Dakota’s eyes stayed fixed on my face, in awe and fascination. “Was your business inspired by Knox?”
I allowed several seconds to pass. “My mother died because she was too ashamed to get help for her addiction. Society told her that perfect people don’t have problems like that.” My voice lowered. “Meanwhile, guys like Knox get written off the moment they make one mistake. I built this company for everyone society has decided isn’t worth saving.”
She shifted, as if the weight of all of this was heavy on her heart. “Still, you must have hated everything about this fake engagement.”
I swept a stray hair from her face, letting my fingers linger on her skin, and decided if I was being honest, then I needed to tell her the truth.
“I didn’t hate the idea of spending time with you.”
She smiled slightly, but then her expression fell, her eyes darting to the ground, as if she was processing something profound. It took her several seconds to say it, and when she did, her voice was low, like she was talking to herself more than me.
“This is what I’m personifying.” Dakota’s voice was laced with disgust. “I’m the kind of person who makes your family think they have to be perfect.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is,” she insisted. “But that’s not who I want to be.”
“Sunshine …” I drew my knuckles along her jaw. Her skin was impossibly soft. “Makeup, designer dresses, and good lighting don’t make you responsible for other people’s choices. I’m sorry I ever made you feel like that.”
I could tell she didn’t agree with me, that something fundamental had shifted in her eyes, but to her strong, brave credit, she didn’t belabor the point. I suspected it was because she didn’t want to make this moment abouther.
“Everyone is guilty of showing their best side for the cameras, Dakota. Some people just do it more than others.”
She looked to the ground, shaking her head. “No wonder you never wanted real relationships. After watching your parents’ ‘perfect’ marriage destroy itself, who would want that?”
I stilled.
Tell her.I’d told her everything else, and if I was going to be honest with Dakota, I needed to come clean about this too.
Hell, I was being a hypocrite if I didn’t tell her. She’d been hiding her imperfect family from the public because she thought it made her unlovable. And now I was afraid to tell her aboutanother chapter in my imperfect past because I was scared it would drive her away.
But as I looked at her, at this beautiful woman who’d just trusted me with her deepest wounds, the words stuck in my throat.
It didn’t help that Dakota took a step closer to me, that my gaze was wandering all over her face, neck, and shoulders. That with her heat this close to my skin, I was wondering what she’d do if I pressed her against the wall and kissed her all over her body.
“Dakota,” I murmured.
Her eyes dropped to my mouth, then back up, and I saw my own desperate need reflected there.
“You make me want to stop being afraid of being seen,” she whispered.
For the first time in my life, I was with someone who knew what it felt like to carry the burden of other people’s expectations. Someone who understood the suffocating weight of always having to be perfect.
And maybe this was selfish of me, but I wanted to hold on to this moment for just a moment longer before risking it with a truth that might send her running.
I leaned closer, and she didn’t pull away.
35
POV: ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM THE KISS THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING. #NOGOINGBACK
DAKOTA
“Dakota …” he murmured, tucking another strand of hair behind my ear. But his knuckles lingered along my jaw, rough against my skin, while my lungs decided to forget how to function properly.
Holy shit.
His touch scorched through me in waves, and his gaze dropped to my mouth and stayed there.
