Page 29 of Reluctantly Yours

“It looks like you were wrong.Sorry to burst your bubble,” he said before drinking again.“Remember, this is all physical fun.Nothing serious.It’s nothing personal.It’s just the way I am.”

“So that means we can treat each other like less than strangers when our clothes are on?No, really,” I insisted when he turned away again.I marched around him and positioned myself smack dab in front of his face.“I am trying to be your friend through this, but I can’t be if you won’t let me in.”

“I don’t want to let you in.”He turned his back again, this time returning to his desk.“Don’t you get it?You don’t know.You weren’t there.”

“So tell me, dammit!What is so unfathomable?It can’t only be the stuff with your dad’s business.This is too big for it to be about that.”

“Congratulations,” he muttered, finishing his drink and plopping the glass on the desk.“You cracked the code.Way to go.”

There was no pretending that didn’t hurt.“Maybe you shouldn’t insult the one person who cares enough to help you.”

“I didn’t ask you to help me, goddammit!”He pounded a fist on top of the desk hard enough to make me jump.And when I did, when he noticed, his face fell a little.“Look.There is a lot of history you don’t have the first idea about, and I do not feel like sharing.Why is it not enough to tell you how much I cannot step foot in that house?”

“That’s more than enough, only?—”

“No.”He shook his head.“There’s noonlyabout it.That’s it, that’s the story.”

“So you're going to deny your daughter what she wants so much?And your mother?She adores Sofia.She’s desperate to spend time with her.What did she do to deserve this?”

“She didn’t do anything,” he muttered.

“Well?It would break her heart, and she was so happy.”And my heart.

He was breaking my heart when it had no right to be heartbroken.There were no promises.I was letting myself get too caught up, the way I always did.Wrapped up in him, knowing there was a good, decent person behind the façade he put on.It wasn’t my responsibility to bring that good side out.

Why did I feel like it was?

When he wouldn’t look me in the eye, I craned my neck, forcing myself into his field of vision.“Look at you.Look how far you’ve come, and all on your own.Don’t you want him to see that?Don’t you want him to know?”

His brows pinched as he gritted out, “I’ve warned you not to use that child psychology bullshit on me.”

“Who says I am?”I wasn’t.I meant every word, completely sincere.“Show him how much you don’t need him.Let him see how happy Sofia is without him in her life.How well she’s doing.What a good father you are.Better than he ever was, I bet,” I added.

All right, maybe I was using psychology on him, just a little.

But it worked.His lips twitched, and his eyes lost some of their hardness.“That’s true.”

“Of course it is.Throw it in his face, then.Make sure he can’t pretend he doesn’t know how amazing your life is without him, without his help, without anything of his influence.And who knows?”I added,why not go for broke?“He might end up regretting whatever it was he did to split you two apart.In fact, I’m sure he will.”

That was too much.I knew it the second his lips thinned into a scowl.“I doubt that.”

“Fine, but you get my point.Throw it in his face if you want to.Let him see.Let him know everything he’s losing out on by being who he is.And when it’s over, it’s over.No broken hearts.No guilt.”

Silence spread between us.I watched the anger drain from him and felt the energy shift until the air felt clearer.“This is going to come out entirely wrong,” he warned me.“But who the hell are you, and where did you come from?”

I could breathe again.We were on solid ground.

Or were we?

There was a tiny voice in the back of my mind that told me not to let him off the hook that easily.He had been mean and dismissive, and I deserved better than that.But seeing him grin was so much nicer than cringing under the heat of his scowl.Letting it go was easier than fighting it out and safer, too, since it meant not having to explain what right I had to be offended.He had his reasons for what he’d said.Why waste time fighting when there were so many other things we could be doing?

“Penny Anderson, Sacramento, California.”I gave him a quick salute before turning around and heading for the door.“And now, I’m going to take off all my clothes and step into the very large shower stall in my bathroom.Just in case that interests you.”

“If I ever pass up an opportunity like that…” he joked as his chair squeaked as he stood, “… you can have me officially declared dead.”

13

TRAVIS

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