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“Oh fuck.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”
“I really can’t but I have some horrible ideas.”
“Well, I was kidnapped and drugged and carted down to Vegas where they intended to sell me as a sex slave or something. But Heath and his brothers all came and rescued me.”
“Jesus, Rayma …”
“I’m not proud of what I did. People died. Bad people, but people nonetheless. Shortly after that Pasha found out she was pregnant and decided to move to Victoria, but Joy had already ‘adopted’ me as hers, which is why I call her my fairy godmother because she really did save me. She brought me to live with her so I could finish my final year of high school. She gave me the rules but also the freedom I needed to not rebel, unlike my parents. But I was also scared stupid for a really long time and didn’t leave my room for months.”
“Fuck.” He glanced at her. “You really have seen some shit, haven’t you?”
She nodded, squeezed her molars together, and swallowed passed the spikey lump in her throat.
“You’re not all right, right now, are you?” He turned and cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb just below her eye. “You’re doing everything you possibly can to hold it together. But you’re still really triggered when you have to talk about it.” All she could do was nod. Her bottom lip trembled so she rolled it inward. He moved his thumb to pull her lip free and the first tear fell. “Oh, baby,” he said softly, tightening his hold on her. “I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t mean to bring it all up again.”
She shook her head and sniffled. “I’ve wanted to tell someone for a long time, but I just haven’t felt comfortable. I needed to get it out.” She wiped beneath her eyes. “But now I feel like I’ve killed the mood.”
“I’m glad you feel comfortable enough with me to tell me. And I’m sorry that happened to you, baby. So sorry.” With a slight nudge, he encouraged her to roll on top of him, her hair falling around their faces creating a curtain just their own.
He pressed his forehead to hers. “Never be afraid to tell me anything, okay? I want to know every part of you. The good, the bad, the sad, the happy. This is a part of your past and has shaped who you are now. Thank you for sharing that part of yourself with me.”
A hot tear dripped from her onto his cheek as she nodded. “I think I’m falling for you, Lassie.”
His grin took her breath away. “I’ve been falling for you since the moment I met you. I’m glad we’re finally on the same page.”
Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Presentday…
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Whose doing was this? Yours or Joy’s?”
Jordan stowed his grin before he turned around to greet a very pissed-off Rayma. “A bit of both?”
She rolled her eyes and elbowed him and the pineapple, brown paper bag and bouquet of flowers he carried out of the way, getting in front of him and opening the door to Joy and Grant’s house. It was Thanksgiving and the entire Hart family was present and accounted for inside the house. Big black trucks lined the street on either side and the sound of kids playing and squealing echoed through the neighborhood from the backyard.
“What part of,have a nice lifedid you not understand?” she asked, stepping into the house. She had a Tupperware container balanced on one hand and kept her boots on as she vacated the foyer. He could tell by the color and shape of the contents through the translucent container that Rayma had brought Nanaimo bars. His belly rumbled and his mouth watered.
“I am trying to do just that,” he said, following her, a bouquet of flowers with fall colors in one hand while a loaf of crusty bread he’d made that morning was tucked in a paper bag under his arm. “I’m trying to have a nice life with the woman I love.”
She shot him a glare over her shoulder as she entered the kitchen to where Joy was busy fussing over the stove with Pasha and Lydia chopping stuff up at the counter.
“There he is,” Joy trilled, abandoning her gravy and giving Jordan a big hug.
“For you,” he said, handing her the flowers. “And I also made myfamousFrench bread for dinner.” He shot Joy a wink. For the year he’d dated Rayma he and Joy had a friendly competition over who could make a better French loaf. They had the family do many blind taste tests, and it was almost always a tie.
She chuckled and accepted the flowers and bread from him. “Food for the pups, perfect, thank you, Jordan.” She turned to put it all on the counter, but not before giving him a wink.
He grinned at her, then held out the pineapple to Rayma. “For you.”
She glared at him. “I threw the other one off a cliff, what makes you think this one won’t meet the same fate?”
He shrugged and set the pineapple down on the counter. “Hope?”
Her glare intensified, so did his smile. Then he shot her a wink and took off to make his rounds and say hello to everyone else in the kitchen, Lydia, Pasha and Rex when he came in.
