Page 71 of Beyond Question

I shake my head. No way am I sharing a bed with a man that looks likethat. My eyes drift downward again and I’m just…I can’t. How does he look that good?

Travis leans down, stretching one thick, corded arm on either side of me, bringing his face level with mine. “You’re great for the ego, Ms. Matthews, but I really do want to get some sleep.”

“I’m sure they have other rooms.” I pull the sheet tighter around my neck.

“God, you’re adorable.” He nudges his nose against mine, then fists both hands in the bedding and I know the split second before he does it that he’s about to rip the covers away because he gets this mischievous glint in his eyes, but it still surprises me when he does so, and I squeal as the cool air hits my bare legs.

“Shh,” he murmurs, “you’ll wake everyone up.” Travis stares at my legs for only a second, then looks up at me and jerks his head to the empty side of the bed. “Scootch.”

I drop my gaze to his pants and he makes a sound deep in his throat. “Paige, you have to stop looking at me like that. You’re upset, scared. We have a million things to talk about, and… and your… daughter”—Travis clears his throat, shaking his head as if it’s still strange to grasp that he has history with my daughter—“is in the other room. I’m really trying to be a gentleman right now, but you’re making it hard.”

I roll my lips together and cover my face with my hands to hide the laugh. “Just get in.” I’ll blame the shock of the day for this lightheaded deliriousness and the fact that I’m finding anything even remotely funny right now.

The bed dips and I scoot over, rolling onto my side as Travis crawls in behind me. My hands still cover my face, but the sound of his hand hitting the switch on the wall is followed by darknessI can sense even through my closed lids, and then his arm snakes around me.

He pulls me close, curling his body around mine.

I pull in a stuttering breath, but then he nuzzles his nose into my hair and sighs, and I close my eyes.

I haven’t been held like this in…

My eyes fly open.

Ever.

I haven’t been held like thisever.

I’ve slept with men in my lifetime. I’ve been on dates with people in the industry and even a few awkward blind dates coworkers have set up—that were usually horrendous. I’ve even tried out the whole one-night stand with a stranger in a bar thing. But I’ve never allowed anyone to get close to me and cuddling is about as close as two people can get who aren’t having sex.

It even feels, somehow, more intimate.

And being wrapped in Travis’ arms now, being cuddled by him, held by this man who refuses to walk away from me—

It’s too much.

The ache of longing in my chest feels like it might swallow me whole.

I’ve stayed away from men for thirty years because I was so afraid of letting anyone in, terrified they’d be like my father—or worse, like the monster hesoldme to.

Tears well in my eyes and I squeeze them shut, trying to push them back. But when my shoulders shake on a silent sob, Travis tightens his grip on me.

“Paige,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the side of my throat. “Please don’t cry.”

I’ve limited my life to surface level friendships, work relationships that sometimes bloomed into more—like with Rylan, for example—but never let anyone get too close. Nevertoo personal. Aside from Bronte, I’ve never let anyone in, and even that’s a mess because I’m about to tell her all the things I’ve never said. Next time I see her, I have to bring her life crashing down around her because I have to tell hereverything.

Why I am the way I am.

WhoI really am. And in turn, whosheis.

I’m going to have to tell Bronte who I’ve been running from all these years…

And I’ll have to tell her about Agatha, come clean about what led me to run away, how I ended up in New York—with my precious baby in my belly and not another soul on this continent who knew who I was.

But for now, I’m going to let her sleep.

And I’m going to let myself…

I’m going to let myselfbreathe.

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