Page 108 of Defending her Heart

He rests his forehead against mine. “It isn’t about sex for me.”

“Well, it is for me.” My voice trembles and I hope he can’t hear my weakness. “That’s on you if you break our agreement. I’m sticking to it.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Yes, why?” His fingers are gentle against my scalp. “Why won’t you let your guard down and let me in?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him about Jason, but he has secrets too. “Paisley’s mom.”

Nash stills and lifts his head. “What about her?”

“You never mention her.”

“I told you she isn’t in the picture.”

“For now.”

“Kendall.” He traces my nose then my lips with his fingers. “Never. She’s not a threat to you. I promise.”

“That’s what he said,” I mutter.

Shit. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“Someone hurt you. That’s why don’t trust me.”

There’s no need to ask. It’s obvious now. My silence speaks for itself.

“Come on.” He threads his fingers with mine and leads me down the stairs. After adding another log to the fire, he guides me to the couch and sits next to me. “Seven years ago, my team won the Superbowl. We all went out and celebrated, but I was young, cocky, and stupid. I hooked up with a woman. Never asked her name, couldn’t pick her out of a line up the next morning. Long story short, eight months later she found me andtold me she was pregnant with my child. At least she thought she was.”

I slip my hand from his and fold them in my lap. “That’s the short story. What’s the long version?”

Nash closes his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair. “It’s not one I’m proud of.”

“You’re not the first person to have a one-night stand and end up with a baby nine months later.”

He lets out a sigh and opens his eyes. “There were three of us in the hotel room that night. There was a lot of alcohol, maybe some other stuff. I don’t remember. One of my teammates and I...”

I gasp. “Did you—”

“It was consensual,” he interrupts. “Fuck, Kendall. I’d never force a woman. She instigated it.”

“How do you know if you were drunk and high?”

He hangs his head in shame. “It started on the dance floor. She bought us drinks. Kept talking about having a threesome all night. La—my teammate and I figured she was all talk until she waved her hotel key in front of us, grabbed our hands, and dragged us to the elevator.”

“I highly doubt there was dragging.”

Nash rubs his jaw and nods. “Like I said. Young and stupid.”

I can’t judge him for his behavior. After Jason dumped me, I went to a bar and picked up two best friends propositioning them the same way this girl hit on Nash and his teammate.

“She’d gotten ahold of my former teammate already and had a paternity test done. When it wasn’t a match, she asked me to do one. You can figure out the rest.”

“Does she ever visit Paisley?”

Nash shakes his head. “She was a grad student at Stanford. Her father is a U.S. Senator. She was on track to graduate the following year with a Ph.D. in poly sci and follow in her father’sfootsteps. They’re extremely religious and pro-life, but having a baby out of wedlock and conceiving the way she did would have put a major blemish on her family’s political career.”

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