A Kiss For You

Emery retracted her hand from the necklace at the mention of Vanessa. “And you really didn’t know that she would be here?”

“No. Fuck, no. I don’t want her here. She obviously just wanted to fuck with me.” I cleared my throat. “You told me that you wanted to do these things together. I was going to give you that opportunity.”

“I think it’s sweet that you wanted me to meet him,” she said softly, “but I don’t know why you wouldn’t tell me before I met him, like…I don’t know…the day you said you saw Vanessa in New York. You were clearly there to see Colton, not her, right?”

I nodded. “I was.”

“Yet you didn’t tell me. You told me the whole story about Vanessa cheating on you with Marc, how your ex-wife and Cheaterpants horribly ruined your life, but you left out the part where you had a son in the mix of it all. It’s like I know only half of your story. I got the abridged version of the book. You could have told me at anytime, and you didn’t. Did you think that I wouldn’t be understanding?”

“No,” I said immediately. “Emery, that’s not it.”

She wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “I think I just need to cope tonight, Jensen. I don’t fault you for having a son. I love Lilyanne, and now, I understand why you’re so good with her. But I just fear that you’ll never really trust me. Maybe you’ll never trust anyone again.”

Her words lingered between us.

Half an accusation, half a prayer.

I didn’t know what to say to that. Had I not trusted her? Had I really been trying to push her away? I’d been planning to tell her, yet that hadn’t been enough. Landon had known that when he had confronted me two weeks ago. Even if I had told her tomorrow, she would have been upset. I could see that now. Falling in love with someone and leaving out the most important thing in your life was showing no trust at all.

I could see the hurt and despair in her eyes. That I had claimed to love her, yet I had fed her lies about my life.

She turned her face away from me, and I was struggling to find words when her phone started ringing from the pocket of her coat.

“Kimber,” she whispered when she checked the screen. Her mouth opened slightly in worry. She picked up the phone right away. “Hey! What’s going on? Is everything okay?” There was silence as I waited for an answer. “Yes. Yes. I’ll be right there. Do you need anything? Okay. Don’t worry about it.”

She hung up, and I knew what had happened.

“She’s gone into labor?” I asked.

“Yes. I need to get home, so I can drive over to the hospital.”

“What about Lilyanne?”

“My mom is watching her.”

“Then, I’ll have the limo drop you off.”

“No—”

“We’re going straight there,” I insisted.

“Okay,” she said.

She didn’t argue at all, which was a sure sign of how worried and excited she was for Kimber.

I told the limo driver where to go, and we sped off to the hospital. The rest of the ride was silent. She was brimming with nerves about her sister, and I couldn’t bear to bring up what had happened with us and what we were going to do next.

The driver stopped in front of the entrance to the hospital wing where the maternity ward was.

“Thank you for dropping me off,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome. Tell Kimber good luck.”

“I will.”

She reached behind her, unclasped the necklace, and held it out to me. “You should keep this.”

“It was a gift.”

“It’s your mother’s. I only want you to give it to me if this works out. And, right now…”

She dropped the necklace into my palm, and I suddenly felt cold.

“Right now what?”

She started to slide away from me, but I reached out and pulled her in close.

“What does this mean for us?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t think right now. I just need to be with my sister.”

“I understand. That’s what’s important.” I placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “We’ll figure the rest of this out another time.”

“Yeah,” she said, sad and distracted. “Another time.”

With a weight on my chest, I watched her disappear. I’d thought tonight would be the start of everything new. I’d thought, tomorrow, she would meet Colton and see why I loved him so much. And, now, I was left wondering if we were even going to make it to tomorrow.

Chapter 30

Emery

Tears streamed down my face as I stood in front of the elevators. The hospital ward was empty. I was sure the ER was packed with drunken accidents, but here, in this part of the hospital, it was deserted. And I was grateful.

I couldn’t seem to stop crying. My breaths were coming out in short spurts, and my chest constricted. I felt like I was hyperventilating, unable to get enough air in and hiccuping to try to recover.