Page 26 of Tangled Kisses
“What about your dad?”
I clench my jaw, grinding my teeth at the mere mention of the man. “No. He can’t be bothered. Pearl and I take care of each other. Always have. But it means I’m running uphill most days, just trying to keep up.”
Reese regards me for a long beat, lips pursed, then nods once as if reaching a decision. “Don’t get mad at what I’m about to do.”
Before I can clarify what she means, she wraps her arms around me. I’m not a hugger, but with Reese, I melt. She feels like home, and I’d stay in her arms all night if she’d let me.
“In case no one’s told you today—you’re a really good man.”
The words gut me. I want to believe them, butgoodisn’t a word I’ve heard in a long time. This past year I’ve been called a lot of things—hot, sexy, talented, gorgeous. Never good. Not once.
After selling pieces of myself night after night, I started to wonder if there was a soul left beneath the act.
But Reese looks at me like she sees it. Like she seesme.
I huff out a rough breath, pulling back to meet her gaze. “I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” Her grin tugs softly at the corners of her mouth, but her eyes don’t waver. “Just take the compliment.”
“Fine.”
I play it off, but she doesn’t realize how deeply her words sink into my marrow.
How much I needed to hear them.
“Anyway, after my business went belly up, I needed a plan. Something steady to make sure Pearl could stay where she wanted, not where circumstances might have forced her. One night, when I was playing a gig?—”
Reese’s brows shoot up. “Wait, you’re a musician, too?”
“Yeah. I sing and play guitar.”
“Of course you do.” She throws up her hands with a laugh before pointing at my stomach. “Let me guess—an eight-pack under there, right? Because a standard six-pack would never do.”
I hook my fingers in the hem of my shirt, teasing. “Maybe. Want to see?”
Her chuckle is throaty, warm. She presses my hand down. “Keep your clothes on, cowboy. Finish your story.”
First time in a year a woman’s told me to keep my clothes on.
And God help me, it’s ridiculously fucking appealing.
“Where was I? Oh yeah. I was working whatever jobs I could find. Day labor. Site work. Nowhere near enough money, though. One night I met Dorian?—”
“The one in the photo on Capri’s desk?”
I nod. “Her not-so-secret secret crush? That’s him. He came to one of my gigs. We talked afterward and he told me about the ranch, and how much money I could earn.”
Reese rests her chin in her hand. “And that was it? You just signed on?”
“Not right away. I wrestled with it all night, but survival doesn’t care about pride. Every other option was a dead end. The next day, I came down to the ranch, met Capri. She offered me a job on the spot.”
“And you took it.”
My gaze drifts past her to the far wall, desperate to focus anywhere but her dark eyes. I cringe to know what I might find hiding in their depths. “Yeah. Money isn’t an issue anymore.”
All it has cost me is my soul. My dreams. My plans of a wife and family one day.
“Do you hate it?”
