LifeoftheParty by Trudy Doyle Page A

insane or
what?”
    Those eyes— Jesus. How they tore through her. She couldn’t
look at him, snuggling against him instead, wishing she could crawl inside him
and hide until he absorbed what she knew she’d have to tell him. “Maybe.”
    He kissed the top of her head. “Gina, baby, come on. You
know it’s more than that. I love you. I love you so fucking much I’d like to
die sometimes.”
    Damn, she hated it when he got Gothic. Hated how it made her
feel. As crazy paralyzed in love as he was, and she just couldn’t allow herself
that. Not when she had to do what she knew she must. Even thinking of it made
her sick. She cringed against him.
    He felt it. “Gina?” he said, lifting her chin. “What’s the
matter?”
    She couldn’t put it off any longer. She had to tell him.
Because as odd as it seemed, in such a short span of time, he was so in tune
with her, she was certain he already knew. “Doug, there’s something I have to
tell you.”
    He stared at her a moment before his eyes lit with joy.
“You’re pregnant.”
    Gina pulled back, the breath knocked out of her. She was
right. Sometimes he positively terrified her. “Why did you say that?”
    “Oh come on, Gina.” His eyes swept over her. “Just look at
you!” He brushed back her hair, gazing at her with such love she nearly
collapsed. “We haven’t known each other long, barely a few weeks with all the
time we’re apart, but I’ve never felt like this with anyone. I know it’s crazy
but sometimes I think I can feel what you’re feeling, know what you’re thinking
even before you say it.”
    She touched his cheek. God. She knew what he meant. Even
knew what he was going to say next. Knew she couldn’t bear to hear it.
    “Gina,” he said softly, “are you?”
    She said, “Yes, but—”
    “But what ?” He smiled, absolutely beaming. “Marry
me.”
    She shook her head. “Doug, I know you said that the first
time we were together, but no one would take that kind of offer seriously.”
    He grabbed her, kissing her neck, her cheek, then quickly on
the lips. “I was as serious then as I am now. No. Even more. Because I’m
so much more fucking in love with you than I was then, and let me tell you,
that’s a lot of goddamn love because I was insane for you from the minute I
walked in that courtroom. Marry me, and let’s raise our baby and maybe even ten
more.” He laughed. “I never had a real family, so this ought to be nuts, but
what the fuck.”
    “Doug.” She shivered. Those eyes, so icy, were positively
drilling through her, mining her thoughts as easily as if they were his own.
And Christ, if that didn’t scare the hell out her. Because if they were, if he
truly knew what she was thinking, she was honestly afraid neither one of them
would live through the experience. She eased away from him and off the bed.
    He didn’t say anything as she hurried into her clothes,
pulling his own on as a minute passed and the next round of revelations queued
up before them. Finally, as she fumbled through her purse, he took her by the
shoulders and turned her toward him, dipping his head to her upraised eyes.
    “What is it?” he asked simply.
    She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening to
his. “I can’t marry you.” Ever. Not now. Not after this.
    His jaw clenched. “Why?”
    “Because I can’t. It’s not right.”
    “What do you—”
    “Because…” She wanted to say because I love you too much ,
but she couldn’t. She could never say that. If she did, if he knew what she’d
done, it just might kill him. Lord knew it was killing her. “It isn’t fair.”
    He gripped her arms. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
    She moved away, flipping her hair from her face, a gesture
long essential to her thought process. Here it comes , she told herself.
She took a long, stabilizing breath, crossing her arms in front of him. “I
can’t marry you just because of this…pregnancy.”
    He stared at her a moment then