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That was a terrible answer. He should have been apologizing, not doubling down. Squeezing her hands around her arms, trying to stay calm and strong, she said, “First, his hands were notall over me. I hurt my shoulder picking up a box that was heavier than I thought. Zach was in here when I did it, and he was helping me work out the kink. That was it. But more importantly, it was innocent because I say it was, and that should be enough for you. If youtrustedme, then you’d have known it was innocent from the start. If you don’t trust me, I don’t know what we’re doing.” She hesitated, then added, because it had to be true and she needed the words to make it true, “But I do know we won’t be doing it anymore. Not without trust.”
How many times had she assured him that she trusted him—specifically trusted him not to hurt her? Had he ever returned that assurance? Had he ever suggested that he also trusted her? Well, now was the time.
She waited, eyes still locked with his, and willed him to say the right thing, to relax and come to her and apologize, to tell her ofcoursehe trusted her. To promise he’d never do that again. She’d believe him this time. She’d forgive him. This time. If he apologized.
But he merely stood there, his breath finally calming but his fists still clenched, his brow still tightly pleated, his expression showing the vestige of his murderous snarl.
Kelsey stood for a few more seconds, slowly understanding that he wasn’t going to talk to her. She thought about asking him directly if he trusted her, framing it so the need for an answer was obvious, but decided against it. It was already obvious. He was ignoring it.
A week. Christmas to New Year’s. One week of a relationship. It shouldn’t hurt this much to lose something so new.
“Okay,” she said and left him standing in the middle of the club kitchen.
~oOo~
The next few minutes were critical. Kelsey had to get out of the clubhouse without any member of her family—her immediate family and several key members of her extended family—noticing. And she had to hold back the threatening storm of tears so that no one saw Maverick Helm’s daughter sobbing her way through the revelers.
She could slip out the side door and go straight to her car; the people who mingled in the parking lot were usually fringey hangers-on, so they wouldn’t notice her as anyone in particular. But no—her coat and bag were locked in her father’s locker, which was near the front door. The coat she could survive without. Her keys, sadly, were in her bag.
Okay. Through the party room, then.
Sidling along the edges of the crowd, she managed to get to the locker room with nothing more than a few smiles at people she knew. She went to her dad’s locker, spun the combination, dug her coat out from under her mom’s and was good to go.
But when she turned, her dad stood in the doorway. “Hey. You okay, pix? Dunc said he saw you trying to sneak away. And Zach got bloodied up somehow. I don’t know what that’s about, but he might need some help.”
Pulling up the last dregs of her calm and shoring it up with her emphatic need not to have a thing with her father right now, Kelsey smiled. “I saw Zach. He wants his mom to help him out. And I’m okay. My head hurts, though, so I’m going to bail tonight.”
“Yeah?” Frowning, he came to her. He brushed a hand across her forehead and bent down to kiss her there. “It’s New Year’s. I don’t want you to be alone on New Year’s. Get Dex to take you home. I’ll ask your mom to drive your car over tomorrow.” He grinned his dad-joke grin and added, “Or I’ll ask Hannah. She needs some learner’s miles.”
Kelsey found a laugh for that. “That little monster is not getting behind the wheel of my car under any circumstances. No, I’m okay. I just want to go home, get in bed and be on my own.”
She’d wanted her first real New Year’s kiss ever tonight. She shoved that thought into the corner before it set the tears free.
“Okay.” Her dad cupped her face and peered into her eyes. “You sure there’s nothing else goin’ on?”
“I’m good, Daddy. Really.”
“Okay.” Releasing her face, he instead wrapped her up in a hug.
And that, feeling her daddy’s arms snug around her, almost blew the whole thing apart. God, how she wanted to cling to him and sob right now. But she held firm.
“Happy New Year, pixie girl. I’m so proud of you.”
“Happy New Year, Daddy. I’m proud of you, too.”
She kissed the grey stubble on his cheek, and he stepped back.
He walked her to the door and watched her go.
For all she knew, Dex was still standing alone in the kitchen.
~oOo~
When Kelsey got home, Mr. Darcy greeted her at the door as usual. His fuzzy corgi butt bounced and shimmied happily, and she needed comfort so badly that she dropped to the floor right at the door and grabbed him up in her arms. Mr. D gave good hug; he tucked his snout under her hair and soaked up the love.
Kelsey had cried on the drive and thought she was done, but now the floodgates opened again. She buried her face in her dog’s fur and wept.
Eventually, even Mr. D couldn’t handle so much emotion. He squirmed free of her hold and wandered off toward the living room, probably wanting to go out. So Kelsey rolled to her feet, went to the slider—where, yes, the dog waited with his nose on the glass—and let him out.
