Page 31 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

“Can you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I think the better question is, do you evenwantto?”

Damn.

Did he want that? Any of it?

If she’d asked him that same question a month ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated to say no.

But the answer wasn’t that easy anymore. His entire life, he’d both craved everything she’d just detailed and ran from it at the same time.

More than anything, for most of his life, Travis had wanted a family. A home. Roots. But, if that meant he had to let someone in, he chose no. Every. Single. Time.

But now…Travis worked hard to keep his face expressionless, his breathing normal.

Somehow Stephanie had come along and managed to worm her way into his life in a way that had him questioning everything.

Could he let her in?

He was starting to think he could. Maybe.

“What makes you think I don’t?”

She exhaled slowly and shook her head. “I told you,” she said. “You can’t answer questions with a question.”

He grinned. “I’m serious. What makes you just assume I don’t want any of that?”

It was a total copout and he knew it. She probably did too. But he couldn’t answer her question. Not honestly. Not yet. Because the truth was he didn’t know whether he could give it to her. But more and more, he was thinking that he sure as hellwantedto. Not that she’d believe him, even if he told her that. Not now.

“Georgia.”

She said the name so casually, Travis almost spat out the sip of wine he’d just had.

“Georgia?”

“And I’m sure there are others. I just don’t know their names.”

Travis took his time replacing the glass on the table before he spoke again. “Others? You mean other women?”

She nodded.

“You just finished telling me that you’ve had casual relationships and even one-night stands,” he said. “And last I checked, you were engaged to be married when you first came to Glacier Falls, so…how is me dating Georgia different?”

Stephanie looked down at her lap and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you and Georgia had dated. I was under the impression that the two of you…well…that you…”

“Just hooked up?”

She nodded.

The worst part—she wasn’t wrong. Travis sighed. He couldn’t let her think she’d been wrong.

“We didn’t date,” he admitted. “And you’re right. I’ve never had a serious relationship before. I’ve never wanted one.”

She smiled, but it wasn’t in victory. It was almost a smile of resignation, that all her suspicions had been confirmed. He was a player who would never settle down and didn’t want to even try.

And maybe she was right.

They sat in silence for a few moments, only the sound of the relentless rain on the roof filling the quiet.

“It’s fine,” Stephanie said after a moment. She lifted her wine glass and all but drained it. “I mean, it’s not like I’m judging you or anything. I’m just—”

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