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“But?”
“As always, it’s too much,” she says with another sigh, as though talking about the future—our future—is too big a demand.
“It’s notthatmuch, Lace, and we need to do this before the baby comes. You’ll want to get the nursery set up, and you can decorate however you want—any room. Hell, every room.”
“And once again, you’re not listening to me.” Her sudden sharpness steals my breath. “I said it’s too much. I meant it’stoo much. It was bad enough looking at rentals, but buying a place…buyingthisplace… I can’t afford to pay for half of it. Heck, I can’t even afford the tub.”
Money. I should have known. It always comes down to money with her.
“I don’t expect you to pay for any of it. I can afford it. I told you I take care of what’s mine. Why won’t you just let me take care of you like you deserve?”
She growls—actually fucking growls—like a feral beast. Her teeth are bared, and her eyes flash murder. She’s wild, incensed, the sexist fucking thing I’ve ever seen…
And so far from being on the same page as me, it’s painful.
“For the last time…” She pads forward until she’s close enough to jab her finger to my chest. “I do not need you or anyone else to take care of me.”
Each word is punctuated by a stab of that single, delicate digit, and it slowly shreds my heart. “What I deserve is for you to respect my wishes and quit throwing money at me like it’ll solve all your problems. Just because you’ve got the cash doesn’t mean you need to flaunt it all over the place, and especially not around me.”
All my problems?Flaunting? “What the hell are you talking about?”
Her lips mash together in a tight line, and she withdraws, attempting to skitter backward, away from me. “Nothing.”
Like lightning, I’m on her, catching her around the middle. With her arms trapped between us, I crush her body to mine. Soft, sensuous curves mold to me, and despite her reluctance and the dread brewing in my belly, I’m instantly hard.
My lips itch to claim hers, ravishing until she yields. To taste the lust as it burns between us, and coax the truth from her petulant mouth.
God, what this woman does to me.
On a deep breath, I inhale her rousing scent and attempt to calm my jangling nerves. “I need you to look me in the eye and tell me the truth.”
In pure Lacy fashion, she does the complete opposite of what I’ve requested and closes her eyes. She squeezes them tightly, wincing as though the truth is too harrowing to even consider.
“Tell me.” My voice is a razored demand—too harsh, too urgent, too late to take it back.
Now her eyes snap open, the dark orbs pinning me in a defiant glare. “You have no idea what it’s like to come from nothing. To be so close to the bottom there’s nowhere left to fall.”
My arms tighten around her, the truth I so desperately wanted tugging at my possessive heart.
“Do you know how impossible it is to climb your way out of that?” she asks. “Especially when the people you’re leaving behind want nothing more than to pull you back down to rot with them?”
“You think I’ve never been dragged down by others?”
“It’s not the same.” Her voice softens to barely a whisper, but it’s still laced with cynicism. “You’ll never understand.”
“Not if you don’t give me the opportunity to try.” I shift my hold, cupping her face and stroking my thumb along the temptation of her plump bottom lip.
Her eyes narrow on me, but I refuse to wither under her fierce gaze. “I want to understand. There’s nothing I want more than to make your life easier—to take care of you and our baby. But if you keep locking me out like this, pushing me away instead of explaining… You’re not giving me a chance.”
This time her sigh sounds a bit like defeat, yet the crease of her brow only intensifies. “I had an unexpected visit from mymother a few weeks ago, and she’s been calling and texting me ever since.”
“Okay? And that’s a bad thing?”
“As if you don’t already know. All of Prospect knows what lowlifes Otis and Arlene Hallman are. Hearing from either of them is never good.”
The knot in my stomach twists. “I’m sorry, Lace. I honestly didn’t know. I mean…sure, I’ve heard rumors, but I don’t put much faith in the validity of the Prospect gossip mill.”
“Well, you’re about the only one.” Her voice wavers slightly, but her body remains rigid in my hold. “The rest of town treats it as gospel, but in this case, they’re right to. Arlene and Otis aren’t good people, Ridge, and I can’t remember a time when either of them was sober or even tried to be. I’ve spent most of my life working to step out of their dark shadow.”
