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Vance knew his mom had it right. “It might be a good trait to have in business, but I’m afraid it might’ve caused me to lose the only woman I’ve ever really cared about.”
“So, go to her,” she urged him as she placed her hand on his. “Be impulsive, just this once. What could it hurt?”
“And if she decides later on that I’m not worth sticking around for?” he asked, voicing his worst fear. “What then?”
“Is that what’s bothering you?” she asked as her eyes widened. “That she’ll leave again?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” he admitted. “Why me?”
“I’m not following you,” she replied, clearly confused.
“Shayla could have any man she wants, Mom. Why would she want me? Hell, I don’t even know who my biological father is, and my biological mother wanted drugs more than she wanted me. How am I a catch?”
“Well, let’s see.” She held up a hand. “You’re honest,” she said as she began ticking off his attributes with her fingers. “Intelligent. Kind. You have your own successful business, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re gorgeous. She’s lucky to have you, if you ask me.”
Vance shook his head at his mother’s description of him. “You know, a few weeks ago I would’ve laughed if someone said I’d be getting love-life advice from my mom. Yet, here I sit.”
She sat up straighter and stuck her nose in the air. “What can I say, you came to the best.”
He laughed and sat back in his chair. “Okay, love guru, any advice on how I should proceed?”
“Tell her how you feel. Don’t hold back,” she offered in a stronger tone. “There’s no room for pride and ego between a man and a woman, Vance.”
She was right, and he knew it. A plan started to form in his mind, and Vance felt better than he had in days. “Thanks, Mom,” he said as he leaned across the table and kissed her cheek.
“Any time, son,” she said with a smile. “Now, finish your roll.”
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He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
Butterflies took flight in Shayla’s stomach as she watched Vance pace her living room. He’d called her earlier and asked if he could come over. He’d said he needed to talk about their relationship. Shayla hadn’t been able to figure out his mood over the phone, but watching him now scared her to no end.
“Vance, is something wrong? You’re beginning to worry me.”
He stopped and looked at her. “I reacted like an ass when you told me you loved me,” he explained as he crossed the room. When only a few feet of tan carpet separated them, he said, “It scared me because I’m afraid…I’m afraid of losing you again.” He frowned and looked down at the floor. “The thing is, Shay, you make me feel…needy. The Jennings men do not like to feel out of control.” He shrugged, and his gaze met hers once more. “It goes against our grain.” He closed the gap between them and stroked her cheek with his thumb and murmured, “You send me out of control every time you’re near, honey.”
Oh boy, did she understand that feeling all too well. “This may come as a shock, but the Jennings bunch aren’t the only people who hate that feeling.”
Vance’s eyes held hers captive as he wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck and drew her close. “Yeah, I’m beginning to see that,” he murmured as he kissed her. It was so quick and gentle, Shayla barely had time to take in his clean, masculine scent before he pulled away.
“I’ve laid awake nights thinking of you,” Vance admitted. “Thinking of your cries of passion, your laughter, your pretty little freckles.”
Shayla didn’t have time to digest his words. Suddenly, his hands were everywhere. He stripped her out of her clothes so fast her head started to spin. She nearly forgot her own name when his warm fingers skimmed over her breasts. She moaned, aching for him. The last seven days had been nothing but torture without him.
“I love you, Shay,” he whispered. “Hell, I think I’ve always loved you.”
As he finished divesting them both of their clothes, his words hit her like a semi-truck. “Wait, what did you say?”
Vance wrapped his arms around her and said, “I love you.”
He loved her? Had she heard him correctly “Y-You do?”
His grin was slow and sexy. “It might have taken me a few days to figure it out, but yeah.”
Shayla’s heart soared to the clouds and beyond. “Oh, Vance, I love you too, so much,” she said, needing him to hear her this time. Really hear her.
“I know, and I’m one lucky bastard,” he said in a low voice. “Now will you let me make you feel good, honey?”
