Page 3 of Flawless

“Because I was left alone a lot as a kid. And it’s scary.” His blue eyes softened with sympathy, and that pissed me off. “I don’t need your pity.” I pushed him away and climbed off the stool. “Lots of people have a sad story. It’s no big deal.”

He grabbed my hand in one of his, and our two bottles with the other, before leading me to the sofa. “Well, I’ve got all night. And I want to hear your sad story.” He slipped his jacket off and sank into the cushions before patting the seat next to him. “And you did say talking was allowed, so let’s talk.”

Uh oh. This felt like trouble.

Chapter Two

Cameron

No idea what possessed me to show up on a gorgeous stranger’s doorstep tonight, but here I was, making myself comfortable on her couch, asking to hear her life story.

It could have been the fear still coursing through my veins, feeling a lot like adrenaline, after my sister’s abduction.

It could have been the fact I hadn’t been able to get Rylee’s unforgettable doll-face out of my head since I laid eyes on her.

Or it could have been my years in law enforcement, and that finely tuned radar that always tipped me off when someone needed my help.

“You don’t have any siblings?” I asked, easing into the conversation about her childhood, sensing the haunted look in her baby blues was rooted that far back.

She shook her head. “Uh no, according to my mama I shouldn’t have been born either.” She winced and I reached for her hand. “Sorry, she’s been out of my life for a while. It shouldn’t matter anymore.”

I’d met dozens of young women like Rylee over the years, in my line of work. Who felt abandoned by their parents and didn’t have anywhere else to turn. Some wound up selling their bodies or getting into abusive relationships. Thankfully, Rylee had a talent that took her far away from the hell she’d grown up in.

“But it does matter,” I said. “Hearing that from your own mother, how can it not?” I wanted her to know that I heard her and understood, because I’d been the shoulder a lot of young girls had cried on when they’d had no one else to turn to.

She closed her eyes and I could tell she was drawing on some inner strength that had been honed long before it should have been. “She was a drug-addicted mess,” she said, shaking her head in disgust. “She was right, she never should have had me.”

“But I’m glad she did.”

I’d never even heard this woman’s name until earlier tonight, but I was sincerely grateful her mama had done one right thing in her life, by bringing this girl into the world. And giving me a chance to meet her. Because this starlet was making me feel things I hadn’t felt in years.

“Why?” she asked, looking wary.

She’d been so honest and vulnerable with me, I had no choice but to do the same. I had a feeling real and raw emotions would be the foundation of this relationship, if it was allowed to build beyond tonight.

“If she hadn’t had you then we wouldn’t be sitting here. I wouldn’t be wrestling with these feelings that are making me feel more alive than I’ve felt in a hell of a long time.”

Her smile was slight when she said, “I like that I’m not the only one. Tell me about your ex. The one who cheated on you.”

I didn’t have to ask her how she knew about that. Obviously, my little sister with the big mouth had filled her in.

“Since you’re willing to open up about your past, I guess I have to do the same, huh?” I sighed and stretched my arm across the back of the sofa behind her head. “We’d been dating a couple of years⁠—”

“What did she do?”

“Managed a bank.”

She fake-yawned behind her hand before grinning at me. “Sorry, go on.”

“I was into her.” There was a flash in Rylee’s eyes I couldn’t decipher. “Thought I might marry her. Then I found out she cheated on me with one of my deputies.” It still stung to think about that betrayal. “So, I ended it.”

“And she let you go just like that?”

I shook my head. “No, she’s still trying to get me back.”

Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes narrowed before she reached for my phone in the front pocket of my jean jacket. “Does she follow you on social media?”

“Uh yeah, why?”