Chapter 25
“Come here,” Theo had hooked his fingers into the loops of Nora’s jeans and he tugged at her, positioning her off the road. He grabbed the side of her face, kissed her on the lips again and then ran over to his awkwardly positioned car and parked it correctly on the side of the road.
The cab driver had abandoned Nora’s bags on the pavement and Theo picked them up and brought them back to her. Then he was standing in front of her, grinning from ear to ear.
“Did you speak to dad?” she asked, searching his eyes for clues.
“Yeah, I was at your house just now and he told me that you’d left for the airport,” he said and Nora wondered if he knew. He didn’t seem like he did.
“I was coming to tell you that I’ve kicked her out, Nora,” he said excitedly and reached for her shoulders.
“Kicked who out? Violet?” she asked and Theo was nodding his head.
“We had a huge fight over you. I didn’t want her to go around threatening you and then I ended up admitting that we’d slept together. She lost her mind, even though she’s done it herself countless number of times,” Theo was half laughing as he spoke, and Nora could feel her own bubbling excitement.
“And then she asked me if I loved you, and I told her I did. Because that is the truth, Nora. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you that day at your dad’s birthday party,” Theo said and pulled her into his arms again.
She was staring at him with disbelief. She didn’t think he was capable of loving her. She never thought she deserved a man like him. He was always the ideal…an ideal that she could never reach.
“Nora, say something…” he whispered, drawing his lips dangerously close to hers.
“I’ve been in love with you for years now, Theo…maybe ten, I don’t even know,” she said to him, her words choking in her throat. He was smiling at her again.
“Violet is out of my life. I don’t want to waste any more time with someone I don’t care about, just for the sake of keeping a marriage intact,” he said and his fingers gripped her waist tightly as he thrust himself towards her. She could feel the throbbing warmth between his legs. She could sense what this could immediately lead to, and a giggle rose in her throat. She would have never imagined them even touching in public.
“Will you be with me, Nora? Can we start over? Do this right?” he asked and she was smiling. She threw her head back and pressed her eyes close against the glare of the sun. Didn’t he know that she would have done anything for this?
“But first, we need to speak to Andy. He needs to hear about it from us before he finds out from someone else,” he said and Nora’s eyes sparkled as she met his gaze again.
“Dad knows already. I don’t know how. He may have figured it out or someone told him…he knows exactly what’s going on,” Nora said and Theo’s brows crossed in surprise.
“And he’s still talking to me! He hasn’t tried to punch me yet!” Theo barked and she laughed.
“I can’t say he’s thrilled, and he did warn me against you…but he’s not mad either. It might take him some time to get used to the idea, but I know he’ll come around,” she told him and they were kissing again.
When she finally pulled away from him, her lips throbbing from the intensity of their kiss…she dropped her gaze to the road and he instantly knew that there was something else on her mind. He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to his.
“What is it, Nora?” he asked and she bit down on her lip.
“I was leaving today, Theo…because I found out something that I didn’t want to face here,” she said and his brows crossed again. “I found out this morning that I’m pregnant,” she said and felt the tightening of Theo’s grip on her waist.
“Are you serious?” he asked, his face crestfallen and darkened. Nora couldn’t tell if he was just in shock or upset to hear the news.
“Yes, I took five pregnancy tests and I’ve been sick all morning. I’m sure that it’s actually happening…but Theo, I don’t want to force you into fatherhood if you don’t want it. I love you and I want us to start over, but you don’t have to if you don’t want the responsibility,” she said and Theo released his grip on her waist, to take her face in his hands.
He was peering lovingly into her eyes again and Nora felt dizzy with love for him.
“Nothing’s changed, Nora. Nothing about my feelings for you have changed. And if we’re going to have a child together, it still doesn’t change anything. I still want to give our relationship a chance,” he said in a softer voice and she threw her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his chest. He was stroking her hair, weaving his fingers through the golden strands as he held her in his arms.
“I can’t believe this is actually happening, Theo,” she said, choking up on her own words.
“You deserve nothing less than everything you want, young lady,” he said and in one swift motion, he had picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder. Nora squealed with joy and surprise as he carried her and her bags to his car and threw her in with care.
She couldn’t stop laughing as he strode around to the driver’s seat and got in, and planted a long wet kiss on her lips.
“Do you realize that everyone in this town is going to know exactly what happened here, in matter of a few minutes,” she said and Theo shook his head indulgently as he started the car.
“As long as Violet finds out, I don’t care about anything else,” he said and Nora stifled another laugh.