Angel Falling (Falling #1)(80)
“Then what happened?” I asked. Walking down memory lane was painful. I wanted to cover the wound with a Band-Aid and let it heal.
“I came home one weekend and she was cryin’ something awful. Took me hours to get her to stop long enough to tell me what was wrong. I figured her mama must’ve died or something the way she was carrying on. Someone did die, but it wasn’t her mama.” Hank took a deep breath and licked his lips. “She finally admitted that she was pregnant. Well, she had been. She found out she was six weeks pregnant with my child, and then she killed it. She killed my baby. I never even knew I was gonna be a daddy before she took away my rights. She never gave me the chance to talk about it. Make the decision. She made the wrong one. I’d never kill my own flesh and blood.”
“Oh my God, Hank. I’m sorry.” I looked up and tears were in his eyes and leaked down the side of his face. I rolled on top of him, straddling his huge body, and kissed away his tears. His boxers and my panties were the only thing separating me from him. He kept talking.
“She’d had an abortion, and said she did it because she thought I wouldn’t want to be a daddy. That I would leave her a single mother back home while I lived my fancy college-boy lifestyle in another city. It was my fault. If I had been there for her, nicer maybe, not so selfish, she’d never have done it. My child would be just over ten years old now.”
The guilt poured off Hank in waves. The man believed he was to blame for such a monumental decision made by the Country Cunt.
“Hank, no, no.” I kissed every crease, every tear, every line on his beautiful face. “Shhhh … it’s not your fault. You didn’t know. You can’t blame yourself when she didn’t come to you. She should have come to you. It wasn’t a decision she should have made alone.”
He sniffed and composed himself, wiping his tears on his forearm. I leaned up and caressed his face. “So you broke it off with her?” He needed to finish this for good.
His voice cracked when he replied. “Yeah, I just couldn’t forgive her. I still don’t. You see, Angel, my feelings for her are rife with pain, guilt, and regret. That night at my folks’ ranch, she begged me to take her back. Start over.” I tried to slide off his body. “No you don’t. We face this shit together,” he said with more conviction than I felt at the moment. He held me fast before I could escape.
“I was there, Hank. I heard what she said. I came looking for you and was on the other side of the wagon.” Tears filled my eyes. “You asked her if she wanted you back, she said yes, and then you kissed her! I heard you kissing her, Hank!” My body fell forward onto his, my face hiding in the crook of his neck while I sobbed. “How could you?”
His arms tightened around me. “Now, you’re going to listen to me and listen good. I didn’t offer to get back together with her. You heard me wrong. I was shocked by the fact that she wanted to get back together. Then before I could stop her, she kissed me. She kissed me! And you obviously didn’t hear everything. Did you hear the part about where I told her I loved you, wanted to be with you?”
What is he talking about? That’s not what I heard. I shook my head. “I couldn’t bear to hear any more after I heard you two kissing. I ran.”
His arms banded around me and he kissed my temples with feather light presses of soft lips. “You should have stayed for the fireworks, Angel. I told her off but good. Explained that you and I were in love, and that she and I were over forever.”
I pulled back to search his face. Ready to beg, to plead for the truth. It was all there in his honey green eyes. The truth that I almost lost. He loved me. Only me. His hands cupped both sides of my face, his thumbs slid across my cheeks to wipe away the last of my tears. This was it. I would shed no more tears about Hank’s past.
“Come here, Angel.” He pulled me atop his wide chest and hugged me tightly. It was the warmest place and had the power to soothe my ravaged mind and heart. “It’s only ever gonna be us from here on out. I promise.”
“But what about your business, about your ranch? You love your home and you know I can’t leave AIR Bright, Hank. Nor would I want to.”
“I do love my ranch, and I do love my home, but I love you more. I’ve worked it out with three investors. You know Jackson, he was in your meeting today. Then one of Dean’s rich friends, and the architect Alex Benson has a company; his firm invested in my company, too. And you know that small office you have on the twelfth floor of AIR Bright?”
I grinned. “Oliver pulled some strings to ensure I got the place without having to go through the rigmarole or get on the waiting list. He also gave it to me for ninety days rent free to make sure I’d confirmed that you were in this with me for the long haul.” He smiled a full-teeth smile and I melted. When Hank smiled the whole world smiled back.
“Oh, I’m in it for the long haul, Stud.” I wiggled my center against his hips.
His hands crept down to my backside and squeezed. I could feel his length hardening through the thin cotton of his boxers.
“Is that so? Does that mean if some young, strapping, incredibly good-lookin’ cowboy from Texas were to, say, proposition you for the ultimate long haul, you reckon’ you might be willing to agree?” His face was smiling but I could see the nerves.
“Are you asking what I think you’re asking, Stud?” I sat up, his hardening length a steel rod between my thighs.