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I start to get up and he grabs my hand, stopping me from walking away.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I don’t even know how to answer him, so I just shrug my shoulders and bite my cheek. “Hey, come here,” he says as he pulls me onto his lap. “Look at me.”
I do and he takes my arms wrapping them around his neck. He blows out a breath like he is nervous and gives me a tight smile.
“I need you to know that everything I told you last night is the truth. I want so badly to make you happy.”
I’m right. He’s going to ask me to leave.
“But?”
“But what I didn’t tell you is that I’m trying to get custody of the girls.” I give him a huge smile, but he doesn’t return it. “The thing is I haven’t told anyone. They all keep telling me to get custody, but I don’t want to disappoint anyone if it doesn’t happen.”
“Braden, I understand. I’d never say a word to anyone,” I say, still not understanding why he has this serious expression.
“I appreciate that, but that’s not the thing.” He closes his eyes briefly before looking at me again. “With me seeking custody, I need to be careful. Sarah, my ex, will do everything in her power to make sure I don’t get my girls. If she knew that I was with anyone, she’d make it hell.”
I smile and look into his concerned eyes. “Braden, believe me when I tell you that there is nothing your ex could throw at me that I couldn’t handle.” It is the truth. I’ve already lived in hell, been treated like a whore, and called every imaginable insult. “I’m stronger than you give me credit for.”
Leaning forward he captures my lips in a sweet, slow kiss and it gets my heart pounding. He pulls back just enough to look into my eyes and says, “I am learning how strong you are, and it is sexy as fuck. I just don’t want you to resent me when things go bad because believe me, they are going to go bad.”
I don’t know what he wants here. Does he want me to just walk away? That kiss tells me, no, but the words say something else. Truth, he wants the truth.
“In the past, after the sex, comes the dismissal. I don’t know what the future holds for me, for you, for us, but right now I want to live in the moment,” I say with nerves swimming in my stomach.
What else can I possibly say to him? I feel these things I’ve never felt before. He makes me feel beautiful, smart, and even after just one night with him, I feel special. I’m not sure where the hell any of this is going, so I kiss him. I kiss him with everything that I have, hopefully relaying without words how he makes me feel.
Cupping my face, he rubs my right cheek with his thumb. “You’ve just been with the wrong guys because I can tell you any real man would never do that. I would never do that. If I didn’t want you here, I wouldn’t have invited you, I wouldn’t have had sex with you and I wouldn’t have asked you to stay the night. I want you here McKinley, I want you here more than you’ll probably ever understand.”
I feel tears swimming in my eyes, so I kiss him again. He sinks his fingers into my hair, and I melt into him. It’s slow, sweet, and dare I say full of promise.
When we break the kiss, he smiles at me and says, “I want to do things at your pace, but if we are going to do this, I need to know you want this.” I smile and just as I’m asbout to speak he presses a finger to my lips. “I’m not saying we need to know where this is going in a week, month or year. I just want to know that you are willing to give us a chance as a couple, even with the crazy shit that could be thrown our way.”
I would swear I feel him shaking with nerves saying this to me, but it may be the cool wind. Giving him a tight smile, I say, “Braden, you told me you want the truth so here it is. I want this so bad. I want to know what it’s like to be in a real relationship. Be with a guy that truly wants to be with me, laugh, and actually mean it. I want to make you happy, but I’m scared.”
He rubs his hands up and down my back and kisses me quickly. “I’m scared too, but if you are willing, we can be scared together.”
If I’m jumping in, I’m doing it with both feet. I want this with him, so fucking bad. With my mind made up I smile at him.
“I’m more than willing.”
After a few hours, I had to leave since I am working tonight. London has been so generous not only letting me live in her house but giving me this job. Most days I work during the day, but since I am the new girl, when coverage is needed, I’m not given much of a choice. It’s money though and I’m earning it respectfully.
I didn’t want to leave Braden’s, but since I have this smile hasn’t left my face. I’m sure people are looking at me like I’m crazy and truthfully, I don’t care. I’m happy, for the first time in my life things are falling into place for me. I’ve got a decent job, started modeling, live in a beautiful home, all because of Blake. Adding Braden to it all makes it, dare I say, perfect.
“McKinley, your order is up. You better go grab it before London has your ass tomorrow,” one of the girls I work with says, pulling me out of my happy thoughts. I get the food for my table and rush to serve them.
I can’t wait to get home and take a hot shower. My feet are killing me from being on them all night. I check my phone and see I only have a half-hour to go. I also notice I have a text message from Braden.
Braden: Hope your night at work is good.
Me: We’ve been busy, so it’s going fast.
He gets back to me i
mmediately and I feel like a damn teenager.
Braden: When do you get off?
