Page 55 of Mending Hearts

“Really?” I frowned and went onto my elbow to gaze down at him. “You weren’t happy?”

“Not really, no.” He wouldn’t meet my gaze, keeping his trained on the ceiling. “So, when you asked me to your room, I didn’t figure I had anything to lose.”

I wove my fingers into the short strands of his hair. The reddish-brown-gold shade was so pretty. Would the baby have his hair color? Or would it end up dark like mine? Or some shade in between? “One decision set off a bomb in both our lives.”

“That’s how you see it?” A brief smile flickered across his face. “A bomb?” He turned onto his side, so we were face-to-face.

“Don’t you? Everything’s changed—complete change. None of us will ever be the same.” Truthfully, our situation terrified me.

For a minute, he searched my face, his eyes brimming with kindness, and my heart squeezed. “I guess you could see the baby as a bomb. I don’t. This is more like the seasons are changing. Yeah, everything is different, but you can find beauty in change too.”

I love you.

The thought was so swift, so sudden, so all-consuming, I gasped and shifted away from him. “Holy shit.”

“Mia, what’s going on?” He chuckled and tried to pull me back, but I resisted.

“What? No, nothing. Nothing. I just—is that the time?” I pointed to the nightstand clock. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Sleep sounds so good right now.” My heart galloped in my chest, and the instinct to run, and run, and run was impossible to resist. Sleep was the last thing on my mind, but I couldn’t tell Tyler my fleeting, ridiculous thought. He’d laugh. I should be laughing.In love with him?I hardly knew him.

Whatever just crossed my mind wasn’t love.

I loved the way his mind worked.

And the way he always smelled like jasmine.

And how he treated me like an equal, never condescending, never like an object.

And how he could make me laugh one minute and kill me with his sincerity the next.

And how the muscles bulged in his arms when he tugged me close.

But I didn’t lovehim.

“It’s nine o’clock. You normally stay up until all hours of the morning.”

“Sure, yeah, when I’m ontour. But when I’mnoton tour, I always go to bed super early.” I scrambled off the bed, gathering my scattered clothes, and I headed for the door. “That was fun. We should definitely do it again.” With a quick wave, I tugged the bedroom door tight and tried to block out the bewildered expression on his face.

Outside of his door, I took a deep breath and then let out a soft chuckle.

Love.

Impossible. More likehormones. That was it. My shoulders eased down, all the tension leaving. Of course! The rush of love came from the baby.

That flood of emotion was just the baby.

Chapter Sixteen

Tyler

Two weeks. She’d been living here for two weeks, and it was going…well. Better than well, actually. We’d fallen into an easy routine of work and sex and sleep. I’d worried our lives might not fit together. But she’d slid as seamlessly into mine as I’d slid into hers.

My family had all met her, and while none of them were enthusiastic about the arrangement, they were polite and kind to Mia. When we left my mother’s house after a big family dinner, Mia turned to me with a wistful smile and said it was no wonder I was such a good guy when I grew up surrounded by all of that.

The moment had been bittersweet. I hated to realize she didn’t have anything remotely close. Her mother was her only family, and Laura wasn’t fully present in their mother-daughter relationship. At least, not in the right way. It wasn’t my place to say anything, but keeping quiet was getting harder and harder.

So, today, I was determined to make her feel special. After all, it was her birthday. Twenty-one.

I gazed toward the front counter of Kathy’s Café, the small establishment in town that made the best caffeinated drinks. All of the pastel tones gave the place a calm, rustic vibe. Mia liked the sparkling mint-limeiced tea the café sold, and I’d made a bulk order for her surprise party. Twenty-one surprises for her twenty-first birthday.

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