“That’s okay—”
“I’ll call you as soon as I’m upstairs,” I said, my tone firm. Keelie was already worried about my relationship with Shannon. That’s why I’d flown up here before the rest of the team—to cut my mother’s meddling off at the roots. My mind whirred over how best to handle Shannon’s newfound interest in my life.
I finished the photo session and signed another autograph, noting Maxim’s heavy scowl as we walked into the hotel. We bee-lined to the elevators.
“What’s up with you?” I asked.
“Ida Jane’s being difficult.”
“About?”
He shook his head. We rode up to the tenth floor in silence, both of us more interested in the conversations with our women than with each other.
“See you tomorrow,” I said as I slid my keycard into the door. As soon as it was closed, I pulled out my phone and dialed Keelie back. “Okay, I’m in my room. Now, I wanted to tell you that you have nothing to be jealous about. Especially with Shannon. You’re the one in my house, sleeping in my bed.”
Her breath hitched.
I plowed on. “Right where I want you. Except I wish I was there with you. I miss you, pretty girl.”
“Okay.”
“You sure?”
“Well, I mean…I’m seeing a new photo of you two hugging, but if you say there’s nothing between you, I…I believe that. You’ve never lied to me.”
She trusted me. Thankfuck. I’d needed to know that. There was no way we could take our relationship further without a firm foundation of trust.
“And I never will.”
Another long pause.
“Why do I feel like something’s weighing on you?” I asked. I toed off my shoes and dropped onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
“Because there is. Naomi and Nicole said I should talk to you. About…about my past. It’s not a pretty story. But I need to give you the real reason I struggle so much to believe you’re not too good to be true.”
Chapter42
Keelie
Cormac’s voice came over the phone line. “I want to know about you, Keelie. All about you. Even the not-pretty parts.”
I choked on a laugh that was almost a sob. With a firm press of my lips, I held down further eruptions. Tears solved nothing. “Naomi said it’s easier to say deep, scary things if I don’t have to look you in the eye.”
“You can try it. If you don’t like it, stop.”
“I told you my father cheated,” I blurted. I wrapped my arms tighter around my middle, hugging Cormac’s soft blankets close. His scent wafted around me, but still my body shook. Not from the cold—this was a visceral reaction, one I didn’t fully understand. “Well, I didn’t tell you all of that story. He went to work, like he always did, kissing my mother and me goodbye.” I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling. “She was a stay-at-home mom then. She’d taken some classes at the community college, but they had me young. My dad was in sales. He made good money…” I swallowed, hating this next part—the part that still left me feeling worthless. “After lunch, someone knocked on the door. A lawyer, delivering divorce papers. My dad wanted us out of the house. He…he had another family he planned to move into it.”
Cormac made a sound in the back of his throat, but I refused to acknowledge it, him. I’d break if I did. I was alone in the dark, reciting my past. If I considered more, I’d want to end the call and curl into a ball.
“He didn’t want to give us anything,” I continued after a moment. “I wasn’t supposed to know, but my mom wasn’t good at hiding stuff. He told her she’d gotten pregnant on purpose, and that it had been a mistake to keep me.” I let my lips drift upward, but it wasn’t a smile. “And he said she’d delayed some of my development—giving him a dumb, useless kid to trap him.”
“I want to hug you right now,” Cormac said. “Help you through this.”
“You can’t. Just…listen, please. I don’t think I can do this again.” I rushed on. “The judge made my dad pay child support, but it was the bare minimum, and he always said he hated ‘taking away from his proper family’. Even the judge agreed I shouldn’t have anything to do with him after that outburst.”
“He said that in front of you?” Anger laced Cormac’s tone.
“Yes.” Words I didn’t want to repeat—words I didn’t want in my head, even now.
