Page 51

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

He sighs, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just want to help you and be here for you.”

“I can’t talk about this right now. Maybe someday but not tonight and I would like it very much if you would drop it.” My tone is harsher than I intended but he doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by it, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, baby. You gonna stay there or you wanna come back over here?” he asks, holding his hand out and I try to hide my smile as I crawl back over to him and straddle his legs. He grabs my hips and pulls me closer until our chests are pressed together before flashing me a grin. “There. That’s better.”

I scrunch my nose at him and he laughs, filling my chest with warmth once more.

“Why don’t we talk about you for a change?”

“I’m an open book. What do you want to know?”

I almost say “anything” before remembering our first lunch together only a little over a month ago and I smile.

“What’s that smile for?” he asks, nudging my chin with his finger and I shake my head.

“I was just thinking about when we grabbed lunch at that burger place.”

He chuckles, nodding. “Shit, yeah. I was nervous as hell.”

“I still don’t understand that.”

“Emma, I liked you from the moment I met you but I spent those three days between when we met and our lunch thinking I had made it all up in my head or that I was going crazy from working so much. When I finally saw you again, I knew it was my chance to find out if there was really something between us.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks as I drop my gaze and think about how awkward I felt at that lunch with him. “And when did you know there was something there?”

“Probably the minute you tried to come up with any excuse you could to not have lunch with me,” he says with a laugh and I join him, shaking my head before leaning in and pressing my lips to his in a quick kiss.

“Well, I’m certainly glad you didn’t give up.”

“Me, too. You are worth any amount of waiting I have to do.”

A blush creeps up my cheeks again but I don’t argue with him because I know there’s no point. If Nix thinks I’m worth all the trouble, I guess I’ll just have to believe him.

“We kind of got off topic. We were supposed to talk about you.”

“Ask away, baby.”

I study him for a moment, carefully considering what I really want to know. For the most part, Nix really is an open book. He shares stories about his friends with me all the time and he tells me about crazy clients who come into the shop. We’ve talked about his childhood and his dad but I’ve never heard him once mention his mom.

“What’s the story with your mom? You never really talk about her.”

He nods. “That’s ‘cause there’s nothing to talk about. I never even knew her.”

“Oh,” I whisper, fearing the worst. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, don’t be. She’s not dead… at least, I don’t think she is. She was a club whore and after she had me, she ran off and left me with my dad.”

Hearing that makes me hurt for him because I don’t know what I’d do without my mom but he doesn’t seem all that bothered by it.

“And it doesn’t bother you?”

He shrugs. “When I was a kid, yeah, but once I was older, I just figured that she wasn’t capable of raising me herself. How can I be mad at her for giving me the best shot she could?”

I nod. “Were you and your dad close when you were little?”

He chuckles. “Oh, yeah. I followed him everywhere. I would sit in the garage with him while he worked on his bike. He bought me these bottles of root beer that looked just like beer bottles and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. We would hang out and I would have my bottle of root beer. It made me feel like a grown up.”

I giggle. “That’s adorable.”

“I guess. We used to go fishing all the time, too, and we had this little spot not far from our house that was our little secret. He taught me to shoot a gun and play football. Really, I owe everything to him.”

The ache in his voice has me cuddling closer to him.

“Do you miss him?”

His arms tighten around me and he lays his forehead on top of my head. “Yeah, sometimes I really do but I’m not willing to change who I am to please him either.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, reaching up and kissing his cheek. “That’s gotta be hard.”

He scoffs and pulls back so he can see my face. “You of all people shouldn’t be saying my life is hard.”

“Why not? My situation doesn’t diminish everything you’ve gone through. Besides, I have people that I can lean on but you’ve said that you and your dad aren’t all that close anymore.”

“I have people. I’ve got you, don’t I?”

I smile. “Yeah, you do.”