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He glances at me. “Are you alright?”
“No.”
Immediately, concern flickers across his face. “What—”
“I won’t be okay until you know that I don’t think any less of you because of what James said. I know it’s been bothering you.”
He gives me a fleeting look. “What gave you that idea?”
“You’ve barely looked at me since dinner.” Putting on a pout, I add, “You said once that youlikelooking at me.”
One corner of his mouth twitches until a smile breaks through. A little humor always gets him to relax.
“I do. Very much.”
Back in serious mode, I tell him, “I know you thought I’d be turned off because of yourjuvenilerecord. I can’t believe you’d even entertain that idea.”
He sighs heavily. “I should have known James would throw my stints in jail in my face. He does every chance he gets. I should have told you but I didn’t want you to think the worst—”
“Don’t even say it. Even if Melanie didn’t explain things, I’d never think the worst of you. I know the man you are.”
He frowns. “Mel should have stayed out of it.”
“She felt the need to explain because she wanted to defend your character, which I told her wasn’t necessary. So what if you threw a few punches at your stepfather when you were a teenager?”
He glances at me with raised eyebrows. “It’s wrong, Grace. That’s a crime.”
I scoff. “He deserved every one of them.”
Rowan lets out a laugh. “What? Are you condoning my criminal past?”
“Oh, stop being so dramatic. You don’t have a criminal past. And I’m not condoning violence, but James is the worst. Hell, I’ve known the man for five minutes andIwant to punch him,” I grumble.
The deep, musical laughter that I love to hear fills the car. It’s contagious, making me grin.
He sobers. “I was afraid your opinion of me would change. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this out loud, but Ilikethe way you look at me.”
“How do I look at you?”
When he glances my way again, the slightest hint of pink highlights his cheeks. I’m amazed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him blush.
“With admiration. It fills this void I’ve had since I was a kid. Makes me feel like I’m worth something... to you.”
My breath hitches as I fight back a wave of emotions. Each time I get a hint of the effect his mother’s antics had on him, I hate her a little more. He lets down a little more of the wall he erected around himself every day. Forme.
I know he’s uncomfortable with this level of expressing what he feels, so I play it cool. “You mean a hell of a lot to me, Rowan.”
He smiles and reaches for my hand on the center console. Our fingers entwine, and he plants a kiss on the back of my hand.
“Don’t feel bad about your past,” I tell him. “The only thing I got from hearing about it is that you were defending the women in your life. So, you’vealwaysbeen a hero.”
He gives me a raised-eyebrow look but smiles. I practically see all the tension leave his body.
*****
My giggles echo aroundthe living room of my apartment—the one I’ve been borrowing from Rowan.
He scowls at me, and I laugh harder.
