Free Suddenly Love by Carly Phillips Page A

words of love and caring, words she absorbed into her heart and her soul, sensing this was the last time she’d hear them out loud.
    And as he took over her body, coming inside her, he carried her up and over with him. Stars exploded around her, inside her, shattering her heart in the process.
    When their breathing slowed and he pulled out, separating their bodies, he curled himself around her and held her tight. Neither said a word, Lissa holding back sobs but letting the tears fall. And later still, when hours passed, he’d made love to her one more time before she fell into a fitful sleep.
    Lissa awoke to the feel of him sliding away from her and out of bed just as the sun began to creep through the window.
    She knew her options. She’d weighed them each time she woke in his arms during the night—remain silent, pretend to be asleep, and avoid a painful goodbye; or get up and fight for what she wanted.
    She’d spent yesterday telling herself it was better for them to separate now, but the more she thought about it, the more she had to ask herself why. Fate had brought them back together at a time when they had no obstacles in their way, unless they put them there. This time there was no pregnancy and no other man.
    True, Lissa had a child, but why couldn’t Trevor get to know Livvy and accept her as Lissa’s little girl, and eventually as his own? Many men accepted other men’s children. Even with their intertwined past, they should be able to do this.
    She owed it to herself to at least reach for what she wanted. Heart pounding, Lissa pulled herself to a sitting position in bed, lifting the sheet to cover her naked body. “Trev?” she asked softly.
    He turned. The only light in the room came from the sun filtering through the drapery. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.
    “Were you going to just slip out without saying goodbye?” She brushed her tangled hair off her face.
    “I would’ve left a note.” He sounded as sheepish as he ought to feel, Lissa thought.
    “Don’t go yet.” She patted the space beside her, but he remained standing and shook his head.
    “I thought… I think we should make this as easy on ourselves as possible.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “Says the man who insisted this wasn’t closure? That if it hurt, it meant there was still something between us?” she asked, throwing his own words back in his face. “I admit I’m the one who was ready to throw us away, but I was wrong. What changed on your end?” she asked, hating how her voice trembled. But she had to know what happened.
    “I thought about what you said yesterday. About the things that separated us. And I thought about something Alex said.”
    Uh-oh . Lissa’s heart began to thud against her chest in a painful beat. “And what was that?”
    Trevor reached for his slacks, pulling them on before speaking. “He brought up more things than just the distance between New York and Serendipity and the disparity in our lifestyles. He said I shouldn’t push you for anything until I was sure I could accept everything your life involves.”
    And in that moment, Lissa knew exactly what Alex had said. “You aren’t sure you could accept Brad’s child as your own,” she said dully, the pain hurting so much more than she could have planned for.
    He spread his hands in front of him, as he so obviously searched for the words to explain. “It’s more than that. It’s whether I’m ready to be a father. To be honest, I gave up that dream when I lost you. I dove into college, work, and making a life for myself.”
    Lissa nodded slowly, digesting his words, believing part, dismissing the rest. “Let’s be clear, okay? This has nothing to do with whether or not you want to be a father. Whether you can adjust your bachelor life. This is about me having Brad’s baby and you having to face that every time you look at my daughter.”
    Her jerked as if she’d struck him, but to his credit, he pulled himself together.
    He