Page 192 of When a Soul Cries

There was a me and him.

Even if neither of us knew what it was yet.

I appreciated his honesty more than he probably realized.

“But I’m also not gonna build a relationship with your daughter and then act like she disposable.”

My throat tightened.

I nodded slowly.

But there was another question sitting behind my teeth.

*What about me?*

I didn't ask it.

I wasn't ready to hear the answer.

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then I looked around the room.

At his house.

At Halo in his arms.

At the clothes he bought me.

At everything I had allowed myself to accept for seven days.

Maybe getting a job wasn't only about money anymore.

Maybe I needed something that belonged to me because too many pieces of my life were beginning to wrap themselves around Rome.

“I need a job.”

Rome’s eyes narrowed.

“No.”

I stared at him.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

A laugh slipped out because surely this man had lost his mind.

“You don’t get to tell me no.”

“You been here seven days.”

“And?”

“Seven days ago, you were sleeping in a motel.”

“I remember.”