At last, Elaine and I were alone.
And the reality of the situation hit me like a freight train.
I was about to surrender my freedom for this woman and her son after meeting her less than a week ago. Even though I was nervous that I would fuck it up, it felt right in a way I’d never experienced before in my life.
“What will it take?” I repeated. “I want to be here. For you and Mikey.”
She frowned and crossed her arms.
“That’s a very nice gesture but—”
“It’s not agesture, Elaine,” I cut in. “It’s a promise.”
Understanding glimmered in her eyes and she looked away, shifting nervously in place.
“Look, I can’t just…jump into this. I have a child to think about. I don’t…I haven’t even figured out how I would start dating again with Mikey in the picture. It’s one thing to put my neck on the line. But it’s a completely different ball game when I have to make sure my little boy doesn’t get his heart broken.”
I stepped closer, clasping her hands. Her concerns were understandable. But they didn’t scare me off. They didn’t make me second guess my decision to stay.
“Tell me how I can prove it to you,” I said. “I’ll sell my bike. I’ll build you a house. Hell, I’ll run for mayor if that would make you believe me.”
Elaine shook her head, rocking back on her heels like she was preparing to escape. I cupped her face in my palms and looked in her eyes.
“I havenothingto lose, sweetheart. But I have everything to gain. I’ve never felt this way—I’ve never evenwanteda steady life with anyone else until I met you and that little mobster kid with the mean mug.”
She managed a faint, wet laugh, curling her fingers around my wrists. I took that as a good sign. Instead of running awayor turning me down, she was holding onto me just like I was holding onto her.
“Give me a chance,” I whispered. “I’ll work my fingers to the bone for you and that kid, as long as I live. I wish I could say that I’ll be a good husband to you, and a better father to Mikey than my old man was to me. But the truth is…I’m flying blind, baby. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I’ll try though. I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
Elaine swallowed hard as she shifted closer, sliding her arms inside my cut and around my waist.
“What changed your mind?”
“Because of you,” I replied. “I looked at that open road I used to love so much and it didn’t hold a candle to the way I felt about you and Mikey. I’m terrified I don’t have enough to offer you, Elaine. It scares the shit out of me that I’ll try—just like I tried with everything else in my life—and it won’t be enough.”
Her eyes softened and her grip tightened on me.
“The fact that you want to stay for us is more than we’ve had already,” she said quietly. Then she sighed and pulled back, smoothing her palms over my chest. “But I have to talk to Mikey first. This will be a big change for him.”
“Where is he now?”
“At the neighbor’s house. She babysits him while I’m at work. I’ll pick him up after my shift tonight.”
“Would you mind if I bribed you two with dinner?” I replied.
She raised her eyebrows.
“You can cook?”
I hedged.
“Not exactly. But I can whip up some takeout that tastes pretty incredible, if I do say so myself.”
Elaine’s eyes brightened as she hummed a little laugh. Then she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed me with a smile on her lips.
“That sounds wonderful.”
I blew out a breath of relief as I rested my forehead against hers. Sliding my hands into the back pockets of her jeans, I cupped her ass and pulled her curves flush against me.
