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He placed a tender kiss on her lips. But then, just as she let out a small sigh, feeling the hunger still there, despite everything, he drew away and let her go.
Sinking his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, he took a step back. He dropped his chin to his chest, looking more nervous than she had ever seen him—and yet more open, too.
‘You need to know...’ He huffed out a breath. ‘I didn’t tell you the truth either.’
‘About what?’ she said.
‘I told you I didn’t remember my old man...’
His gaze met hers, and what she saw in his eyes had her heart thundering into her throat before he looked away again.
‘It’s not true. He was sent to the pen just after I was born. But he came back when he’d served his time. Just arrived at our trailer one day, out of the blue. I was fifteen, and I already hated him, but she thought...’
His shoulders rose and fell, and the pain in his face when he hesitated seared Cassie’s insides.
‘My mama...she thought he had come back because he loved her. Because she had never stopped loving him. He beat the crap out of her...’
Luke touched his thumb to the small scar that bisected his eyebrow, the one that she’d wondered about often, and she realised that his mother wasn’t the only one who had been hurt.
‘And he took the money we’d been saving to put a down payment on a house.’
‘Oh, Luke, he sounds like a hideous man...’ she murmured.
‘He was.’ He glanced up, then stared back at his toes. ‘But the hell of it was she refused to press charges... Because she didn’t want to screw up his parole.’
His head rose again, and his eyes were fierce and unguarded for the first time since she’d known him. She could see it all now. The pain, the regret, the fury and the deep grief—for his mother and for the love she’d had for a man who didn’t deserve it.
‘I’m so sorry, Luke,’ she said, reaching up to cradle his cheek.
She wanted to soothe, wanted t
o destroy the demons that still lurked in his eyes the way he had destroyed hers. Was this why it had been so important for him not to feel anything? Not to trust her or any feelings he might have for her?
‘He sounds like an even bigger bastard than my father,’ she added. ‘And that’s saying something.’
‘Ain’t that the truth?’
He chuckled. The sound was rough and raw, but still her heart swelled and beat heavily against her ribs.
He gripped her hand, brought her fingers to his lips and kissed the palm. ‘But I don’t care about him any more, or what he did. Do you know why?’
‘No,’ she said, her wayward heart beating double-time at the look in his eyes. Not just approval, not just arousal, but so much more.
‘Because I finally figured something out. A part of me always blamed her for being a sap, for falling for a guy who didn’t love her back. I swore I would never be so dumb. Which was why, when I started falling for you, I did every damn thing I could to try and deny it.’
‘You... You fell for me?’ Her heart slammed into her throat.
‘Yeah... I think I started falling the first moment I spotted you at Matt and Remy’s wedding. Busy chewing off your lipstick like your life depended on it.’
He rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip and she realised she was doing it again. ‘Really?’ she asked, because she couldn’t believe it. Love at first sight was actually a thing?
‘Yeah, really.’ He chuckled again. ‘Why are you so surprised?’
‘Because... But why did you?’ she said, still not quite able to let go of the fear that had always consumed her as a child. That she wasn’t good enough—would never be worthy of love.
He laughed, the sound low and husky this time, and hot enough to warm the last of the cold, empty spaces that still lurked in her heart.
‘Well, that’s the easy part.’ He brushed his thumb across her cheek. ‘Because you’re smart and cute and loyal and honest—’
