“You’re the same way with Aiden. I don’t know what a perfect childhood is supposed to look like, but from what I can tell, he has a mother who loves and encourages him unconditionally, every day.”
He shrugged and looked me in the eye. “Maybe that’s what being a good parent is all about.”
I dipped my head because the tears wouldn’t stop flowing.
Ace moved his hand underneath my chin, raising my gaze to meet his. “That wasn’t supposed to upset you even more.”
I laughed. “It didn’t.” I shook my head and wiped the tears. “I just feel like an even bigger ass for saying what I said to you before you left.”
“That was an asshole thing to say.” He dug the knife in a little deeper.
I slapped his arm and he grinned. “You were a scared mom. And you were right. I shouldn’t have kept him out of school. He was just...” He paused and looked up as if considering his following words. “It was fun hanging out with him.”
I nodded. “He gave you those puppy dog eyes, didn’t he?”
Ace gave me a knowing look. “So that’s his thing, huh?”
I laughed but quickly covered my mouth as I nodded. “Yup. I’ve kept him home from school once or twice when he gave me that look and said he’d much rather spend the day with me. I’m a sucker for that face.”
“I think we both are,” Ace said.
Our gazes collided. We both stared in silence, letting our eyes drink each other in. The anger-filled tension that had been there before he left dissipated. A new source of tension shrouded us as we sat in that hallway.
It was the kind of strain that came when the air around you crackled with sexual energy.
“I’ve missed you,” I said, just above a whisper.
That was my honest admission. I had come to realize that I didn’t like not going to bed without Ace in it. No. Truthfully, I came to that conclusion a long time ago. But over the years, I’d pushed that awareness down. It became covered up, a wound that never fully healed or stopped hurting, but I somehow managed to live with the pain.
Being back in Ace’s bed, with him beside me, allowed the wound to resurface in a new way when he wasn’t there.
Ace didn’t immediately respond. He stood up, and for a nanosecond, I thought he was going to walk away. Like this talk had gotten too personal or something. Instead, he leaned down and extended his hand to help me up.
When I stood, he pulled me into him and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“I was planning on ignoring you.” He was so close, his breath brushed against my lips, tickling them.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I was pissed the entire time I was gone. And I planned to ignore you for the next three months while you were here. But then I walked in on you with Aiden and….” He trailed off and planted his forehead against mine. “I could never fucking ignore you.”
I saw the kiss coming before it was delivered. I wanted—no, needed—his lips on mine. There couldn’t have been a more painful reality for me than existing in Ace’s home and having him completely ignore me.
Him cursing me out every day would’ve been less hurtful than him not noticing me.
“We should call it a night,” he pulled back to say against my lips.
My nipples tightened beneath the bra I had on.
“You’re tired.” I cupped his face. He’d endured hours of training and had to fly home from out west. He had to be exhausted.
“I’ll sleep later.”
I gasped as he lifted me and carried me down the hall to his bedroom.
* * *
Ace
