Page 54 of Ace of Spades
“I’m fine where I am.” If he got close to her, he wouldn’t get the rest of it out. “The only reason I didn’t was because of my brothers. But make no mistake, I wanted to.”
“What did he do?”
“I should have killed him when he broke Court’s arm, making sure he would never play baseball again. He was good, Taylor. Could have made it to the majors.”
“I would kill him for that myself, but Court seems pretty happy to me.”
“Sure, now he is. Back then, he was crushed. Our father stole his dream.”
She drew her knees up, hugging them. “But that wasn’t when you lost it, right? What did he do to drive you over the edge?”
Why couldn’t she just accept what he was trying to tell her without asking him to bare his soul? The bad guys didn’t stand a chance against her. She’d just sit there, looking at them with those big, understanding blue eyes, and she’d stay that way until she’d wrung every last secret out of them.
“I walked in to find him shredding Alex’s back with the buckle of his belt. The fucking reason?” He pulled his hands out of his pockets, fisting them. “Alex didn’t get him a beer fast enough.”
“You should have killed him.” She got up, came to him, took his hand, and pulled him back to the sofa with her.
He let her.
“I would’ve helped you hide his body. Your father was a bastard, no mistaking that. But you’re not him, Nate.”
“You don’t know that. I don’t even know that.”
She smiled sadly. “Then you’re deluding yourself.”
“Perhaps, but I won’t risk it.”
“So, what? You’re afraid you’ll hurt me?”
“You’re a beautiful woman. You’ll want to fall in love and have babies.”
She stared at him for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Okay, not the reaction he was expecting.
“Do I look like I need more babies? I think six is more than enough.”
“Someday, you’ll want your own.”
“We’ve known each other for two years, been best friends for almost a year now, yet we’ve never talked about this. I wonder why.” She leaned forward and put her hand on his knee. “Here’s the thing. I will never bring a child into this world. There are too many kids out there who need someone to love them. Any babies I had would be one less lost child I could rescue. As for a husband, I have no use for one. I have enough on my plate between my job and my girls.”
He blinked, his mind trying to comprehend what she’d just said. Didn’t all women want candy and flowers, a man to stare into her eyes with worship in his, cute babies to cuddle and giggle with?
“Is that the truth, not something you’re saying because you think that’s what I want to hear?”
“I just want a man to play with, Nate, and I want that man to be you.” Her hand traveled a few inches up his thigh. “Of course, if you’re not interested, I guess I’ll have to find someone who is.”
“Like hell you will.” He scooped her up. “Bedroom,” he said.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “We should have had this talk months ago.”
“Yeah, look at all that time we wasted.” At the door to her room, he paused. “No falling in love, right?”
“Not a chance on my part, but your brothers fell fast and hard. Maybe that runs in the Gentry blood, so you might be the one we have to worry about. I am really hot, you know.”
“Understatement there, tiger.”
Taylor nuzzled Nate’s neck, loving the taste of him. He’d broken her heart with his secret fear that he could hurt a woman or child. He was so full of it. The man had a bigger heart than either of his brothers’, and theirs were pretty big. It was sad that he didn’t know that. She hadn’t lied to him. Long ago, she’d decided to save children instead of having them, she wasn’t looking for a husband—not today, anyway—and she wasn’t going to fall in love with him because she already was.
