One Moment Please (Wait With Me #3)(76)

I roll my eyes and wait for this discussion to fucking end.

He pins me with a serious look as he says, “If it’s not going to be you, it’s going to be someone else.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I grind out through clenched teeth.

“A girl like Lynsey won’t stay single forever, man,” he says, shrugging like he’s talking about the weather. “She was raised Catholic. She wants a traditional family, not a baby daddy she lives with for the rest of her life. And if you won’t give that to her, it’s only a matter of time before someone else will. Hell, I’d marry her if she’d have me.”

“She won’t have you,” I growl, my hands balling into fists at just the idea of Dean and her together.

“You’re right.” Dean’s brows lift, and he takes a step closer to me. “She won’t have me because she’s not in love with me. But you do fucking realize she’s in love with you, right?”

I jerk backward, nearly tripping down a step as I process the words. “What are you talking about?”

Dean laughs and grips the back of his neck. “Max said you were oblivious, but I thought he was just protecting you. I figured you were just a dick and ignoring the fact she’s head over heels in love with you. That you were just going to continue to string her along so you can keep control of her and the baby. Max also says you’re kind of obsessed about their safety.”

I swallow the knot in my throat because everything he’s saying sounds dangerously close to the truth, and the sensation is like he’s pushing his finger into a painful bruise.

“I care about Lynsey,” I grind out, the words like chunks of glass in my throat.

Dean nods and gets a somber look on his face. “Then you’d better do right by her because at this point, I shouldn’t be the one to catch her if she falls.”





I need to marry Lynsey Jones.

She sleeps beside me. The morning sun is just beginning to stream through the windows, illuminating her beautiful features.

I’ve been up all night thinking about what Dean said.

Fucking Dean, I grumble, and that ache in my chest returns with a vengeance all over again.

I hate that he called me out like that last night, but he’s fucking right. I could very easily lose Lynsey and the baby if I don’t do something. Lynsey isn’t the type of woman to just let us stay as we are forever. She wants more out of life. She could find someone who actually loves her and wants marriage or more kids.

Someone who’s not me.

That thought makes my blood run cold. I might not want a traditional life with Lynsey, but I don’t want her having it with someone else. Dean’s right—at this point, I should be the one who catches her when she falls. She belongs here. With me. So I can watch over her and the baby. No one can take care of them the way I can. And if being a family on paper is what she wants, I can give it to her. I can marry her and still stay detached enough to keep them safe. I’ll give her anything she needs to just stay with me.

She stirs beside me, her lips curling up into a small smile before she croaks, “I can feel you gawking at me.”

I exhale heavily. “I think we should get married.”

Her eyes pop open, and she stares up at the ceiling dazedly blinking. “What?”

The words that have been on the tip of my tongue all night poise for a second leap. “I think we should get married.”

She turns to look at me, her eyes squinting in the light. “Getting married is something you should probably know, not think.”

She sits up in the bed, shoving tousled hair out of her face to hit me with her gorgeous, confused eyes. “Is this because Kate and Miles got engaged last night?”

I shake my head. “No. I just think it makes logical sense for us to get married. We’re having a kid together.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Um…I’m aware!”

I sit for a moment and wait for her to say more, but she doesn’t. “Are you going to tell me what you think?”

She opens her mouth to speak but then closes it, shaking her head in disbelief. She makes a weird series of noises and then suddenly rolls off the bed, clutching the sheet around her naked body as she pads into my closet. She grabs a T-shirt off the shelf and looks at me with her mouth hanging open like she’s going to say something but then she must think differently, so she turns to leave the room. I hop out of bed and grab a pair of joggers, hurriedly dressing before chasing her down the hall.

She’s in the kitchen with the refrigerator open.

“Are you going to answer me?” I ask as she pulls a handful of meats and cheeses out of the fridge and sets them down on the counter.

She narrows her eyes and storms past me to the pantry to grab her round charcuterie board.

“What are you doing?” I ask as she heads back to the kitchen.

“What the hell does it look like?” she hisses, her tone scathing as she grabs a big knife out of the butcher block. “I’m making charcuterie.”

“For breakfast?”

“Yeah, because you just asked me to marry you while I still had morning breath, Josh!” She angles toward me with the sharp knife in hand and tears welling in her eyes.

“Okay.” I grip the back of my neck nervously. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that me asking you this would make you upset.”