Free In my Arms Tonight (NYC Singles Book 2) by Sasha Clinton Page A

first person who’s ever said that to me.”
    “Said what?” A wedge of light drew a crescent on his stubbly cheekbone.
    “That it’s admirable to have the conviction to not want to get married. Most people tell me that by the time I’m thirty-five, I’ll be overtaken by a mysterious, magical need to be a mother and banish the loneliness in my life with a man.” She shut in the cold fury that tried to rise. “Or that I’ll become a lonely old lady with fifty cats and when I die, my corpse will rot for weeks before my cats decide to feast on it and leave nothing to bury.”
    His beautiful, gravelly laugh made her body sizzle. “Cats don’t eat human flesh, darling.”
    Darling . She could get used to him calling her that. And she absolutely shouldn’t.
    “I think it’s pop culture’s fault for glorifying love and togetherness to an unhealthy extent. I mean, people nowadays think it’s abnormal to not want a happily-ever-after. But I’m content with whatever I have. I really don’t feel like I need anything else to be happy and I’m not holding out for some unrealistic Mr. Right. I know you think I’m saying that because I’m young and I’ll change my mind once I’m older, but I don’t think so.” She could go on and on, but she had to take a breath.
    “You’re riled up,” Alex observed.
    “I can’t help it. This issue always makes me angry. But why am I taking it out on you? You’re not the one telling me to… do anything.” She was overreacting. So much. Raising her hand to her head, she tried to calm herself down. Which was difficult when she felt so passionately about this.
    “Kat—”
    “Stop. Don’t ask me that.” She shook her finger at him warningly.
    “Ask you what?”
    “You were going to ask me who broke my heart and made me stop believing in love, weren’t you?”
    “No, I was going to ask you whether you wanted to look through the binoculars.” Alex tapped on the gray, huge thing. “The view’s breathtaking.”
    Her face warmed from humiliation. Sighing, Kat bent down. “I think I should do that.”
    Give her anger some time to settle.
    Through the lens, she grabbed a view of the metropolis spanning over acres.
    “This marriage and kids issue is really important to you, isn’t it?” Alex murmured, standing beside her, slipping his hands into his pockets.
    “Yeah. And every time I say it to someone, people look at me like I’m a freak. Making personal choices according to what I believe in makes me evil and selfish, apparently. I once wrote a piece for the New York Times magazine on choosing to remain childless. You won’t believe how much hate mail I got for that. I was called everything from a slut to a spawn of Satan. I don’t hate kids. I just don’t want to have any.”
    Alex’s hands rested on her back. Because it felt good to have them there, Kat didn’t say anything.
    “It’s sad to see that even in the twenty-first century, women can’t make reproductive choices without being judged and criticized. It makes me angry and it makes me sad.” She pulled down her dress that had ridden up.
    “And it makes you feel isolated because nobody is on the same page as you?” Alex finished.
    “I mean it’s my choice. I’m not telling other people to not have kids. But why am I always being told how to make my choices?” Her voice was hard.
    “If it makes you feel any better, I agree with you.” Alex picked up his head.
    Bristling, Kat frowned. “Why do you want to make me feel better?”
    “Because in case you missed it, I’m forty-six and unmarried with no children. I’ve been through my fair share of speculation and set-ups.” He shook his head, rolling his eyes.
    Breath hitched in her throat. He didn’t know how much it meant to her that he’d just said that. That he’d understood her. That he’d made her feel like she was not alone, that she was not the only one fighting this battle every day.
    It was a powerful moment.
    Finally, after all