Page 20 of Best Kept Secret

My mother was no doormat, but she was usually accepting and kind. I knew this was tough on her, finding out about Nova, and now Pari.

"I can only imagine how challenging all this is for y'all."

She sounded so sincere, so sweet, that I had to hold on to the arms of the chair so I wouldn't grab her face and devour that mouth of hers. "Nova said that you may have felt unwanted at dinner. Did you?"

She shrugged. "I'm used to it."

I frowned. "Used to what?"

She shrugged again, wrapping her arms around her waist, holding tight. "People looking at me like I don't belong. It's nothing new."

There it was—underneath her calm exterior, I could hear the tension. The fragility. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, trying to figure out how to navigate this. I wasn't good at this stuff. Never had been. Didn't want to be.

But you have a daughter now, and you're going to have to learn to traverse feelings.

"You'renotunwanted. You're my daughter's aunt, Mira. You're family." I pursed my lips and blew out some air. "My family is just...adjusting to all of this, same as you."

Mira nodded, her expression distant, like she wasn't really convinced but didn't have the energy to argue. "I get it, Beau. I'm not their kind of person. Hell, I'm notyourkind of person, either."

I opened my mouth to respond, but she kept going, her voice soft but pointed. "I know I don't fit here. I know this is temporary—me, being part of Pari's life like this. I've always known. You don't have to sugarcoat it."

I sat up straighter, feeling the impact of her words sink in. "What the fuck? How did you get to thinking you're temporary from what I've said to you? I'm not trying to push you out."

"I don't know what I'm doing."

"You're taking care of Pari and doing a great job of it."

She laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. "A job, huh? Is that what you think I've been doing?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, unsure how to answer her without screwing it up further. "Don't put words in my mouth, Mira."

I didn't know this woman well, which made this intimate conversation all the more likely to go off the rails. I had no idea what triggered her, what made her angry, or what insecuritiesshe carried—though I was starting to figure it out. She'd only been in my life for barely twenty-four hours, and the last thing I wanted was an argument.

She looked down at her lap, her hands playing with the fabric of her skirt. "I'm sorry, Beau. That was rude. I…should get some sleep."

I'd noticed her exhaustion more than once. The way she sat, barely holding herself together, stirred something uneasy deep inside me.

"I know you're dog-tired," I said, keeping my tone soft, which wasn't a hardship. I wanted to take care of this gorgeous woman. "I know you've been carrying it all on your own, but now you have options. You have the room to figure out what you truly want. It's time to focus on yourself."

Her eyes flicked up to meet mine.

"I don't know how to do that," she whispered. "I don't even know what I want anymore. For the past three years, I've been running, scrambling, and…now I feel like the only person I'm tethered to is Pari, and…."

I stared at her, unsure how to respond. I thought I was offering her freedom, a chance to rebuild her life now that she didn't have to be everything for Pari. But the way she was looking at me, like I was pulling the ground out from under her, made me question everything.

I thought I was trying to make things easier for her, but instead, I felt I was making her feel more alone.

She stood, and her body swayed. I got up and put my hands on her shoulders. "Look at me, darlin'."

She did, her eyes shining with tears that I could see in the porch lights. "Oh, darlin', no crying. There is no need to be sad. I'm going to take care of Pari andyou."

She blinked and licked her lips. "Me? I don't need anyone to take care of me."

I stared at her pink tongue, and that's when my control snapped. I wrapped a hand around her waist, and yanked her close. I could tell myself I was trying to comfort her, but that wasn't the whole truth—IwantedMira.

Her lips were a breath away, and all it would take was for me to move an inch, and I'd be kissing her. She looked as unsure as I felt, and a wave of affection ran through me. I would've moved away, but she bit her lower lip, the one I'd just touched. There were so many reasons not to kiss Mira, butfuck me, I couldn't resist her. I kept a hand at her waist and moved the other to sink into her lush dark hair. It was silky. Her body fit me like she was fucking made for me—as a man who thought there was no such thing as afit,this was insanity.

Her nipples grazed against my chest, and I wanted to see her tits. I wanted to fill my hands with them.

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