Page 19 of Her Exception 2

“Can you walk me to the door, darling?” Darron asked, looking from me to Amaru.

With a nod, I stood. Amaru gripped my hand, keeping me from walking away immediately. “I’m here,” he reminded me, making me smile.

I bobbed my head as he released my hand and slowly walked behind Darron to the front door.

“I didn’t think about how this would affect her,” Darron said when we made it to the door. “I’m sorry for that.”

I wanted to tell him he didn’t think about how it would affect me either, but I didn’t want to make him feel worse than he already did. I wouldn’t have been so hurt by the breakup if it could have been a conversation between us instead of him bursting through my office to tell me we were over. Still, I understood Darron was doing what he believed was best for us, even if I didn’t like the way he did it.

“She’ll be fine. Thank you for coming to say goodbye.”

He nodded and released a heavy sigh. “Maybe for Christmas you two can visit me in New York. Give her a real white Christmas for a change.”

We shared a smile as our bodies gravitated toward one another. “As beautiful as that sounds, I think a clean break is best. I don’t want her thinking there’s a chance we’ll be this… happy family after all.”

Sadness covered his face, but he nodded his agreement. “I can respect that. If you change your mind, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Tilting my head, Darron placed a kiss to the center of my forehead before leaving. I stood there for a minute or so before making my way back into the living room. At the sight of me, Amaru stood and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweats.

“You good?” he checked.

Nodding, I made my way toward him. He extended his arms and gave me the hug I needed—like always.

“I know it hurts now, but I believe this is God setting you up for the relationship that will give you everything you desire and deserve. And Alisia is going to be okay, too. She’ll never have to worry about me leaving her. If I have to step up a little more to remind her that she’s loved and that she has a man in her life that she can always count on, I will.”

“You’re right,” I muttered into his chest. “I know there were things about my relationship with Darron that made us incompatible. It’s just… when he got Daddy’s approval, said the L word, and mentioned marriage… my heart expanded in size for him. And knowing Lis was looking forward to so much…”

Huffing, I pulled away from him. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. That would only keep me in a state of feeling bad when I really just needed to get over it. Truth was, Darron was too busy for me, I hated his wandering eye, and the sex wasn’t as good as I wanted. If we got married, I don’t believe I would have been truly happy. I would have loved and appreciated the way he cared for us and gave us time when he could, but he was right—his life wasn’t set up for those things. He could have strung me along and married me, forcing me to be in a miserable situation, but he didn’t, and I would always respect him for that.

“We’ll be fine,” I assured him, and myself. “We will be.”

“I know.” Between the confidence in his tone and his smile, I couldn’t help but smile. “On the off-chance Lis does feel down, AJ has already told me he wants me to come get him from his GiGi’s house if she needs him. He swears she’s his responsibility.”

We shared a laugh as we sat back down. “You know he’s her protector. He does not play about that girl, and I’m so happy they have been able to grow up together. I’ll call, but I think she’ll be okay. We’ve been trying exercises that help her process her feelings, and it’s been going well.”

“And what about you? What are you doing with your feelings?”

Running my fingers through my hair, I allowed, “I just need a night of drinking and hard dick, and I’ll be good,” to slip out before I remembered who I was talking to. Covering my mouth, I laughed. Sex had been a topic that was off-limits for us in the past, though we’d kind of broken that rule at the office a while ago. “Sorry.”

“It’s cool.” His eyes took a slow trail down my seated frame. “I would love to help you with that.”

“Huh?”

He waited until he looked into my eyes to ask, “What?”

“You said you’d love to help me with that. Help me with what?”

Amaru stared at me, as if he hadn’t meant to say that. It was too late now, and I wanted to hear what else he had to say.

“Mommy!” Alisia yelled. “Grandma said she’ll take me to get a seafood bag if it’s okay with you. Can we have that for lunch?”

“Um, sure, Lis. Whatever you want.”

“I’m gonna head out,” Amaru announced, placing a kiss to my temple. “Call me if you need me.”

“Bu—I… ugh.”

Rolling my eyes, I palmed my face. That was the quickest Amaru hadevergotten out of here. Maybe he was talking about taking me out for drinks, because he for damn sure couldn’t have been talking about sex. Things had never been sexual between us, and nothing had changed for that to be the case now. I wouldn’t lie and say I hadn’t been thinking about sex with Amaru after our conversation in the breakroom, but that’s all it was—just a thought. He was far too important to me and my daughter to risk losing his friendship over sex or anything else for that matter.

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