Page 69 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

She shook her head. “I think I’ve brought you a lot of complications.”

Nash cleared his throat. “You have.”

Oh. Way to bring her down to reality. Her joy dimmed.

“But you’ve also given me a precious gift I never thought I’d have.” His voice came out raw and ragged like it pained him to admit it.

His eyes darkened more. The tension between them was thick and heavy with so many unspoken confessions. The air was lit with combustible energy. His attention dropped to her lips. She licked them, the memory of his kiss so fresh her mouth tingled.

“Nash?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you run away the other night?”

His jaw tensed, his gaze dropping to the grass.

“This is only going to work if we’re honest with each other. I’d rather have a truth that hurts than a lie coated in sugar.”

His swallow was audible.

“Is it me?”

He narrowed his focus on her once again. “What?”

“I just . . . The way you reacted, I thought maybe you were grossed out or something.”

He ran a hand through his wild curls. The anger rolling off him was palpable. “Don’t do this.”

“Do what? I just . . . It’s okay if that’s the case. I just want to know the reason.”

“You were so confident that night. That’s one of the reasons I was so attracted to you. It’s not every day a fucking gorgeous woman offers you everything you want for a night. I thought I made that clear when we were together, sweetness.”

You’re so fucking beautiful.

Has no one told you how fucking perfect you are?

These tits have me so spellbound I’m not sure whether or not to lick, bite, or fuck them.

God, you’re so fucking sexy like this, laid out under me.

Heat rose to her cheeks at the reminder of the filthy things he’d said to her as he worshipped her body. But did he still see her that way? Now that her body was changing, getting bigger—rounder? Now that he was stuck with her as a co-parent?

She normally didn’t have such insecurities, but loving herself was a work in progress. She had good days and bad. And when a godlike man flinched away from her and literally ran out the door, well, that was a blow to a girl’s ego.

“Then why?” She stepped over a trio of fallen half-eaten brown apples in the grass.

He remained silent.

She huffed and shook her head. “I can’t do this unless you’re honest with me. You have to let me in enough to at least be friends.” Give me a reason to say yes to moving in with you.

Nash remained stoic, his muscles tense. The pulse at his neck thumped wildly. Disappointment sunk in her belly like a lead weight. She sighed and headed towards the kids, giving up.

“Because I was scared.” The confession sounded grated.

Isabella turned, tipping her head slightly. “What?”

“I was scared,” he repeated.

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