What If (Willowbrook Book 2) by Ashlyn Mathews Page A

toward her. She had to stand to do it. But she needed him as near to her as possible while having the table between them should he not take well to her next confession.
    “When the pregnancy test came back positive, I did a second then a third. After the third positive, I sat on the bathroom floor and cried.”
    He tried to free himself from her grip. She tightened her hold.
    “I should’ve been excited. Instead, I cried for what I realized I had to do to protect our child and my privacy. I had to let go of you —my heart since you’d offered me a ride the day I lost my dad.”
    He jerked free, rushed over, and clasped her against the solid strength of his body. “What you felt is nothing to be ashamed of. In life, there’s never a right time or the wrong moment. There’s only now.” He got down on one knee and took her hand in his. “I was your biggest mistake.” He kissed her inner wrist. “But you and the baby are my greatest gift. Marry me, Emma. Be mine, baby doll. I love you so much.”
    It wasn’t his drive, his talent, his title as a Super Bowl champ that was his greatest gift. She and their baby were. Tears blurred her vision. Smiling, she got down on her knees and threw herself into his arms.
    “Yes! Yes, we’ll marry you.” She and their baby.
    Drew held her tight. She squirmed out of his hold. A correction needed to be made.
    “You were never my biggest mistake.” She dropped kisses of apology over his broken wrists. “I was wrong to withhold information from you. I thought keeping difficult or unsafe truths from you would keep you safe, would prevent you from being worried about me, from distracting you from your dreams. Instead, I drove us apart.”
    Grasping his head in her hands, she looked into eyes she could gaze into for a lifetime. “You were, and always will be, my greatest gift. I love you, Drew.”
    He laughed, and they tumbled onto the floor, a mish mash of kisses and roaming hands, desperate to get naked.
    “You think we can do it in less than fifteen?” she asked, coming up for air after a toe-curling, soak-her-panties kiss.
    “We have a lifetime of minutes and hours, fast and slow.”
    With his unspoken promise of forever, he put back the pieces of her broken heart. She didn’t need the answer to her last question. Why do I love and miss you so much I hurt?
    She loved and missed him so much she hurt because she’d freely given her heart to Drew to safeguard, and he’d done right by her. Always. There didn’t need to be a physical heart-lock and key to show their commitment to them .
    As though he too thought of the key and heart-shaped lock, he traced a heart in the notch of her neck.
    “Where’s the necklace, Em?”
    She leaned in and whispered in his ear. “With my mother.”
    “Safe.”
    “Cherished.”
    “Damn, I love you.” He massaged her butt. “We’re down to ten minutes or so, babe. We better get in the bedroom quick.”
    She glanced to the side. Following where she’d looked, he smiled and nipped her earlobe. “Hmm, the wall it is.”
    Having sex against the wall wasn’t taking a risk—they’d done it countless times—nor was it safe, not with Drew’s broken wrists. And doing the dirty in full view of the picture windows, knowing their friends would be here soon, seemed reckless. However, she was ready to feel adventurous and courageous with only him, her Drew.
     
     

Epilogue
    “Drew, I think my water broke.”
    “What?!”
    He stopped mid-shave and watched her waddle into their bathroom.
    “We should get to the hospital.” Lines formed on her forehead, and she bit down on her bottom lip. If his Emma was worried, he was damn near freaking out.
    “Okay, baby doll, I’ll grab our gear. While I drive, you let everyone know.”
    Her eyes widened.
    He put down the razor and took her small hands in his. “Your plan, Em,” he reminded her. “And you gave me orders to not deviate.” He chucked her under her trembling chin. “But if you want