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I stomp to the refrigerator and grab two bottles of beer. I take a gulp from one to give me some Dutch courage for this conversation. It doesn’t help. I take another gulp before the bottle is taken from me.
“There’s no need to be afraid. I won’t tell anyone your deep, dark secrets,” he says and then mutters, “unlike you.”
“Hey! I didn’t tell anyone your secrets.” It’s true. I didn’t. Wally’s the one who uncovered the secrets. I may have talked to Liz about Grayson’s guilt, but I didn’t tell anyone else about it. Except maybe I did tell the girls. Well, shit.
Grayson takes my hand and leads me back to the couch. He forces me to sit. “Come on. It can’t be that bad.”
I snort. Easy for him to say. I take a deep breath and dive in.
“I was dating this guy, Toby. We dated all through college. After we graduated, we talked about starting the micro-brewery together and getting married. I thought it was a done deal. I bought this house for us.”
“For all the babies,” Grayson growls. What is he growling about?
“Except it turned out Toby didn’t want children. At least, that’s what he told me after we’d been together for years. I was devastated, but I loved him, you know. I wasn’t going to break up with him because he didn’t want children.”
Grayson chuckles. “And you thought you could break him down over time.”
I don’t bother denying it. He’s right. I figured once Toby and I were married, he’d change his mind.
“Anyway, he asks me to marry him, and I am over the moon. Literally, over the moon. Of course, I say yes.”
I fall silent. This time it’s Grayson who doesn’t have any patience.
“What happened?”
“Something felt off. Call it a hunch, call it women’s intuition, call it what you will, but I knew something was wrong. I went to Hailey who was substitute teaching drama classes at the time and asked her to look into it. It took her less than a day to find out Toby had another woman. Another woman who was pregnant. Mr. I Will Never Want Children got another woman pregnant while engaged to me!”
Grayson gathers me into his arms.
“I’m sorry, Precious. But he’s not worth your tears.”
I push him away. “I’m not crying.” It’s true. I’m not. My eyes may have welled up, but no tears were shed this day by Suzie. “Now do you understand why I don’t do relationships?”
“Are you going to hit me if I say no?”
I narrow my eyes on him, but I don’t hit him. “Let me spell it out for you. Men betray you. I can’t handle getting my heart broken again.”
“I get it. You’re protecting your heart.”
“Yes.” Finally, he gets it.
“But, Munchkin, the best way to protect your heart is to give it to me. I will guard and protect it with my life.”
He is out of his danged mind if he thinks I’m giving my heart to him. Adult Suzie clears her throat and lifts one eyebrow, oh, so slowly. Shit. She’s right. I may be lying to myself. My heart is already longing to be his. Nope. I can’t allow it to happen. I shake my head at his crazy ass.
His grin is sly. “It’s okay. I’m patient.”
