When a Champion Wants You by Tina Martin

pause,
Dimitrius said, “You’re good at glossing over things.”
    “I answered your question,
didn’t I?”
    “Yeah, you did, but I want
to get deeper, Melanie.”
    She smiled uncomfortably
and shook her head. By his expression, she knew he was sincere and
really making an effort to get to know her. But she didn’t want to
get too deep into a discussion about her ex, and she definitely
wouldn’t mention the real reason they parted ways. But to satisfy
him for now, she said, “Scott and I were together for two years
and, well, we realized that we didn’t want the same
things.”
    “Such as?”
    She hated to lie again.
One lie was enough. Actually, one lie was one-too many, and now,
she knew he had to tell another one to avoid the truth. So she
said, “He didn’t want children.” She instantly felt a guilty punch
to her gut for lying.
    “He didn’t want children?”
Dimitrius asked, as if he needed some clarification.
    “No.”
    A look of confusion washed
over him. How could she date a man for two years and not know that
he didn’t want children? It didn’t make any sense. So he asked her,
“Wouldn’t the topic of children have come up early in the
relationship?”
    To avoid looking him in
the eyes, she kicked a pebble and said, “It did, but—”
    “He changed his mind is
what you’re saying.”
    “Yes. He changed his
mind.”
    “Well I want children,” he
said, “And I won’t change my mind about it.”
    Melanie took a sip of
water. He wanted children and wouldn’t
change his mind. The moment he found out
she couldn’t give him children would send him running, same as
Scott.
    “What about you,
Dimitrius? What woman came along and broke your heart?”
    He chuckled a bit. “No
one. I’ve broken plenty of hearts, but I’ve never had mine
broken.”
    “Spoken like a true
player.”
    “I was a player…I’ve
been reformed.”
    Melanie shook her head.
“It baffles me how men were born with the inability to feel love as
deeply as a woman does.”
    “That’s not
true.”
    “It is. Look at you…you’re
a handsome successful man. I know you’ve dated some pretty
women…women who had the potential to be more than just a
booty-call.”
    Now he was getting
uncomfortable. But he had asked her to get deep and she was
definitely putting him in the hot seat. “Okay, so there was one
woman.”
    “And? What
happened?”
    “I was with her for about
two years…thought she was the one. I was thinking about settling
down, popping the question, being a one-woman man…all that. Then
Dante called me one day and told me that he saw her…ah…” Dimitrius
stopped, took a breath and shook his head. The subject was still
difficult to broach.
    “What happened?” Melanie
asked softly when she saw him struggling with it. It surprised her.
From what she thought of him so far, he was arrogant, controlling
and testy. Maybe it was all an act to hide something he’d been
struggling with. “You know what, Dimitrius…we don’t have to talk
about it.”
    “No. I want to. I’m
cool…just needed a moment.”
    “Are you sure?” she asked
and placed her hand on top of his. Instantly, she felt energy flow
from his hand to hers. From the look in his eyes, she knew he felt
it to.
    “I’m sure,” he said,
looking down at her hand. “Dante had called me and told me that he
saw her coming out of an abortion clinic.”
    Melanie opened her mouth.
Speechless.
    “She aborted my baby, did
it all behind my back and when I confronted her about it, she lied.
I had to make her tell me the truth, and she finally confessed.
Said she wasn’t ready to be a mother, and that she didn’t want to
ruin her figure.”
    “Oh my gosh. That’s
terrible.”
    He nodded. “I never
would’ve thought she would do something like that. Never thought
she was so shallow. She was such a smart woman.”
    “Dimitrius…I’m so sorry,”
Melanie said.
    He exhaled sharply and
said, “It’s over and done with now. I’m looking to