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Her eyes widen in disbelief. “You? The big, bad rockstar is going to clean up puppy pee and poop.”
“I can clean.” I’m not a spoiled brat.
“When I call you at three in the morning, you’re going to rush over here with cleaning supplies in hand and clean up the puppy’s mess?”
“I prefer to leave the cleaning supplies here.”
She ignores me to continue her rant, “And once the little furball is potty trained, she needs to be walked several times a day. You gonna do those walks, too?”
I shrug. “Sure.”
“What about when you’re on tour? Or recording? Or – how about this – when you leave Winter Falls for good?”
“I don’t have any plans to leave.” Especially not if she’s here.
Her nostrils flare and her eyes narrow. “Charles didn’t have any plans to leave either.”
I palm her neck and draw her near. “I am not that asshole. Did I fuck up this morning? Yeah, I did. I admit it.” I squeeze her neck. “I see those wheels turning in your head. You think I ran away from you this morning.”
“I was there. You did run away from me.”
“I didn’t run away from you.”
“I get it, already. You don’t want a relationship.”
“Wrong. I wouldn’t have asked you out if I didn’t want a relationship.”
“You said you could only offer me a one-night stand.”
“That was then. This is now.”
“But—”
“I screwed up this morning. I admit it. Isla’s question about becoming her dad reminded me of everything I thought I had with Vicki and everything she tore away and I lost it. But I promise you, it won’t happen again.”
She raises her eyebrows in disbelief. “You said all women betray you.”
“And you pointed out what an asshat I was to think that.”
“It is pretty stupid to paint all women with the same brush.”
But it’s okay for her to paint all men with the same brush because of how her parents and Isla’s dad abandoned her? Someone’s being a hypocrite but – despite my actions this morning – I’m not a stupid man.
Instead of telling her, I’ll show her she can rely on me, unlike the men in her past.
“I promise I’ll do my best not to let my past ruin my future.”
She gasps and tries to retreat a step. “Future?”
Who’s running now?
“Future,” I insist.
Her eyes dart around as if seeking an escape but she blows out a breath and straightens her back. There’s my firecracker.
“We can take it day by day,” I offer.
“Okay.” She nods. “Day by day.”
