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“And this is news to you? I make a living out of stopping hundred-mile-per-hour slapshots.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

KATE

Numb.

That’s the way I’ve lived my life. The way I’ve survived as a child and teenager and, consequently, the only way I know how to function as an adult.

Peeling myself out of bed, I poke my head out of my bedroom door. All is quiet and dark; Jensen must’ve finally finished his call with whoever was on the other end.

My latest pee over with, I pad back to my bedroom when a muffled groan stops me in my tracks. “Hello?” I whisper.

No response until another groan echoes from the living area.

“Jensen?”

My curiosity wins out and I turn and head toward the sound. Moaning lightly in his sleep, Jensen lies sprawled out across the air bed, the sheets resting dangerously low on his naked waist. In the soft moonlight filtering through my sheer curtains, I can easily make out the glistening sweat across his chest. His hands are clenched tightly by his sides, but it’s what lies beside him that has my heart tripping out.

Picking up his brown leather wallet, two scan photos are tucked inside and on display. After the first scan, he asked if he could have a couple of the photos, and this is where he put them.

He went to sleep like this, with his unborn children lying next to him.

I set the wallet down, realization washing over me.

He’s right, and so is my gut—I know absolutely nothing about the man lying in front of me. But he knows me inside and out.

He groans again and thrashes to the side.

“Jensen?” I whisper. But he doesn’t wake.

My heart racing and pulse beating in my veins, I slowly lower myself onto the mattress beside him. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but he’s offered me kindness and defended me to two people who never once showed me an ounce of it, only ever with strings attached.

He stirs and rolls towards me as I settle with my back to his overheating body.

“Kate?” he groans.

Tipping my head over my shoulder, I bring my pointer finger to my lips. “Shh, it’s late, and you were having a bad dream.” I look over at his wallet, which I set on the coffee table, still open on the scan images. “You put them in your wallet.”

“Hmm?”

“The twins. They’re in your wallet.”

He lifts his head to see what I’m referring to, his cologne surrounding me from all angles. “Yeah, they’re always with me that way.”

Warmth floods my chest. “You’re a good person, Jensen. I just want you to know that. I’m sorry we got off to such a bad start.”

He smiles sleepily. “Everything that’s happened between us was meant to be this way. I don’t regret anything.”

“Me neither,” I sigh.

A few beats pass as he relaxes around me, the tension between us so charged that it could spark a fire with the single strike of a match.

“Come here.” He kisses just below my ear as his huge hand splays out across my hip, tugging me back into him.

“Tell me to stop,” he whispers.

I stay quiet. I don’t want him to stop. The closer he is, the safer I feel.