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All directed at me.

“She blamed me,” I whisper and his shaking hand finds the back of my head, cradling it as he presses his lips to my forehead, just breathing me in. “She said I just couldn’t help myself. That I needed all the attention on me and I wouldn’t ever just let her have anything.”

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

I shake my head. “Don’t. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“Did she break up with him?”

“Yeah,” I answer with a nod. “On the spot. But then she was mad at me for driving him away from her. The next one happened when I was fifteen…”

“Fuck, baby,” he whispers. I can feel the anger radiating off him and I press my lips to his chest, hoping to calm him but it doesn’t seem to work.

“I can stop.”

He shakes his head. “No, Keep going.”

I pull back to look up at him. His jaw is clenched and he has that faraway look in his eyes that he gets sometimes when he’s really upset. The look he gets just before Hyde makes an appearance.

“No,” I tell him and his gaze snaps down to mine. “That’s enough for now.”

He opens his mouth and the defiance in his eyes has me ready for an argument before something in his face breaks and he releases a breath, nodding.

“Yeah, okay, baby.”

He releases me and I miss his warmth and the feel of him immediately. I’m about to protest when he turns me back toward the water and grabs the shampoo off the shelf.

“This is the still the ‘take care of my girl’ portion of the evening.”

I let out a soft laugh. “Is it now? Well, who am I to stop you?”

He squirts some in his hand and sets the bottle down before he begins massaging it into my scalp and I tip my head back.

“God, Dalton,” I moan, closing my eyes. “That feels so perfect.”

He presses a kiss to my shoulder and then I feel his lips brush against my ear. “You’re perfect, baby.”

“Cheesy, sir,” I say but I can’t wipe the smile off my face. He laughs.

“All cheesy, all for you, sweetheart.”

My God.

Who is this man?

It feels like we’ve turned a corner tonight and I won’t admit it to him but it feels damn good. I’ve always dreamed of this. Of having a home that felt warm and safe. Not one where I had to walk on eggshells or earn my place in. One where I could just be.

And here, with him, I’m beginning to see it.

Neither one of us knows what the future will bring but I know I want him in mine.

I’ve always heard that you have to push past the fear and take a leap if you want something real.

Well, I’m taking the leap.

And I hope like hell that Dalton catches me when I fall.

Chapter Twenty-Nine