My gaze drifts around the apartment as I give her nervous system a safe place to settle, for a second.
There’s art everywhere, but not all hung up. Some lean against walls; some pieces are half-finished. Books are stacked in piles, and there is a blanket thrown over a chair near the window, which suggests it’s well used.
“I like this,” I admit.
She tips her head back slightly and looks at me. “My apartment?”
“This side of you.”
Her brows pull together as if she can’t figure out what I’m telling her. “What side is that?”
I drag my fingers lazily up and down her arm. “The softness of all this. The softness of you when you’re in here. Down there, with the store, with the community, everyone thinks you’re this aloof, capable business owner.”
She chuckles at that. “They think I’m aloof?”
I shrug. “You know what I mean. I like that no one really sees or knows about this side of you.”
“Except you.”
I smile at that. “Yeah. Except me.”
I brush my lips over hers, just because they look so damn…soft. There’s that word again.
If you’d asked me six weeks ago whether I thoughtsoftsuited her, it would have been a definite no.
Maren places her hand over mine, and I grab hold of her fingers. “I’m still processing how much I like the other side ofyou.”
“And what side are we talking about?” I’m guessing she’s talking about what happened last night. Not what she saw, but what we did after. We didn’t really talk much because it was late. Maren showered while I talked to my men briefly, and then I tucked her into bed before showering myself.
Once I got to bed, she was already fast asleep wearing one of my T-shirts.
“I should be horrified,” she says. “I mean, I am, a little. That was a lot.”
“Yeah,” I mutter. No point in sugarcoating things, but my heart stutters a little as worry creeps into me that it was all too much for her.
“But.” She exhales. “There was something about it. You were so…” She shifts and her hand curls into my shirt. “In control. Decisive. Like nothing could touch you. And the way your men looked at you and respected you… It made me feel proud just to be connected to you.”
My jaw tightens at the compliment. Never thought I needed anyone’s approval, but I realize there was a hole in me waiting for Maren’s.
“And I hated it,” she adds with a soft huff of a laugh. “It feels like it goes against every feminist principle I’ve ever had.”
That pulls a smile out of me.
“Yeah? Because while I’m all for a woman having her own career and making her own choices about her body, I guess I’m looking for a woman who respects me and looks up at me, rather than down on me.”
She leans her head back a little farther so she’s looking straight at me. “You made me feel safe, Knox. And I don’t remember the last time I felt that way around a man. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. I knew you’d keep me safe. Even while facing down my father. You made me feel a kind of safety I didn’t know I was capable of feeling.”
I pull her to me in a hug that’s probably squeezing the life out of her. Because I hate that’s her experience of life. “Maren.”
“I know how it sounds. I should probably be stronger than I am, but?—”
“Stop. You’ve done a lot, here. Keeping the bait and marine store going. Expanding the business into airboat tours and all the other things. Functioning without any real support structure from family.”
She shrugs that away as if it were nothing.
“Hey,” I say, tilting her chin when she looks down. “You’re stronger than you realize. But I’ll be here to carry some of it with you, now. You’re not alone anymore.”
Tears sparkle in her eyes, but they don’t fall. She bites down on her lower lip. “I think there’s something else I should admit. For my own sake.”
