Page 38 of Working for the Runaway Bride

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“But you did.”

“Yes.”

“Do you regret it?”

He stares at me. “Not for one second.”

My breath catches. I lift my hand to his face. The roughness of his jaw presses into my palm. He leans into the touch before catching himself.

“I want you,” he says quietly. “More than I have any right to.”

“Then be with me.”

“No.”

One word shatters the hope he just gave me. I lower my hand. “Why?”

“Because you’re young.”

“I’m twenty-five, not a child.”

“I know.”

“Then don’t treat me like one.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re deciding for me.”

“I’m deciding for myself. Your life is too full for an old man like me,” he says. “You have friends. Children who adore you. A career you care about. There are places you haven’t seen and things you haven’t done.”

“You aren’t old.”

“I’m old enough to be your father.”

“That doesn’t matter to me.”

“It matters to me.”

“Why?”

“Because I know what the years do.”

I shake my head. “That’s an excuse.”

“Maybe it is.”

“You’re afraid of Carter.”

His eyes harden. “I’m not afraid of my son.”

“You’re afraid of losing him.”

The silence answers for him. I understand then. Grayson already lost years with Carter while he was in prison. Loving me would create a wound between them that might never heal. He won’t risk it. Not even for me.

“You deserve better,” he says.