Precious Embrace (Embrace Series) Read Online Free PDF

girl I’m interested in.” He lifted one eyebrow as if in proposition.
    Ali looked away and took another bite. She wanted to dodge that bullet. Her being at his house, eating food, too closely resembled a date. Bad enough she couldn’t explain what possessed her to suggest lunch in the first place. Another bad choice…her life was full of bad choices.
    “Does my attention bother you?”
    “No, it’s your intentions that scare me. I already told you, this isn’t a good time to get involved.”
    “I know you think that, but how do you feel ?”
    She shrugged. Another thing she didn’t want to explore. Her feelings for him were better off buried where she couldn’t find them. Their night together was bittersweet, the bitter painful, oh, but the sweet…oh so perfect. The memory left her with a constant dull ache she couldn’t quite shake. “I don’t know. It goes against my better judgment, but I am here.”
    When she said this Johnny looked down at the baby and gave him an extra bounce. “She might like me, Micah.”
    “Didn’t you have a girl in Nashville?”
    “I was seeing a gal down there for a long time, but we broke up about a year ago.”
    “How long were you together—if you don’t mind me asking?”
    “A few years,” his eyes lifted to the ceiling. “About four I guess.”
    “That’s a long time. What happened? You didn’t want to marry her?”
    “I did want to marry her. She’s a student at Vanderbilt and wasn’t ready to get married.”
    “Is that why you broke up with her?”
    “First of all, I didn’t say I broke up with her, and second, no, that isn’t why I broke up with her.”
    “Ah—but you did break up with her.”
    Johnny took another couple of bites of his food and they both got quiet. Ali didn’t want to push him, but she sure wanted to know.
    “I don’t mind if you ask,” he finally said.
    “It’s none of my business, I understand that.”
    “She got pregnant—“
    “You broke up with her because she got pregnant?”Ali’s back straightened and she leaned forward.
    “No, now”—he waved a fork at her—“you didn’t let me finish. I broke up with her for having an abortion.” His face grew stony; all the amusement he wore before was gone. “She didn’t care what I wanted, she just did what she thought was right for her.”
    Ali let her fork fall to her plate, the flash of anger from a moment before, now remorse and sorrow. “Oh God, Johnny… I’m sorry.” She didn’t have the words she needed. The position of a man—a father—is never considered in those circumstances. It’s a fine line…too fine sometimes.
    “She said she wasn’t ready…wanted to finish school first. I asked her to take some time to consider the alternative. I wanted to marry her, have a family, but she went right out and did it.”
    “You always hear about women’s rights when people talk about abortion, but they never consider the father’s rights.”
    “She crushed me.” He shook his head, grief clear in his eyes. “I was ready to start a family, excited even. We’re grownups, you know. Not like we were teenagers trying to be parents, but she only cared about herself.”
    “That’s funny,” Ali said, her heart sinking at the irony.
    “Funny ain’t the word I’d use.”
    “Oh—no, I meant funny ironic.” She frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
    “Why ironic?”
    “When I got pregnant with Micah, Carl insisted I have an abortion.”

    Johnny’s blood turned cold. He looked down at Micah and Micah’s interested face made him smile. “Pretend you didn’t hear that, little man,” he said making Ali laugh.
    Micah grinned too and Ali said, “I can’t believe how happy he is with you.”
    “I can’t believe what an ass Carl is. How could he not want to be a part of this little guy’s life.”
    She shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not even sure why we got married.” She bobbed her head from side to side, her eyes darting to the ceiling.