His head shakes as he chuckles. “Guess we’ve got emotions-off-limits in common too.”
His smile way too contagious, I grin. “Along with being alpha control freaks?”
“I prefer natural born leaders.”
“You would.” When a snort escapes me, I realize the first-time awkwardness is gone.
Up on one elbow, he tucks a stray lock behind my ear. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“No.” Groaning, I pull the pillow over my head.
The mattress dips. Thighs straddle mine. A heartbeat later, my fabric fortress is yanked away.
“Just one. After, we switch. You get full interrogation rights.” Full of heat, his gaze pins me.
He should have a warning label:Post-coital eye contact may result in inconvenient truth-telling.
I sigh. “Fine. But only one.”
“Why is your family so overprotective? Were you sick when you were a kid?”
Wow. That came out of left field.Time ticks by as I debate how much of the truth I dare reveal. Besides my first shrink, and Herman, of course, I’ve never told a soul.
Kade doesn’t press. He sits back on his heels, fully naked, utterly still, eyes locked on mine. Patient. Open. Somehow… safe.
Lids lowered, I look away. “When I was sixteen, I tried to off myself.”
Before the expanding silence devours us whole, I try to explain how much worse it gets. “My family covered it up. Said it would ruin everything—college, jobs, marriage prospects. So, it became our dirty little secret. In their minds, I’ve never really grown past that moment. I’m forever the unstable teen one step away from suicide.”
His hands dig under the sheets to find mine. No words, no pity. Just quiet presence.
Dear God, he undoes me.
Having played my cards, my gaze drifts back to his. “My turn.”
“Shoot.”
His cocky confidence emboldens me. “Why aren’t you married? And no clichés about finding the right woman.”
He scrubs a hand over his beard, hissing into the stillness. If he didn’t want to share, he shouldn’t’ve insisted on ‘truth or dare’. Thing is, no one’s playing.
“I don’t have anything to offer,” he says finally. “My bank account’s a joke. I bounce between volunteer fireman, part-time handyman, and acting sheriff. I live in a town that doesn’t even have a stoplight. A woman deserves more.”
I shift, sliding out from beneath him until we’re face-to-face again, kneeling on the bed.
My thighs to his, my ass to heels, I cup his beard. “Would you judge a potential wife by her net worth?”
“It’s different.” His gaze shifts to the side.
“No, Kade, you’re living in the dark ages.” There is so much more I want to say, but he doesn’t give me a chance.
Brows creased, he mumbles something about a shower, then jumps from the bed.
Shit.I should’ve said, “You’re a war hero, a Marine, a man of honor. Money means so little in comparison.”
I suck at words. No wonder my relationships don’t last.
After I shower, he’s gone, a note left on the counter.
