Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
She had a long shift at the diner, which wasn’t so bad. Apart from being on her feet all the time, the customers were amazing, as was her boss. It was a dream job and it paid well. She knew with the baby coming, it was going to put a large dent in her savings, even eat away at it all. Medical costs were not cheap. It was terrifying, and being alone made it even more so.
She had already dealt with the sickness every morning, and thankfully, that had finally subsided. There hadn’t been any complications or worries so far, but she was always mindful of that changing.
After work, Antwone and the man he’d been having dinner with had been waiting with them.
Antwone hadn’t taken no for an answer. He wouldn’t allow her to walk back to her apartment, so he had bundled her into the car, where he held her restrained against the car seat as the other man drove.
The journey had felt too long.
Antwone had been so close.
She had wanted to scream at him, but that had seemed pointless, and the truth was, she was exhausted and also dealing with the heartache of seeing him again.
It wasn’t easy seeing the man you love looking so cool, calm, and collected. Especially as she wanted to gouge his eyes out. It wasn’t easy, no matter what anyone said.
After the drive, he’d helped her out of the car, and then marched her into this room, where he proceeded to lock the door.
The living room looked nice, kind of like a showroom. She refused to sit on his sofa, or his plush-looking chair. The coffee table also looked nice. It was a beautiful oak piece that looked like it had been handcrafted.
She wasn’t going to look at Antwone’s stuff and think of it as nice or even beautiful. He had left, and she wasn’t going to forget that.
Antwone had left and now she was seven months pregnant. Putting a hand on her stomach, she tried to calm her anger. The doctor had warned her that stress wasn’t good for her. She took several deep breaths, rubbing at her stomach, trying to calm down. Everything was going to be fine.
Antwone chose that exact minute to step into the living room. She opened her eyes as he closed the door.
“You need to sit,” he said.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
He smiled.
“It’s good for you and the baby. You know this. Stop being stubborn and sit.”
She looked at the sofa. Her feet hurt and she was so tired. She wasn’t going to tell him about the small ache in her back, but she walked as far away from him as she could get, and then lowered herself into the chair.
Candice had no doubt she looked as dignified as an elephant in a fine china shop, but she didn’t care. Not right now.
She hurt all over, and seeing Antwone hadn’t exactly been a relief to her. If anything, seeing Antwone filled her with happiness as well as a deep regret. She ran a hand over her face and tried to calm her nerves. She had lost count of the number of times she hoped to see him, constantly looking out for him at the bar. He never showed.
Little by little, her hope to see him had died, and she had known what happened. Their time together had been nothing more than a brief fling. That was all it was and all it could be.
Antwone didn’t take her distance to heart, and he walked up to where she was sitting and used the coffee table as a seat.
She didn’t want to look at him, but she knew she would have to deal with this.
“I never listened to your message. I just did today. Draven, the guy you met, listened to your message. My cell phone fell out of my pocket and he went to find you. The moment he saw you were pregnant, he knew it was mine.”
“Oh, that’s nice to know you don’t have any doubts about me,” she said. She didn’t like how childish she felt, but she had resigned herself to never seen him again, so all of this was stressful to her.
Tears filled her eyes. She was close to sobbing and she had no choice but to hold it together.
“I know that child is mine, so … I’m going to marry you,” he said.
Candice couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing and shook her head. “No. No. No, I’m not going to marry you. This is insane. You left me. You screwed me and then you left me.” She shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to marry you.”
Seven months ago, if she had woken up next to Antwone and he proposed, she would have married him, no questions asked. Now? How could she? He left her. He abandoned her. There was no way she could marry him, even though a part of her was ecstatic at the prospect. Another part was too hurt to even concede.