’t honest with him.”

That, he wasn’t expecting.

He lifted her chin. “One day, I want you to tell me what you weren’t honest with him about.” Victor stepped closer. “But today, I want to relish in the fact that you are honest with me.” And he lowered his lips to hers.

She was timid, maybe a little shocked . . . but she didn’t move away.

Victor closed his eyes and pulled in her scent as he drew her close. Her full lips parted. For air? Invitation? He didn’t know, but he took advantage of the opening and deepened their kiss. He tasted coffee and mint and Shannon. His mornings would never be the same after such an intoxicating combination.

The timid tip of her tongue met his and shot all the blood from his head south to his groin. Shannon reached around his waist. He felt her nails through the fabric of his shirt. He stepped closer, pulled her body flush with his. The outline of his erection pressed against the softness of her belly and wept to be closer.