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“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Graham.”
She felt him shift, and suddenly she was looking into his green eyes.
“It’s my fault. I had a feeling something was wrong with Darin. I should have never left you with him. It was wrong of me to do. I deserve to be fired.”
Shay’s breath hitched in her throat as his hand cupped the side of her face.
“I let you down, Shaylyn, but I will prove every day that I can protect you until that redeems me in your eyes.”
They both stared at each other, her eyes becoming hazy.
“Darin wasn’t random. He was a guy I was off and on with when my career was just starting. I ignored him, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Shay had never revealed this to Graham, and she focused on the dull carpet beneath her bare feet.
“It was just for fun. I was running wild and he was a bad boy. My management warned me about him, but I didn’t listen. I ended up pregnant.”
Graham stiffened against her, and she closed her eyes, afraid of his reaction.
“I wasn’t ready to raise a child. I had an abortion and cut him off. He obviously hadn’t gotten over it. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was best for me at the time. I don’t trust anyone else more in this world than you. It was my fault.”
Fear echoed in her lungs. She felt him shift, and his fingers moved under her chin and tilted her head back.
“It’s not your fault, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She couldn’t look away from his piercing green eyes.
“Is that why you want to do RoeFest and why you helped those girls?”
Her lips parted, and her heart slammed against her rib cage.
“I saw myself in Jenny. I should have told you this sooner, but I didn’t want you to look down on me too. It’s bad enough you view me as that same wild twenty-three-year-old. It’s why Barney and the label have been strict with me.”
His hand traced the side of her face and involuntarily her eyes shut. “I’m sorry, Shay, that you had to experience that trauma, but I’m glad you made the best choice for yourself. You should have had people around you supporting you rather than judging.”
Graham gently ran his fingers through her curls, his voice soft. “I would never look at you differently. Not with the way I feel about you.”
A breeze could have tipped her over at his words.
“How do you feel about me?”
He chuckled darkly. “I’ve fought like hell to keep my hands to myself because I know if you let me, I’m a goner.”
It felt as if the air had been vacuumed out of the room.
“G-Graham,” she gasped.
He drew her closer, and her hands settled on his broad chest. Then he kissed her.
She’d been dreaming about his kiss for years. It was just as blissful as she’d expected. She melted against him as their tongues met and desire heated. Craving ignited into sparks as they slid slowly back against the bed, and she drew him over her.
Those were the last words spoken that night. She knew this moment would forever be ingrained in her memory.
And she never wanted to go back to the way things were before.
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