Page 15 of Craving the Bad Boy

What if he breaks my heart?

“Are you afraid of me, Tammy?” he asks, surprising me. At first, I shake my head, but then I see the way he’s looking at me and realize there’s no point in trying to hide it.

I nod. “Yes. A little.”

“Don’t be,” he says, reaching out to gently caress the nape of my neck. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to be with you, Tammy. And I hope you want to be with me.”

How does he always know the right thing to say?

How does he know what I want to hear?

Okay, so he has had practice with women, but he’s not just using tried-and-true lines on me…is he? Roxy alluded to his womanizing habits, but should I really listen to anything she has to say? I may not have any exes of my own, but I’m not naïve enough to think that a bitter old girlfriend wouldn’t be spiteful enough to make things up just to get back at her boyfriend.

I let a step carry me closer. We’re nearly embracing now. I can smell his manly musk, hear the steady rhythm of his strong breaths. “I wanted to tell you something last night, Saxon. But we were…rudely interrupted.”

My heart is racing. It’s only been a few days since I left home, and the pain of what caused me to flee is still very real and very close to the surface. I’ve never discussed it with anyone, and to be honest, I never thought I would.

Until now…

“I’m so sorry about that,” Saxon sighs, shaking his head. “I told the boys to never let her in again. And I have a locksmith at my apartment right now changing the lock.”

I see sincerity in his eyes.

There are plenty of reasons I shouldn’t trust this man, but I desperately want to. I carry the pain of my past like an iron backpack, and I truly believe that if I share my soul with him and tell him what happened to me, he can help me carry that weight.

“What I was going to say last night,” I say softly, trying not to let my nerves show, “is that you and I have something in common.”

“What’s that?” he asks.

“Our pasts…” The room fills with a charge as my words slip from my mouth. “Mine is dark too.”

He steps closer, pressing his body against mine, and cups my face with a rough hand. It’s a tender touch from such a hard man and instantly starts dismantling the emotional wall I’ve built within me.

“It’s okay, baby,” he says, his voice low and smooth. “You don’t have to hide anything from me.”

I don’t even know how to start. Nothing I say can soften the reality of what I went through. So I just go ahead and say it.

“My dad tried to kill me.”

Saxon’s eyes narrow as though he is readying himself for a fight. There’s no doubt in my mind that if my father were here right now, he’d be a dead man.

“Hewhat?”

I nod and look down as the tears fill my eyes. Dark spots form on the floor as they fall from my face. Saxon instantly wraps me up in his arms and holds me tight against his chest. “Tammy, tell me everything. I’m not going anywhere.”

After wetting his T-shirt with my tears, I manage to pull myself together and tell him everything. The whole story,sparing no details. When I’m finished, he lifts me into his arms and carries me over to the couch and sits, holding me in his lap.

I feel so small. So tiny. So protected.

But what will he think of me now? Was I right to reveal all this?

“You did the right thing, Tammy,” he tells me, brushing my matted hair from my face. “Lots of people wouldn’t have had the guts to just pick up and leave like you did.”

“Saxon…” My voice falters. I don’t even know what I’m about to say, but speaking his name is somehow comforting.

“You were right,” he whispers, letting his lips brush against the lobe of my ear. “We have more in common than I thought.”

I hear the vulnerability he’s allowed into his voice.

---