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“Look around. Except for the lucky few like Matt and Madison, love doesn’t usually last.”

“Lucky? Maybe it lasts for the people willing to work hard for it and learn to communicate and compromise. My brother and Laila are wildly in love still. But it took a lot of shit to get there. She had to figure out how to trust him. He had to be patient. And when she ran away to solve her problems alone, he had to show her that he’d be there for her. Then he had to forgive her for nearly ripping them apart. It wasn’t easy, but they both wanted their relationship to work. They were both willing to put their all into it.”

Maybe that was true. Maybe she’d been too afraid to try. Hell, she still was. But if he wasn’t jaded by love, if he’d grown up with a fabulously supportive family and never had his heart broken, why hadn’t he put his all into their relationship two years ago?

Did it matter? He was all but declaring he would now.

God, she felt battered and confused and needed some time to think.

Haisley stood. “I’m going to shower. Unless there’s some big break in the case, I’ll see you Monday. Good night.”

* * *

Except for the lucky few, love doesn’t really last…

As Haisley made her way up the stairs, those words stabbed Nash in the chest. The sadness etched on her beautiful face twisted the blade even deeper.

That’s what she truly believed? Was that her despondence over her friend’s situation talking? Or had she always felt that way? Was that why she’d sworn to him the first night they’d ever spent together that she wasn’t interested in any sort of commitment or future? The reason she hadn’t been willing to even see what they could have together? And why she wasn’t willing to try now? Nash guessed yes.

He had his work cut out for him.

“Wait.” He followed her up the stairs and caught her just outside her bedroom door, clasping his fingers around her wrist and tugging her against his body before brushing a strand of fiery hair from her face. “You okay, baby?”

Haisley shrugged. “I’ll be better tomorrow. Just worried about Charli and those missing women and…”

That wasn’t all, but Nash didn’t dare call BS. Or tell her again that he loved her. She wasn’t in the frame of mind to hear either.

All he could do was show her.

“Because you’re a good friend and a good person. You’ve had a lot going on and everything tonight has been a lot.”

“Too much,” she agreed.

“Let me take some of that off your shoulders.”

“Oh, you don’t have to?—”

Nash didn’t let her finish. He just lifted her into his arms and headed into her bedroom.

She gasped, surprise flickering across her face. “What are you doing?”

“You need to relax and de-stress. I’m going to give you a bath.”

Haisley sputtered. “Y-you don’t have to?—”

“I want to.” No doubt she was stunned because he’d always been sexually attentive, but never this sweet or romantic. Never reverent. He saw now that had been a big mistake—one he wouldn’t make again.

“Why?”

She couldn’t figure it out? Maybe she was too raw or overwhelmed. But rather than leaving her to handle all her feelings alone, he needed her to see that she could count on him.

“Do I need a reason to make you feel good? To take care of you?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “That sounds…nice, but?—”

“Then it’s settled.”

Naked, he carried her across the room and into the attached ensuite. Gently, he set her on her feet and turned on the bath, adjusting the temperature of the water. He found her bath oil, then added a splash of the lavender scent to her tub until it was a relaxing haven.