Page 45 of I'll Keep Her Safe

NowthatI agree with, even if it’s easier said than done.

Wyatt studies me with compassion. “I hope you know you deserve so much better than him.” There’s that fatherly tone again. Like when he stood up for me with Kurt. That’s what it was—he defended me like a father. And I’m grateful for him, too, just as I am with Bailey. All these people who want to make sure I’m safe and well.

“Thanks,” I murmur, adjusting the heating pad on my belly. “You deserve better, too.”

He scratches his chin in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You deserve a relationship with Bailey that isn’t built on a lie.” This feels like a bold statement to make to Mr. Mathers, but I figure we’re well past the point of tiptoeing around each other. Besides, it’s true, and I’m not sure someone has ever told him that. “And you deserve to get married, if that’s what you want, too. Bailey will understand. Hell, I bet she’d be thrilled.”

He issues a faint laugh. “She probably would, but…” Wiping his hands on a napkin, he kicks his feet up on the coffee table and leans back. “Honestly, you’re supposed to get married when you’re young,thenhave kids. I’m forty-two and a single dad…” he trails off here, and I shake my head.

“No way. You donotget to tell me it’s not too late for me, then say it is for you.”

His gaze slides to me. “It’s not the same.”

“How is it different?”

“I’m seventeen years older than you, for one.” He watches as Sugar jumps into my lap, licking the pizza grease off my fingers.

“So? People get married in their forties all the time. Older, even. There’s no cut-off point. And as for having a kid already, there’s no way you’re alone in that.”

He’s quiet for a while, mulling this over. “I guess I feel like I screwed my whole life up, you know?” As if realizing the meaning of his words, he shakes his head. “Not with Bailey. I’m so glad to have her and I wouldn’t change that for anything, but it didn’t happen the way I wanted, obviously. I wanted a family, a wife… I didn’t want to miss the first twelve years of my kid’s life, for fuck’s sake. It happened all wrong.”

I gaze at him, at the way he picks listlessly at the sofa pillow, and my heart squeezes. This big, tough guy, who really just wants someone to love. Now I know what he meant when he told Marty that life can be cruel.

“It’s not too late, Wyatt.” I put a hand on his forearm, not caring that I shouldn’t. His skin is warm under my fingertips, and he swallows as he looks at it. “It’s never too late to be happy.” There’s more I want to say, like how he doesn’t let himself ride his motorcycle anymore, even though he clearly wants to, but I feel I’ve said enough for one night.

His amber eyes are sad when they meet mine, and he gently pulls his arm away from my touch.

“You know what will make this all better?” he asks, rising from the sofa.

I sigh, trying to ignore the way my fingertips still tingle from the heat of his skin, the way it feels a little like he’s pushed me away. I keep wanting more from him than he can give, more than I’m allowed, and it’s my own fault it hurts.

“What’s that?” I ask, forcing a bright smile onto my lips.

He pulls something from the freezer and, keeping his back to me, dishes whatever it is into bowls. Sugar nestles into my belly, clearly enjoying the heat from the heating pad, and it occurs to me I’ve hardly noticed my cramps since talking to Wyatt. Maybe that’s because the Advil and heating pad are doing their job, but I sense it’s more than that.

Wyatt appears in front of me, brandishing a bowl proudly. “Salted caramel ice cream.”

I take the bowl, scrutinizing him. How on earth did he know my favorite flavor of ice cream? Unless it’s simply a coincidence…

“I asked Bailey,” he says, sinking back down onto the sofa beside me. “Got it delivered with the pizza. I figured you could use a treat since you’re feeling crappy.”

I gaze at him over my bowl, my heart melting faster than ice cream on a hot day. He went out of his way to learn my favorite flavor of ice cream, just to cheer me up? Kurt would never in a million years have done something so thoughtful, but there’s really no comparison between him and Wyatt, is there? Kurt is a boy who has to manipulate people to get them to stay, whereas Wyatt is a man who knows exactly how to make a woman happy.

In more ways than one, I imagine.

But it’s not only a physical attraction I feel for him anymore. Yes, he’s hot as fuck, but he’s also the sweetest, most caring man I’ve met.

And he’ll never be mine.

“Thank you,” I say hoarsely, turning back to the TV. David’s face was frozen while we talked over dinner, and I feel the sudden, overwhelming urge to unpause the show and stop talking.

Because if Mr. Mathers says or does one more kind thing for me, there’s a very good chance I might fall in love with him.

17

Poppy

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