Page 33 of Damned
“Right. My fault. I accept full responsibility. I did it. You’re her mom. You know what’s best for our daughter. But if you don’t want me to meet her—”
Our daughter.Darn him, he did it again! Bree was having a hard time remembering all the reasons she should hate this man. “I never said that.”
“But you haven’t said you’ll let me meet her, either.” Kruze bowed his chin to his chest, as if he couldn’t bear to look at her anymore. This stupid, stupid man kept breaking her heart.
Bree leaned close enough to cup his chin and make him look up at her. “Of course you can meet her. She’s your little girl. I would never keep you from having a relationship with Robin.”
Growling, he swiped an impatient hand over his face. He didn’t want her to see, but his lashes were spiked. Awareness washed over Bree at what she’d done to him. At the gentle, broken man behind the cavalier façade he’d led with, both in Paris and Turkey. He hadn’t once questioned she might be lying. Neither had he denied he was Robin’s father. He’d accepted everything she’d told him at face value—because he trusted her now, even though she hadn’t trusted him then. To make her feel worse, a tear dripped off that square, stubborn, clean-shaven chin of his. Her big bad herowascrying.
“I am so sorry,” she whispered, not sure how to repair the damage they’d done to each other.
“I’m sorry, too,” he rasped. “Gawddamnit, Bree. I need… I just want…”
It was the smell of his aftershave and the sound of his voice cracking that did it, and Bree couldn’t sit still anymore. She threw herself across the seat into Kruze’s arms, her heart a bloody chunk of hamburger. “I was so mad when you left that morning,” she cried into his shirt. “I was so angry. So hurt. You didn’t even tell me goodbye!”
“Yeah, well…” His deep voice trailed off as he pressed her close to his heart.
“Do you have any idea how long I stayed in that empty room and waited for you to come back? We madelove, Kruze.Love.So many times.”
“On the balcony,” he murmured into her hair, his voice low and sad. “That was the best. And in the shower. My hell, they’ve got little showers in Paris.”
“They do,” Bree cried, grinding her face into his chest, wishing she could go back in time and make better choices.
“The last thing I remember is the feel of your body mashed into mine. We were snuggling. I… I don’t usually do that.”
“I get it. You’re a love ’em and leave ’em guy. You don’t do commitments. I never asked for that.”
He nodded against the side of her head. “I’ve seen what married SEALs go through. Never wanted that much pain. It’s bad enough my brothers are married.”
Kruze was breaking her heart again. Any hint that he wanted a future with the mother of his daughter was now effectively dead and buried. Not that Bree had planned on marrying him anyway. A man who didn’t waste time on goodbyes surely wasn’t family material.
“Let’s go. I’d really like you to introduce me to my little girl.” His voice was so darned hopeful.
Lifting away from him, Bree shook her head. “Not tonight. I mean, sure, you can certainly meet her if she’s still awake. But I can’t just walk in and tell her you’re her father, can I?”
