Page 60 of Baby I'm Yours

And it’s so wonderful.

Maybe even better than sex…

“I don’t think you need stitches,” he admits once he’s finished cleaning the area with antiseptic and has gently wiped the blood from my hair with a damp washcloth. “But I still want to take you to the urgent care. Just to be one hundred percent safe.”

“I know you do,” I say, gazing up at him with tears pricking at my eyes.

His brow furrows. “What’s wrong? Is it hurting again?”

I shake my head slightly and try to smile, but the tears appear to be coming, despite my best efforts to stop them. And my voice is wobbly as I say, “I’ve just never had a man take care of me like this, like he… Like he really cares about me, even when I’m broken and messy.”

His gaze darkens. “Fuck them. Fuck every fuck you’ve ever dated.”

I laugh even as my throat goes even tighter. “Yeah. Pretty much, but…” I swallow, fighting to regain control for a beat before I add in a steadier voice, “I was just thinking… I didn’t have a dad, so I have no idea what that feels like.” I hold his gaze. “But I know you make me feel safe and l-loved.”

Fuck, the word stutters out before I can stop it.

I bite my lip for a second, but he isn’t running for the door, so I figure I might as well finish the point I was trying to make.

“You do,” I continue. “In a way no other man ever has. And I know, if you decided to open that secretly soft heart of yours to a child, you would be a wonderful dad. There’s no doubt in my mind. And obviously, that doesn’t mean that you should reconsider having children if you honestly don’t want them. But if you’re just worried that you don’t have the skillset, like yousaid before, I…” I trail off with a little shrug and a sniff. “Well,Ithink you have it. I think you have it and then some.”

“And I think I was already in love with you by the end of that first weekend in Sea Breeze,” he murmurs, sending a jolt through my entire body.

And triggering another round of tears…

Suddenly, my eyes are leaking full force as I whisper, “What?”

“That’s why I left without saying goodbye, without a note,” he says. “I told myself it was because I had to get away from you before I got any more addicted to fucking you. But it wasn’t your body that was getting under my skin.” His lips twitch on one side. “At least notjustyour body. I do love every inch of you, but it’s your mind and your heart and the way you see straight through me, in a way no one ever has… It scared the shit out of me.”

I blink faster, happiness flooding my chest even as I continue to sniffle. “Really?”

“Really.”

I exhale in a rush of breath. “You scared me, too. I was so mad that you bailed like that, but I was also secretly relieved. Because deep down I knew I was getting attached and that getting attached was stupid.”

“Because there was no way forward for us,” he finishes.

I nod. “Yeah.”

He brushes a gentle thumb over my cheek, wiping away my tears. “But maybe there is. Maybe I’m not as clueless about love as I thought I was.”

I rush to assure him, “You’re not clueless at all, not even close. You were just trying to love the wrong people. People who couldn’t see what I see.”

“And what do you see, beautiful?” he asks, his love for me so clear in his eyes I would have to be blind not to see it.

“I see a sensitive, caring man who had to develop a pretty intense, stony-faced, don’t-fuck-with-me persona to survive the ugliest parts of his childhood.” I press my lips together, considering all he’s been through in his life. “And probably to survive moving to a big, tough city when he was only thirteen, too. Not to mention working in an industry full of heartless finance bros.”

His brows lift with an amused huff of recognition.

“But I also see that it’s just a persona,” I continue. “That isn’t who you really are.”

“It is sometimes,” he warns. “I can be a real asshole when I want to be.”

I smile. “No doubt. But sometimes, you’re just being blunt. And I don’t mind blunt. It’s truthful, and it saves time other people waste trying to be polite. I’d rather have honesty than a lie wrapped up in nice manners, any day.” I reach out, fisting my hands in the fabric of his shirt, as I add, “And I’d rather have you, even at your grumpy worst, than any other man I know. Because I love you, too, Mr. M. I love you so much it feels like there isn’t enough room in my body to hold it all.”

“Because you’re a runt,” he murmurs, his eyes shining now.

“Right,” I say, smiling and tearing up again at the same time. “Now, kiss me, you big jerk.”

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