Because This Is Forever Read Free

regard since their relationship was still budding and
she hadn’t wanted to raise the subject prematurely. His parents, however, were
married, although not quite happily, but Nate knew she valued stability and
fidelity in a relationship.
    “Nate?”
    “Hmm?”
he murmured lazily, rubbing his hands over her lower back. It felt nice.
    She
took a steadying breath. “Where do you see us five years from now?”
    His
slow movements stopped and his muscles tensed beneath her. After a short pause,
he asked, “What do you mean?”
    “I
mean us , as a couple. Are we still
together? Are we friends?” She hesitated before adding, “Are we married?”
    He went
rigid. The silence in the room was deafening. She pulled away from him and sat
up to look at him. She wished she hadn’t. That cold, distant look was back in
his eyes.
    Her
heart sank.
    “Why
are you asking me that?” he probed in a low voice.
    The sudden
change in him was alarming and for a minute she didn’t know how to respond.
    “I…I was
just curious. You know I love you, and I want to have a future with you.”
    He
leaned forward and ran his hand through his dark hair. He didn’t look at her
when he said, “I’m not marrying you.”
    For a
moment Mia didn’t realize what she’d heard. Then his words sank in and a sharp
pain pierced through her heart. He turned to look back at her and he must have
seen the hurt in her eyes because his face softened slightly.
    “It’s
not that I won’t marry you ,” he said.
“I’m not marrying anyone. I’m just not the marrying type.”
    “But I
thought you…don’t you care about me?” She couldn’t ask him if he loved her. She
refused to. If he did, it was up to him to tell her.
    “You
know I do. And I’m happy with how things are between us. Marriage will only
mess things up. It certainly didn’t do any good for my parents.”
    Mia
looked at him searchingly, trying to understand the source of his bitterness. She
didn’t know much about his family because he kept a lot of that to himself.
From what Mia had gathered, his parents’ marriage had been one of convenience.
Had they not grown to love each other? Nate had developed into a good man, with
both his parents in his life, and she couldn’t understand why that wouldn’t be
something good, something to vie for.
    Besides,
she loved him, and he had to love her too, so it would be different for them.
Wouldn’t it?
    “Don’t
you want children?” she finally asked quietly.
    “No,”
he said without hesitation.
    Mia
looked away, her hopes and dreams shattering with that single word. How could
they be so right for each other in every way but this? Tears gathered in her
eyes but she blinked them away.
    “But
what if I got pregnant?” she whispered, turning back to him.
    Nate
regarded her with flinty dark eyes. “I won’t be forced into marriage.”
    She winced
at his curt tone then looked away. Mia took a deep breath and clenched her
hands together to stop the trembling. Gathering her strength, she forced a strained
smile on her quivering lips. “I would never force you to do anything you didn’t
want to, Nate,” she whispered. “And I certainly wouldn’t trick you into
marrying me.”
    She
glanced over at him. His eyes were intense and fierce but she held his hard gaze.
    “So
where does that leave us?” he asked quietly.
    Mia
stood up and went to grab his jacket. She was moving without feeling and
grateful for the numbness that now encased her. She walked back to where he sat
and held it out to him.
    “Maybe
we should take a break and think about what we want from this relationship.”
    Nate
looked at the jacket in her hand then back up at her. “So that’s how you’re
playing it,” he said with a dry laugh. “I either promise to marry you or we’re
through?”
    “I’m
not giving you an ultimatum, Nate. I’m giving you a choice.”
    He
bounded to his feet so fast she was startled into taking a step back. He
grabbed her arm and drew her