Page 69 of And Then There Was Us
Jean folded Brianna into her arms. “I love you, baby girl.” She drew back. “Hugh, you’re leaving Friday? When do you return?”
“I’ll be back after the press conference Saturday night.” A pang of loneliness touched his heart at the thought of leaving Brianna behind. Before he could weigh his thoughts, he suggested, “Why don’t the three of you come with me?”
“I have to work Friday,” Brianna said. “So does Mom.”
“We could fly you out right after,” Hugh offered. “It’ll be a fast trip, but you’ve never seen me race, and I like the idea of you being there.”
Brianna lowered her eyes. “I don’t know. After working all day, trying to rush through the airport, and you have to be there more than an hour early to fly because of security. Layla would be exhausted.”
“What about if you didn’t have to wait for the plane or show up early?” he offered.
Jean raised her eyebrows at Brianna, and Brianna shrugged.
“Bree, I can fly you down on a private plane,” Hugh explained.
“See. No idea of what little means,” Brianna said to her mother.
“It might be an adventure,” Jean said excitedly. “And Layla can sleep on the plane.”
Hugh saw a shadow in Brianna’s eyes that he couldn’t read. “Excuse me, Jean. Do you mind if I speak to Brianna alone for a moment?”
“No. Go right ahead.”
He led Brianna a few feet away. “What is it? Is it just the extravagance? Because, Bree, I have enough money to—”
She shook her head. “It’s not that.”
He brushed her hair away from her face. “Then what is it?”
She let out a breath and closed her eyes for a beat too long. Hugh’s chest tightened again.
“Bree?”
She placed her hands on his forearms. “This is going to sound stupid, but I went online and I saw all those pictures of you and women—lots of beautiful, rich-looking, sexy, too-hot-to-deny women—and I read about accidents that happen at the track, and it all kind of scares me.” Her grip tightened.
“What are you saying?” He could barely breathe.
“If I don’t go to the race, I can pretend it’s not dangerous, and if I don’t see the women all over you, it will be like it doesn’t really happen.” Her eyes filled with worry.
“Brianna.” He took her cheeks in his hands. “Baby, I need you there. I want you there. I can’t change the danger. We both know it is what it is. But the women? When I’m at the tavern, I see men looking at you and it kills me, but I know that you’d never hurt me. Can’t you see the same in me? Don’t you trust me?”
She held on to his arms. “I do trust you.”
“Then nothing else in the world should matter.” He brought his lips to hers and felt tension in the stiffness of her body. He deepened the kiss, and her lips parted; her body relaxed into him. When they drew apart, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “I love you, Bree, and I love Layla. I’m not going to do anything that could hurt you. I promise you that.”
She dropped her gaze and nodded.
He lifted her chin and their eyes caught. “Brianna, if you don’t trust me, then we have no future.”Trust me. Please tell me you trust me.Hugh hadn’t given a thought to how he looked to the world when he’d been flaunting a different sexy woman on his arm every week. Why would he? It was all fun and games, and he had no attachments. Now he saw it all much differently. “I can’t change my past, Bree. But I am the man you see in front of you. The man who wants to have a family and wants nothing more than to settle down and love you and Layla.” Why wasn’t she telling him how much she loved him?
She looked at Layla for a long time without saying a word. Every second that passed twisted his gut a little tighter.
“My mom trusted my dad,” she whispered. “He left, and look how messed up it made me.”
He moved in front of her eyes. “You’re not messed up, Bree. Haven’t I shown you how much you mean to me?”
She nodded.
“I don’t understand any of this.” Hugh took a step backward. “I get why you worry, and I know you’re protecting Layla, but I haven’t given you any reason to believe I’d hurt you. Not one.”
