Page 250 of By His Rule

“I have every intention of doing just that,” he happily confirms.

“For sleep. She’s exhausted.”

“Sure.” He winks before nodding at me and taking off toward the elevator with his girl still tucked into his side.

“They’re cute, aren’t they?” I muse once we’re on the road again.

“Ridiculously so. Tate deserves it.”

“So does King,” I agree before falling silent.

There are a million and one questions spinning around in my head, but I don’t really want to voice any of them for fear of what the answer will be.

We drive for another five minutes before I summon the courage to ask the question King sparked in me earlier.

“Is that what you want?”

“Is what, what I want?”

“What King and Tate have?”

“A relationship?” she asks, sounding confused.

“Yeah, I guess. A relationship, a marriage, kids. The whole happily-ever-after thing.”

“Of course,” she says without having to think about it. “But sometimes I wonder if it isn’t in the cards for me.” Her voice turns sad, dejected even, and it pulls at my chest.

“What makes you say that?” I ask, pulling up to a stop light and glancing over at her.

“My choice in men. Every single guy I’ve been with has been a liar, a player, or just completely emotionally unavailable. It’s like a curse. Karma, maybe.”

“Why would it be karma?” I ask, confused.

Lorelei shrugs.

“My life…it hasn’t been anything like the American dream everyone wants. It would be naive of me to think that it could change.”

“Living our lives the way everyone expects isn’t all that’s possible. There is no rule that says you must get married and have two-point-four kids.”

“No, I know that. I just…” She lets out a heavy sigh, and I feel it all the way down to my toes. “I want it. I want a normal, happy family life. I want to know how it feels.”

“Lorelei,” I breathe, feeling weirdly choked up by her confession.

“No,” she snaps. “Don’t do that. Don’t pity me because?—”

“I’m not,” I argue. “I would never pity you. I do understand, though.”

She gives me a double take at that confession. “How?” she breathes.

I get it. I’m sure that on the face of it, from the outside, the Callahan family looks like one of those all-American families that Lorelei is dreaming of.

“I know our lives have been very different. But just because things may look good on the surface, it doesn’t mean that everything is rosy beneath it.”

“I guess not.”

“I get that you don’t want to talk about your past, your childhood, but please don’t let that be because you don’t think I’ll understand. I promise you, I will.”

My grip on the wheel tightens as my other hand sneaks across the center console and rests on her thigh.

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