Page 16 of Until Delilah

“My parents are, well…” She shrugs and breaks eye contact. “They’re kind of famous. They’re not crazy millionaires or anything like that, but they are where they are today because of hard work. My mom is a famous photographer, and my dad was a male supermodel. He doesn’t model much nowadays, and he became a photographer as well. They travel all over the world for photoshoots. More so now that me and my sister don’t live with them. It’s a lot to live up to, even if they’ve never said I had to. I feel the pressure.”

Reaching over, I take her hand in mine. “Thank you for opening up to me. I know it wasn’t easy, but maybe you’ll see once you start it gets easier in time.”

“Maybe,” she shrugs, and goes back to looking out the window. “I know I’ll never do anything like them, but I’d be happy to even have the relationship they have. My parents are more in love today than they were when they got married.”

I know exactly how she feels. My mom and dad are the same way, as is everyone in the Mayson family. They are couple goals for sure.

“That’s a lot to live up to, but you shouldn’t compare yourself to them. I’m sure if you asked, they’d tell you they’re proud of the woman and the mom you are. I may not know you very well yet, but I can tell you are a wonderful mom and you’d lay down your life for your son.”

“I would. I really would.” Her voice breaks as she says the last. Pulling her hand from mine, she wipes her eyes. “I’m sorry I’m so emotional. I’m not typically this bad, but this time my pregnancy hormones have taken over.”

“If you say so,” I joke. I like a woman who isn’t afraid to show who she is or what she’s feeling. It’s better than the fake women who tried to surround me when I lived in New York.

“That’s enough about me.” She clears her throat, and her tone is more upbeat when she asks. “Have you ever been in love?”

“Can’t say that I have. It’s been hard to find women who are… genuinely interested in me, I guess you can say.”

She tilts her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Being a professional athlete, women only want me for my money or status. They don’t care to get to know the real me. Especially when they learn I had a short career because of my shoulder and then that I wanted to move back to Tennessee. After a while, I stopped trying to find someone to spend my time with and only sought them out when I needed a release.”

“Oh,” Delilah shakes her head and then clears her voice. “I didn’t know we were diving that deep into our sexual history.” She laughs and then covers her mouth.

“I don’t want to lie to you. That’s not who I am and going by what you’ve told me, I can surmise you’ve slept with the two men who’ve gotten you pregnant.”

“A regular Sherlock Holmes over there.” She giggles. “But please don’t feel the need to tell me about all the women you’ve slept with. I don’t need those numbers.”

She probably thinks I’ve slept with hundreds of women, but she’d be wrong. I have quite a few under my belt, but I was never one of those guys to sleep with a different woman every night.

Raising my brows at her, I chuckle. “If you ever want to know, all you have to do is ask.”

“That will never happen.” She looks at me when I turn off my truck at the grocery store. “I still don’t understand why you have all those groceries when you don’t cook.”

“I never said I don’t cook. I just use the microwave for all my cooking needs. It’s fast and simple. I never saw the point of making much when it’s only me. It’s kind of sad. When I lived in New York, I had all my meals delivered to my house, so it wasn’t—”

“As sad,” she answers for me.

“Exactly. I got used to living the bachelor life.”

“And yet you want us to stay at your house.” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Does it need to?”

She looks out the window and bites her lower lip. “If this was before Bradley, I would say no, but I have Beckham and a baby to think about as well as myself. Right now, I’m having a hard time trusting men.”

I don’t blame her. She’s been burned badly. Being abused and controlled for the last four years would make anyone hesitant to trust new people.

“I’m going to lay this out for you because I don’t want it to blindside you later. I like you, Delilah, and I like your son. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I’ve felt a pull to you that I can’t explain, and I want to investigate it further.”

She opens her mouth to what I’m sure is going to be her politely turning me down, but I stop her with a finger to her plush lips.

“I know now isn’t a good time in your life, but let me get to know you and you can do the same with me. We’ll take it slow and if you see me as only a friend, I’ll try to learn to accept that fate.”

Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she finds her words. “I’m not saying I’m considering what you’ve just said, but I want to know. How can you want a relationship with a woman who has children that aren’t your own?”

“You know December isn’t my real mom. She’s my stepmother, but she’s treated me and my brother more like a mother than our biological one ever did. Blood doesn’t make a parent. Love does, and I can say with one hundred percent certainty that it wouldn’t take me long to love your son.”

Her eyes turn glassy as she stares at me from across the cab. “That has to be the single best and sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

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