Page 78 of Mine to Keep

“Not just that,” he said. “But since you brought it up, we can discuss that first.”

“First?” She swallowed. “What’s to talk about?”

“You just had a baby. Is it okay? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Oh. That,” she said. “The doctor told me after six weeks it’s safe. As for whether or not it will hurt, there’s only one way to find out.”

He dropped his head to her shoulder and groaned. “You have to promise me if I’m hurting you in any way, you’ll tell me to stop.”

“Deal. But now I’m scared that there’s more to discuss.” She had to admit, chatting with him while his hands roamed up and down her back, cupped her ass, and then repeated the motion was incredibly sexy. A total turn-on. She’d never met anyone like him, and she worried about what would happen when it all came to an end.

“I’m sure I don’t have to say this to you; however, I need to for my sanity.”

“Sounds serious.”

“I care about you and Zadie.”

She swallowed. She was crazy to get involved with any man. Especially one like Jamison. It wasn’t his complicated life, because when one really examined it closely, his life was pretty simple. It was the people in it that made it difficult. And Jamison was only trying to navigate the changes on his terms, not theirs.

He had boundaries, and they weren’t being respected. She respectedhimfor not cutting everyone out of his life, even though he all but had when she’d first met him. The reality was that he worked hard to keep his mother and all his siblings close. Hell, he was even trying to find room for Steve and his children. He just didn’t want to define those relationships asfamily.

Not yet, anyway. And that was his call.

Jamison was everything Bryn had thought she was getting in Timothy and more.

“I care about you, too,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect this.”

“Neither did I. And one of the things I’m always being accused of, and it’s true, is that I can be pretty intense.”

“You mean controlling.”

“That, too.” He laughed. “I still have trust issues.”

She leaned in and kissed the side of his neck under his ear. “Are you asking me to go steady?”

He burst out laughing. “That is one way to cut the tension.”

“I’m sorry, but I had to. You really are way too serious for your own good.” She brushed her lips over his. “I’m thirty-three years old. I got married at twenty-three.”

“That’s young.”

“It is. But other than him, I was only with one other person, and we were together from seventeen to twenty. So, I’m nothing like your ex-wife.”

He brushed her hair from her face. “I never said you were.”

“But that’s part of your issue.”

“It’s not just me needing to say that when I date a woman, I only date her and expect the same. But there’s a lot we don’t know about each other. I want you to feel safe with me. I want you to be able to tell me about your past. About the things that put a wedge between you and your sister.”

Tears burned the corners of her eyes.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She palmed his cheeks and kissed him. Hard. She’d find something to tell him about Anna—or Arleen as she’d decided to call her sister—later. Maybe she’d tell him that her sister had been in an abusive relationship and she couldn’t stand to watch her ruin her life. That she knew how to reach her, and if she wanted help getting out, then she’d be there for her.

Yes.

That would work.

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