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“You do?”
“Of course I do. You’re a woman who doesn’t let many people in, but those she does, she cherishes them with everything’s she’s got, and it’s obvious you want that in return.” He pressed a kiss to my palm as heat burned behind my eyelids. “You deserve nothing less, Olivia.”
I nodded, not missing the fact that while he was technically saying all the right things—he wanted to be as exclusive as whatever this was between us could be, and he would always protect me—he wasn’t saying what I wanted to hear. It was early. I knew it was a lot to ask of anyone, especially in our situation. Heck, we’d just become intimate after him basically working for me. I was probably pushing for too much too soon. I also had my daughter to think about, and she would always be my priority.
“Hey.” He cupped my cheek and forced my eyes onto his. “Why the face?”
“What face?”
He touched the tip of my nose. “This one. What’s going on here?”
“Nothing.” I shifted to stand. “I need to go check my sauce.”
I felt him follow me, but I kept my back to him as I stirred the sauce and tried to get my emotions in check. I knew I was being silly, reading too much into things, expecting too much.
I was weirdly grateful when his phone rang from the other room. “You should probably get that,” I said over my shoulder. “It could be important.” I went about pulling out another pot for pasta, then filling it with water.
I heard his muffled voice as he answered. I tried not to eavesdrop as I set the pot on the stove and turned the burner on, then opened the fridge to look for some vegetables for a salad.
“You need to stop calling like this...” His irritated words trickled to me, and I straightened up, glancing toward the living room. Like a magnet, I couldn’t help myself and I walked back that way, pausing at the threshold.
The relaxed guy I was just watching a movie with was gone. He still had mussed hair and a five o’clock shadow, but that icy expression was back, his spine steely straight, his jaw clenched so tight I thought he might crack a tooth. When he sensed me standing there, his eyes slid my way and locked on my face. In that moment, I watched as he thought something through, then something else clicked into place for him.
He pulled the phone away from his ear far enough to stab a button, putting it on speaker so I could hear a woman’s voice.
“...stop pushing me away, Justin. You can’t ignore me forever.”
“Tricia,” he bit out, making me flinch at his ex-wife’s name. “I told you last time you called, this is not my problem, I’m not your husband anymore. You were the one who burned this bridge when you fucked my friend while I was deployed overseas, remember?”
“Justin—”
“No! I gave up everything to try and make it work.” His eyes blazed as he kept them pinned to mine. “My career. Practically my sanity. And you let me do that while you were planning to leave me for him anyway because...” His breath choked off and I walked over, sensing he needed my support.
Her sigh hummed over the line and a part of me hated this woman I’d never met for doing this to him. “Because of the baby,” she finished for him, making me rear back as if she’d slapped me. “I didn’t have a choice, Justin. He was the father.”
A baby? He’d never said anything about a child.
So much more about him made sense now. The pain I saw in his eyes. The way he held himself back like he was made of steel, even though it was so obvious he wasn’t.
And that was it.
The moment I heard the tumbler click into place, giving me access to the lock he kept so safely guarded around his heart. It was also the moment I irrevocably fell for Justin Ashford and his broken soul.
It was also the moment I was done letting any other woman screw with his head like that. He could speak for himself, but when he’d gone all caveman possessive on me, I guess it had awakened something inside of me as well, and as far as I was concerned that meant I was all in for staking my claim too.
Gently, I pried the phone from his hand, keeping my eyes on his.
“Tricia?”
Her pause was palpable, clearly not expecting to hear another woman’s voice. “Who the hell is this?” she demanded.
“I’m the one who is going to be taking care of Justin from now on, in every way that you obviously couldn’t, so there’s no need for you to call him again. Honestly? I think I should thank you for being such a despicable person because it has given me the chance to be with such an amazing man. But, hey, your loss is my gain, right?”
She sputtered in my ear, making me smirk.
“Sorry about... well, actually, no, I’m not. Just do us all a favor, Tricia, and listen to the man. He’s taken now, and I don’t share,” I said, echoing his words. “I’ll also be the one blocking your number from his phone now.”
“You can’t do that, you crazy bitch! I’m his—”