Free Walking the Line by Nicola Marsh

damaged.
Doesn’t make people want to stick around.” I swallowed the lump in
my throat. “First Mum did a runner, then Dougal bolted, so I left
my picket fence dreams behind, moved to the Cross, toughened up and
discovered it’s much easier depending on myself.”
    “You’re not damaged.” Sorrow darkened his
eyes to the deepest green as he cupped my face. “You’ve put your
faith in the wrong people. Let me be part of your life, Ellie. I
promise I won’t let you down.”
    “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I
muttered, looking over his shoulder so I wouldn’t be tempted to
drown in his eyes, eyes filled with sincerity. “Want to know why I
chose the Cross to settle? Because it’s real and in your face and
brutally honest. It doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It
lets me be the person I want to be.”
    He released me, stepped back and gestured at
my outfit. “That’s what the armor’s all about, isn’t it? The
leather, the make-up, the chunky jewelry, it’s a mask to help you
blend in.”
    “So?”
    “But don’t you see, you’re giving up on your
dream?”
    My lips compressed. “I’m running a successful
bar in the toughest part of town. I’m living the dream.”
    “You’re settling.”
    “Fuck you,” I said, turning away, but he
wouldn’t let me, his hand landing on my shoulder to spin me back
around.
    “What’s reproductively challenged anyway? Not
impossible to have kids, right? Which means you’re the one who’s
running, who’s too damn scared to face the tough stuff to get what
you want. You want kids? Then do something about it.”
    I shrugged off his hand and shoved him away,
my latent anger sparking by the hint of truth in his too astute
observation. “You volunteering? To go through endless rounds of
jerking off into a cup, giving me hormone injections, coping with
mood swings, hospital visits, probable miscarriages and the
exorbitant cost?”
    For the first time since I’d met him, Finn
looked angry, genuinely angry. A deep frown slashed his brows, his
neck muscles bulged and his fingers curled into fists.
    “Didn’t you hear a word I fucking said
earlier? Of course I’m volunteering,” he yelled, causing several
passersby to glance our way. It didn’t faze him. “I love you, for
Chrissakes and I want to be with you for the long haul, good times
and bad, whatever it takes.”
    Shock rendered me speechless as he started to
pace, muttering under his breath. “Goddamn stubborn woman. Too
independent for your own good. Why can’t you accept the fact I’m
crazy for you and won’t run out ‘til you kick me out on my
arse?”
    And for the first time since he’d found me
here, I dared to believe.
    Finn was right. I was scared. Terrified, in
fact, of trying to have kids and failing. Or discovering it was too
bloody hard and I wasn’t up to the effort.
    But here was a guy willing to try. A guy who
loved me.
    A guy I loved.
    In the end, I guess it came down to that.
    I loved Finn.
    In a way I’d never loved anyone and if I
headed down this tension-fraught road, I couldn’t think of anyone
else I’d rather have by my side.
    With unfamiliar elation fizzing through my
body, I stood and broached the short distance between us. “How
about we trial a relationship first, then see if your swimmers and
my eggs are compatible later on?”
    His head jerked up, his stunned gaze
searching my face for answers I was finally, finally , ready
to give.
    “You mean—”
    “Come here, you big, Irish hunk.” I grabbed
him and kissed the life out of him, before coming up for air. “And
by the way? I love you, too.”
    The sound of a Manly ferry horn drowned out
his response. I didn’t care. There’d be plenty of time for words
later. Maybe a lifetime of Irish-accent-laced words if I was
lucky.

EPILOGUE
     
    Two years later...
     
    FINN
     
     
    “I’m worried about Kye.” I wrapped my arm
around Ellie as we watched our best friend annihilate an opponent
under a