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“What doubt? That picture says it all,” he said.
“That picture says just what Maverick wanted it to say,” she countered. His eyes were shuttered, his mouth tight and grim, and every inch of his tall, muscular body looked rigid with tension. She wasn’t reaching him and she knew why. This wasn’t Maverick and his nasty tricks. This went back much farther than that.
“This all comes back to Sasha,” she said tightly.
“It has nothing to do with her.” Toby stalked across the room, as if he needed some distance from her. As if shutting her out wasn’t enough. Then he turned around to face Naomi. “She’s gone. Been gone for years.”
“And she took your heart with her,” Naomi said, though it cost her to admit it.
“Please.” He snorted.
“I’m not saying you’re still in love with her,” she said, voice c
old as steel. “I’m saying that the part of you that was willing to trust, to take a risk, left with her. You loved her, and she walked out.”
“I don’t need the recap,” he said. “I was there.”
“Yes, me too,” she reminded him. “I was there for you. I saw what you did to yourself to get past her. You closed off a part of your heart. Your soul. You didn’t want to trust anyone because you were afraid to be hurt again.”
“Afraid? I’m not afraid.”
“Come on, Toby,” she said. “At least be honest.”
“Oh, like you?” he asked with a snort of derisive laughter.
She winced, because even she knew she’d had that shot coming.
“Today was the first time I’ve ever lied to you, Toby, and I didn’t like it. You know me. So whatever it is you’re feeling right now isn’t about me meeting with Gio.”
“Is that so? Then what is it about, Naomi?”
“It’s about you using Maverick’s photo as an excuse to back away from me before I get too close.”
If anything, his features tightened even further. “That’s bull.”
“Is it?” She stomped across the room, stopped right in front of him, tipped her head back and looked into his dark, angry eyes. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Well, okay,” she admitted, “I should have told you that I was meeting Gio today.”
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
“But,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken at all, “other than that, I’ve done nothing to earn your mistrust, Toby. You’re my friend. My lover. The man I trust to be a father to my baby.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched furiously, but he didn’t speak. That was fine by Naomi, because she wasn’t finished.
“Sasha hurt you so badly you don’t trust anybody.”
“I trusted you,” he said quietly. “Look where that got me.”
“You didn’t. Not really.” Funny, she was only just seeing it now. “You’ve been holding back all along. Waiting for something to go wrong. For me to screw up. To prove to you that I was no better than Sasha.”
“Not true.”
“Of course it’s true,” she snapped. “My mistake was playing into it. I was afraid to tell you how I really felt because I thought you’d shut me out even more if you knew.”
His eyes narrowed. “Knew what?”
“I should have told you in California, when I realized it for the first time,” she admitted. “I love you, Toby. I’m in love with you.”
“I don’t want to hear this.”
