They were words Pia had never thought she would hear. A proposal of marriage. Only everything about the situation was wrong. Okay—not the man. He was pretty amazing, but she didn’t want him proposing like this. Out of some weird sense of obligation to a former mentor. She wasn’t interested in being anyone’s merit-badge project.
“You can’t fix whatever’s wrong with you by marrying me,” she told him. “Go get therapy.”
She’d thought the words would annoy him, but he simply smiled at her.
“Do you really think that’s what I’m doing?”
“Yes. You don’t love me. We haven’t even dated.” There’d been that single, amazing night, but that wasn’t enough to build a relationship on.
She supposed on some level she should be flattered he was offering to help, but instead she felt cheated. Even though she’d never had a relationship get to the “I love you, please marry me” stage, she’d always dreamed one day it would happen. That the man of her dreams would propose.
But it was supposed to be a romantic event—a magical time. Not a mercy offer made in a medical parking lot.
“Pia, I like you a lot,” he said, sounding annoyingly earnest. “I respect and admire you. You’re smart, funny, charming and you lead with your heart. You’ve given up your life to have your friend’s children. How many people would do that?”
The switch in subject startled her. “Crystal left me her embryos. What was I supposed to do? Ignore them?”
“That’s my point. You couldn’t. You had to take care of your friend, even after she was gone. I might not have known Crystal, but I did know her husband. I can’t explain it, but I know that I owe him. These are his kids, too. I want to take care of you. Of them.”
The Keith part made sense, she thought. But marriage? “You barely know me.” Although she had to admit his assessment of her character had been very flattering.
“I know enough. Is it that you don’t know me? Ask me anything. What do you want to know?”
She felt as if she’d stepped into an alternate universe. “I don’t know enough to figure out what to ask.”
“Then I’ll tell you.” This time when he reached for her hand, she let him. “You know about parts of my past. I told you I had a serious girlfriend in high school. I was crazy about her. I never even looked at another girl while I was with her. I never cheated. Once we broke up, I had my wild times, but after Hawk got me on the right track, I calmed down. I dated a lot of women, but one at a time. When Caro and I started dating, that was it. I was all in.”
He shifted in his seat, as if trying to get closer to her. As if his words weren’t enough to convince her and that he would use the magnetism of his presence to tip the scale in his favor.
“When I commit, I give a hundred percent. It doesn’t matter if it’s football or marriage or my business. I’ll be there for you.”
She felt overwhelmed. Everything was happening too fast. Worse—she was tempted. Hearing that a guy was “all in” was a leap-without-bothering-to-look-first moment if there ever was one.
It wasn’t love. She understood that. Raoul wanted a family without the trauma of giving his heart. He wanted to help her and Keith, and in return he got all the trappings of family without a whole lot of risk.
“I have my flaws,” he continued. “I can be impatient. I’m not a morning person and can push back to try to get my way. But I can be reasoned with.” He touched her cheek with his free hand. “I’d never hurt you.”
She had a feeling he meant what he said. But no one could promise not to hurt another. It didn’t work that way.
“Raoul, you’re being really nice, but this isn’t going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Marriage? It’s a huge step and we barely know each other.”
“I want you.”
As much as she wanted to bask in the words, she couldn’t. “No, you want a cause.”
“So you get to be someone who loves your friend, but I’m just a guy doing a good deed? You’re not the biological mother to these babies, but you’re giving up your life to take care of them. Why can’t I want to do the same? That’s what I’m offering. You need support and a partner. I want a wife and kids. I want to be their dad. Permanently. Yes, getting married is a practical solution for both of us, but that doesn’t make it any less real.”
She stared into his eyes, wishing she could see down to his heart. Did he mean it?
“Define real,” she said softly.
“The whole thing. A ring, a judge, a piece of paper. We’ll live together, raise the kids together. I’d like it if you’d take my name, but I’ll pretend it’s okay if you don’t. We’ll be listed as the parents on the birth certificates. We’ll buy a house, make love, argue, make up, raise kids, get a dog and grow old together. I’m not talking temporary, Pia. I’m offering you everything I have. I’ll be a husband to you and a full-time father to those kids. And if you decide to leave me, you can take me to the cleaners in court.”