Page 80 of The Promise Of Rain

She closed her menu.“I don’t need fancy dinners and gifts, Deacon.”

“Maybe not, but you deserve them.”

She opened her mouth to protest further, but I reached over and opened her menu.“If you don’t order for yourself, I will.”

“Bossy,” she snapped.

“You have no idea how much I want to boss you around,” I retorted quietly, no longer as surprised by her changing moods.

I’d earned every single one of them.

Her big, blue eyes flew up to search mine.

Whatever she saw had her drawing back.“Uh oh,” she breathed.

I laughed.“You’ll be more than okay, baby.”

“You weren’t like that before—” She winced and gave her head a shake as if to dislodge a painful memory.

I swallowed past the tightness in my throat.Jenny knowing I’d been with other women, understanding I was different than she remembered, that had to hurt.

I couldn’t imagine being in her position without plowing my fist through a wall.

She chewed her lip, her brow furrowed.

I reached across the table and covered her hand.“I was like that with you, but I was also just a twenty-one-year-old kid and way out of my league with the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”

She tilted her head, her eyes curious.“You’re not out of your league anymore?”

“I am out of my league,” I stated.“I just don’t care.I want what I want.And that’s you.Us.”

She twisted her mouth to the side in disbelief.

I shook my head.“You don’t see what I see.”

She snorted.“You don’t see, period.You live in a la-la world where fairytales come true and families live happily ever after.”

I narrowed my eyes.“Need I remind you where I’ve been the past ten years?”

“No.”She dipped her chin momentarily, then pressed on.“But you grew up in the perfect family.You got an education, saw the world, had adventures.”

I nodded.“I had opportunities.”

“Yes.”

“I also saw the worst of humanity.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“Jenny,” I called, waiting until she gave me her eyes.“I don’t believe in happily ever after.I believe in us.”

Her sweet lips parted, a response barely formed when our food arrived.

She looked down at the plates sliding across the table, and her face lit up at the beauty of its presentation.

An hour later, she sat back and patted her tummy.“So good.”

I smiled.“Glad you liked it.Should we walk it off?”