Page 86 of A Dream for Daphne

He pulled her into his arms. He should have realized she’d do that.

That she always felt she was in the wrong when she wasn’t.

Her self-confidence had been an issue even if it only showed glimpses of it at times.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was so nervous about today. What else was I supposed to think?”

“You were supposed to think of what my mother said to you about me being with the right person.”

“Oh,” she said. “I did wonder about that, but it could mean a lot of things.”

Which meant he was overthinking it as his mother had accused him of.

“It could,” he said. “But I should tell you more about it. It’s a small area and I’m sure it could come up. There is nothing to hide, but I’d rather you heard the truth rather than gossip.”

“I’m not a big fan of gossip, but the fact you are worried about it tells me it’s important.”

“I’m not sure important is the right word,” he said. “No one wants to talk about their ex.”

She laughed. “I know you’ve been in relationships. You’ve told me you’ve had a hard time finding a woman who accepted what you did for a living. Personally, I think that is narrow-minded on their part, but it could be they couldn’t handle you joking all the time more than some dirty boots.”

She poked him in the side when she said that. “I’ve been told that before too,” he said. “Does it bother you? I’m not joking now. This is a serious conversation and I’m doing it.”

Even if he didn’t want to.

“It doesn’t bother me,” she said. “I think I need the laughter in my life that I didn’t get much of growing up.”

“I’m glad,” he said. “Are you happy?” he asked.

He knew he was being sidetracked, but he wanted to know the answer to that.

“I am,” she said, smiling. “Very happy here. With my job and with you. How about you?”

“More than happy,” he said. “Which was why I wanted to talk to you about this.”

Her head went back and forth. “Why don’t we go sit in the living room rather than stand in the bedroom? Am I going to need a drink with this? I can get you a beer. I do have wine that I haven’t opened yet.”

She was smiling so that was good at least. “I wouldn’t mind a beer, but the wine is up to you. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Just talk.”

“Okay,” she said. She started to walk to the kitchen, but he stopped her.

“I can get my own beer. Just like I don’t need you doing my laundry, I don’t need to be waited on.”

“You like it when I’m in the kitchen making you food though,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.

“That’s different,” he said.

She shook her head at his grin. “Not really, but we’ll let you think that. Tell me what is going on in your head.”

“I’ve dated over the years. You know that. Just like I know you’ve dated too.”

“Yep,” she said. “Nothing super serious. A few months, if that. Sometimes they met my parents just because I lived at home, but it wasn’t a formal thing. I never had talks with anyone about moving in together.”

“Why is that?” he asked.

She shrugged. “No clue. They weren’t right. Or we didn’t hit it off enough. I worked a lot, as you know. Maybe if I had someone I lived with I wouldn’t have worked as much, but we never got that far either. It didn’t bother me so when things ended it just told me they weren’t the one anyway.”

He’d store that away for now. “The same here,” he said. “But I had one person I saw myself with in the future. Looking back now, it was never going to work, but in that moment, I saw it as I thought it could have been.”

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