The Proposition (The Proposition #1)(79)

For a few agonizing seconds, Emma could only stare in disbelief. Blinking, she tried waking herself up from the nightmare in front of her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t. It was all too real. The man she loved and the father of her child had stood her up on one of the most important days of her life to screw another woman. A strangled cry erupted from her lips.

At the noise behind them, Aidan startled. When he saw Emma standing there, his eyes widened in horror, and he sucked in a breath. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Tears pricked and stung her eyes, but Emma gave a maniacal laugh. “What am I doing here? I think the better question is what the hell are you doing?”

The sound of another voice caused the brunette to whirl around. Her gaze trailed from Emma’s face down to her swollen belly. A hiss erupted from her lips before she shook her head. “I don’t f**king believe this.” She turned her head and then her wrath on Aidan. “No wonder you couldn’t get it up! The guilt of cheating on your pregnant wife must’ve really been eating at you!”

“She’s not my wife…yet,” Aidan replied, his voice hushed.

The brunette sent a stinging slap across Aidan’s cheek, and Emma had to bite her lip not to thank her for doing it. At that moment, she would have loved to have done far worse physical harm to him. “I don’t care what she is! You’re a f**king bastard!” She jerked herself off Aidan’s lap and snatched up her shirt. After throwing it over her head, she grabbed her heels and stalked towards Emma. The fury in her face melted a little. “I’m really sorry. I heard at work he was a player, and I wanted a play. I had no idea…” her voice trailed off as she glanced at Emma’s stomach.

“Thank you,” Emma whispered as the woman started on by. She jumped at the slamming of the front door. On wobbly legs, she took a few step forwards, closing the gap between her and Aidan. He rose up on the couch, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

When she stood there, just staring, he exhaled a ragged breath. “Say something.”

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 f**king 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 f**ked 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 f**king 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!”