Page 67 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

“But you’re still worried he could be?”

“What if he’s just holding back until I fall for him? What if he does what all the others have done? I could lose everything.”

She shifts slightly. “What do you think he could do to prove to you that he’s not hiding a dark side?”

I shrug.

“Think about it.”

I sit quietly with my thoughts, searching, but the persistent answer pinging around my head is that I already know he’s not like that. There’s no way.

“Why am I so scared of him when I know in my heart that he’s not a jerk?”

“Trauma. You’ve been hurt by people you trusted and it’s a scary thing to trust again, but I’m hearing you say that you knowin your heart that this man is not like your ex, so there’s a part of your instinct still intact, yes?”

Releasing a shaky breath, I nod, wiping my damp cheeks. “Maybe I want him to be bad so I have a reason to hide my heart.”

She smiles, as if she was waiting for me to get here.

“Why would I want that?”

“Familiarity,” Maisy says. “Even though you’ve been hurt in the past, it’s what you know. Being loved is new and scary.”

“He doesn’t love me.” Even as the words leave my lips, the tug in my chest tells me I wish he did. “Dammit.”

“What?”

“I think I might have feelings for him. I was so determined that I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

“Emotions don’t really work that way.”

I laugh as more tears fall. “I see that.” After a deep breath, I ask, “What if I’m the only one who falls?”

“It would hurt, but it’s a different kind of hurt than what you’ve experienced. What’s your man’s name?”

“Ridley.”

“Do you trust Ridley to talk about your feelings?”

I nod without hesitation. “I trust him, but I don’t want to tell him. I’m not ready yet.”

“That’s okay. You can take your time. You’ll know when you’re ready.”

“How?”

“Because it’ll just happen.”

“Okay.” I pick my cuticles for a second. “I’m really pissed off.”

“About?”

“That I have this amazing person in my life and because of my mom and my sister and all the assholes I’ve dated, I have to deal with all this shit.”

“It’s not very fair.”

“No.”

“You mentioned you don’t want to confront your family, but what about Trent?”

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