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“Good. You can waste your time seeing I’m telling you the truth about the gold being gone, but I’d get on the phone with the FBI if I were you.” Jace pushed the end button.
Ayla stared at him for half a second, and then she flung herself against him.
Jace wrapped her up in his strong arms and simply held her.
“Thank you,” she whispered into his neck, gazing up at him. “You protected me.”
Jace had protected her in multiple ways, stood up to Bryan, and even threatened her boss for her.
“Ayla.” Jace slid his hands up to her neck, gently cupping her jawline. She quivered from his touch and the depth of meaning in his dark eyes. “Promise me you won’t get anywhere near that scum.”
Her eyes widened. “I’ll have to go back to work on Tuesday.”
“No.” He shook his head, and his voice and expression were firm. Nobody would dare argue with him right now. “I understand if you have to go back to be with your family, but you have to stay far away from Bryan and his business.”
“My debts,” she managed.
His thumbs traced along her cheeks, distracting her. She didn’t think he knew what he was asking of her.
“We’ll figure it out. Together. I promise you. But you have to stay safe, and you have to stay away from him.”
“We?” Her stomach lifted in a happy dance at that term.
“Yes.” He nodded, determined, tough, and in charge. He was irresistible in so many ways and somehow he was promising to keep her safe and help her figure things out with her debts. Even if she’d turned him down for his job offer and girlfriend offer. His kindness and determination meant the world to her. She could never take a handout from him, but having someone like Jace on her team, helping her figure things out that she, her parents, and Taryn hadn’t been able to solve, sounded incredible.
“Together,” he reaffirmed. “Do you trust me?”
She stared at him, and she could hardly believe it, but she did. She trusted this insanely perfect man. “I do. Jace … I absolutely do trust you.”
A slow smile curved his lips.
Ayla pressed onto her tiptoes and kissed that smile. Jace returned the kiss, then he tilted her head and took the kiss to a new level. Ayla was soaring with the wonderful warmth and tingles his lips created.
He slowed the kisses down and rested his forehead against hers. “I trust you too, Ayla. The connection between us is incredible. I never thought I’d feel like this. That I’d want to be with someone like this.”
She stared at him. She agreed, but still had no idea how they could be together. It was time to trust him completely, though. She took his hand and led him to the couch. “I have a long story to tell you, Jace.”
His eyes were concerned, but he nodded and sat by her side. “Okay.”
She launched into her ugly marriage details—marrying Tim and thinking he was a good guy, his death and all the debts he’d put in her name and accrued from his gambling. She told him how Tim had repeatedly cheated on her. The betrayal of the marriage she’d thought they had. The way her light and zest for life had been doused, though she’d fought to be positive. She admitted that Jace had restored her impulsive happiness, and he gave her a long kiss. Then she had to explain about the overwhelming pressure of the debt and her responsibility to care for her grandma. How her sister had been killed, she’d lost one of her best friends, and how her parents couldn’t lose their only surviving child.
He listened, intensely focused on her and every detail. Then he wrapped her up and held her close. She found tears pricking her eyes. So much hope and love she never thought she’d feel again.
Love?
She needed to remove that word from her brain, but ah, Jace. If only they didn’t live in different worlds. If only they could date and have a chance. A long-distance relationship would be hard, but if he’d be willing to try it, she would as well. Anything to keep Jace in her life.
He kissed her forehead, and she felt safe and comfortable. She could hardly believe everything she’d revealed to him. Her family and friends knew the story because they’d lived it, but she’d never told anyone else about Tim or Shayna, especially a date. But Jace was already much more than a date.
“I’m sorry for all you’ve been through,” Jace murmured. “Tim must’ve had some kind of disorder to live a double life like that.”
“That’s what his mom claimed after he died and the truth came out. She said they never told me because he was a better person with me, and they thought I was helping him and didn’t want me to leave him. I don’t know. I think I was the idiot to fall for him and believe his lies, but even my parents, Taryn, Shayna, and my grandma thought he was a good guy.”
Jace tilted her chin up. “This is not on you, Ayla. You’re perfect. He was the idiot to be given a gift like marrying you and not only miss out on you, but to hurt and betray you. And his parents should’ve told you the truth.”
Tears pricked at her eyes again. “Thank you, Jace. It’s rough to go through something like that. It makes you question your worth and your ability to be inspired from heaven. You blame yourself and think you must’ve done something wrong.”
“I know.” He nodded. “Believe me, I know.”
