Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Nicole swiped at her damp eyes, fully aware that Sam was in the other room. He hadn’t rushed in to save the day. No doubt he was still reeling, processing the difference between their families, reassessing what the hell he was doing with a woman who’d grown up with vultures, not parents.
Or maybe he was wondering how to extricate himself sooner rather than he’d planned. She wouldn’t blame him. One thing she knew for sure: After that little display, she wanted nothing more than to be alone.
Chapter Seventeen
Sam had thought her father was a coldhearted bastard. He sat frozen in his seat, shocked that anyone could treat their own child like a pawn in a game. With those two as parents, Nicole was a fucking miracle.
His miracle.
She’d stood up for him to her mother, declaring her love, proving herself much braver than he’d been with her. He was the big bad cop, and she put him to shame.
He rose from his seat, sorry that he’d left her alone with her bitch of a mother. Then again, maybe it was better that Nicole think he hadn’t heard anything. Less embarrassing for her that way, and he’d do anything to protect her from being hurt anymore than she had been. Which was plenty.
He paused in the entryway, the distraught look on Nicole’s face gutting him. Unable to remain silent, he stepped forward. “Nicole?”
She brushed at her cheeks, and he realized she’d been crying. And now she wanted to hide it from him.
“Hey.” He strode up to her and grasped her hands. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He held on to her wrists and stared into her damp blue eyes. “No, you’re not. Don’t pretend with me.”
To his surprise, she jerked out of his grasp. “Don’t.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Don’t what? Help you? Be there for you?”
Her face morphed into a cool mask. “Don’t make me think I can depend on you.”
“Whoa.” He dropped her wrist and raised both hands in a gesture of confusion. “I am here for you. I want to be here.”
“Why?”
It was his turn to step up. “You want to know why I want to be there for you when you need me?” He drew on all the courage she’d shown so far, using her bravery to bolster his own. “Because I love you.”
Her eyes opened wide, a flash of hope in their depths, before they went . . . blank.
She deliberately shut down her feelings. “No, you don’t. You feel sorry for me.” She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, her fingertips digging into her skin.
“I don’t—”
“Yes, you do. You heard everything my mother said and you pity me. Why else would the man who didn’t want anything to do with relationships and who doesn’t believe in love choose this moment for a declaration?”
Her voice cracked, and his heart squeezed painfully as she deliberately misinterpreted his words.
He’d told Mike he’d prove to her she could count on him. No matter how hard she made it, whether or not she shut him out, he wouldn’t bail.
“I’ll tell you why. Because I’m an idiot who couldn’t get beyond my past to see the amazing woman in front of me. But I see you, Nicole. And I’ve heard everything you’ve ever said about what you want and need in life—”
“Oh my God, don’t!” Her eyes opened wide, the blue depths filled with disappointment. “Don’t use my own words against me.”
“I’m using them for you. For us.” But as he spoke, he recognized the irony. Now that he wanted everything from her, she didn’t trust him or his words.
She couldn’t because her mother had shown up and demoralized and destroyed her in an attempt to get what she wanted. And Sam hadn’t come to his senses in time.
She turned away. “I have to get up early, and I have a long day tomorrow.”
“I’ll get my things and be right back. We can stay here.”
She didn’t face him. “That’s okay. I . . . I need to be alone tonight.”
Sam shook his head and swallowed a groan. “Nicole—”
“Sam, please. I can’t do this now. I just had it out with my mother. I can’t argue with you too. I’m exhausted,” she said, her voice catching.
“Okay.” He didn’t like it, but he’d respect it. “But set the alarm when I leave.”
“I will.”
“I’ll pick you up and take you to work tomorrow.”
She shook her head, still not turning around. “There’s no reason for you to be up before dawn just because I have to be.”
He rolled his eyes. If she thought she could get rid of him that easily, she didn’t know him well at all. “I’ll be in the driveway at four. With coffee. See you then.”
Because he loved her. He knew for sure. And in his mind, that changed everything.
* * *
Operating on autopilot, Nicole woke up, showered, and dressed for her grand opening. Her head hurt from lack of sleep, and she wasn’t feeling the excitement she’d anticipated for today. She blamed her mother as well as Sam. He was a good guy, trying to make her feel better in the only way he knew how. But she didn’t believe he suddenly realized he was in love with her at the very moment he was exposed to yet another ugly side of her family and her life.