Page 20 of Mine to Love
“This looks amazing.” Miles dug right into the waffles, which were doused in syrup and topped with a little powdered sugar. The presentation was as if he were at a fine restaurant. And the taste was even better.
He picked up a slice of crispy bacon. “Oh, my. Do you cook like this every morning?”
Liberty laughed. “Twice a week. Otherwise, it’s cereal or oatmeal.”
“I get to choose which days. So once during the week and once on weekends,” Gabriel said. “And once a week we go out for breakfast. It’s my favorite meal. I could eat breakfast food all day long.”
“I could too, but I do like a good hamburger and fries.” Miles watched as Gabriel stuffed his face, barely even tasting his food, he ate it so fast.
Once Gabriel was done, he hopped off the stool. “I have to go shower for work.” He marched off toward the stairs without another word, leaving him alone with Liberty.
Miles leaned back, sipping his coffee. He’d spent a good hour this morning lying in bed, going over everything he wanted to say to her, but now that he had her alone, the silence was deafening and no words filled his mind. She deserved a man who was whole. A man who could give her everything, and Miles was broken. He might have some skills and when he did that deep soul-searching that one therapist had him do occasionally, he could even tell himself he was a successful man.
But Miles was also a realistic person. He knew his limitations. He’d been living with them his whole life and there was no way in hell he could have accomplished anything in life without the support and help of his brothers.
And now his sisters-in-law.
Balancing his checkbook was beyond a struggle. It was impossible. It went beyond transposing numbers. He didn’t have the kind of dyslexia where he could retrain his brain to see things properly. Words would always be jumbled. Sure, he could read. A little. But if he was ever to take a test, he needed someone to read him the questions.
The embarrassment and shame he’d felt his entire life still lingered. It didn’t matter that he’d accepted who he was and could lean on family. It still often made him feel like less of a man.
Trixi’s father had drove that point home.
However, none of that changed the emotions swirling in his heart or the pull Liberty had over his soul. It went beyond wanting to be with her again physically, because once surely wasn’t enough. He wasn’t sure now that he’d had a taste, he’d ever be able to get her out of his blood. Every time he closed his eyes last night, she entered his dreams. And when he blinked them open, she was the first thing that popped into his thoughts.
This was more than attraction.
Rhett and his damn fucking Cupid analogy.
He set his coffee on the counter and strolled around the island, taking her into his arms. There was no point in denying what he wanted. If she didn’t want him, he could accept that. But there was only one way to find out.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“I was going to kiss you,” he said. “And I’d like to know how you feel about last night and going out on a proper date with me.”
Her lips parted and he took that as an invitation.
He pressed his mouth over hers, dipping his tongue inside.
A soft moan bubbled from her throat to his, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades for a brief moment before she ended the encounter.
“I don’t want my brother walking in on this,” she whispered, dropping her hands to her sides.
“He’s in the shower.”
“Not the point.” She pushed from his embrace and gathered the plates, setting them in the sink. “Change is hard for him, and this would be one whopper of a new thing for him. I can’t just have him find out by chance. He has to be eased into the concept.”
“Does that mean you’ll go out with me?” His lips curled into a smile, even though he tried like hell not to. He wiped his hand over his mouth.
“I don’t know. With everything that’s going on with Charlie, it might be too much for Gabriel right now. Maybe when things calm down.”
Miles cocked his head. “Do you regret coming over last night? What happened between us?” There had only been one other time in Miles’ life that he’d ever asked that question. The women he dated he never saw himself being with long term, except one. And even Trixi he wasn’t sure about. To this day, he had no idea if he loved her or not. He had strong feelings for her and liked her more than most. But her being with him had come at a high price. Not so much for Miles, but Trixi stood to lose everything, including her family.
“No, Miles. I don’t regret last night. I’m just not sure it can happen again. At least not right now. I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t like you because I think it’s fairly obvious that I do. Please understand that this has nothing to do with you or even me. My little brother is all I have in this world. He matters to me more than anything. His well-being is all that I care about. I first need him to adjust to not having Charlie in his life. Once I know Gabriel has accepted that, then and only then can I consider dating.”
“First, I don’t think you give Gabriel enough credit.” He held up his hand. “I’ll respect your decision. I’m not going to hound you about it. But I’m not going to give up either.” Wow. Did that just come out of his mouth? When a woman brushed him off like that, he usually shrugged his shoulders and moved on.
But not with Liberty.
