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“Yes, and she’s okay with that.” I sighed. “She’s actually judging me on my abilities not on my connections or how fancy the school’s I attended were, or even who I may or may not be dating. I’m making my own way now, and I’m excited about it.”
“You know the education and privileges you’re so dismissive of got you to where you are today,” she reminded me. “It seems to me that you should be more appreciative than you have been.”
“I am appreciative of all the advantages I’ve had,” I replied, but I knew she couldn’t understand what I was trying to say. Either she wasn’t hearing me or, more likely, didn’t want to hear that I wanted to make it alone. I saved myself from a man who would’ve potentially killed me. I started a new job, and I’m out today even though it scared me to leave the apartment alone.
And I was done apologizing for my choices.
“I’m happy, Mom. You and I both know I was never going to be happy with Richard, and honestly, Emily did me a favor by marrying David. That’s not the life I want.”
“Does this have anything to do with that man?”
I didn’t need to ask her who she meant, the disdain in her tone told me. “That man, Tank, the one you hate so much for no other reason than his social standing, has been with me through every step of this.” I smiled softly. “Rachel told me how scared he was when he found out I was missing. That he drove all night with her looking for me and then again the next two days, not eating, not sleeping, just searching with absolutely no idea where to even begin. All for me. Someone he hardly knew. He cares about me in a way I’m not sure anyone else ever has. He doesn’t see all the things he wishes were different about me. He just sees me.”
“Jane…”
“I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. I also know that you won’t be able to accept it or my lifestyle, but I need to do this. I just hope someday you’ll understand why.”
She was quiet, and for a moment, I thought I may have gotten her to understand, at least a little of what I was saying, but when she spoke, I knew that was just wishful thinking. “We’ll be here for you when you get this out of your system, Jane. We won’t turn our backs on you, but I will never understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.” She paused again before continuing. “I’ll call you next week to check in.”
I dropped the phone from my ear when she ended the call, but I was proud that I hadn’t allowed her to drag me down with her words. Putting my phone on silent, I shoved it into my purse and started the car’s engine. Driving back to Rachel’s apartment, I thought about my next steps. I needed to get my own place. It had been weeks since that man took me, and it seemed he was gone. Maybe he knew how many people were looking for him and he decided it was for his own benefit to disappear. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I could start moving on, and the first step was finding a place in Cranberry so I could be closer to Bree.
I pulled into the parking space in the lot attached to Rachel’s building and pushed my door open, but paused when my eyes landed on him. Tank. The man I’d just defended to my mother. The man who hadn’t given up on me even though I was hell-bent on pushing him away.
I was invisible.
Until he saw me.
The real me.
And helped me find the courage to be myself.
He stood with his back against his truck and pulled the cigarette from his mouth, but his eyes were on me. Excitement flooded me instantly, and I sighed, knowing that for me, at least, putting distance between us hadn’t quelled my feelings. He’d kept his word and gave me the space I’d asked for, but he never let me go. He never gave up on me, and in doing so, he never gave up on us.
However, I wasn’t sure why he was here. We didn’t make a plan to see each other, and that made me nervous. Grabbing my purse and large tote bag, I got out and closed the door before pushing the button on my key fob to lock the doors. He dropped the cigarette and crushed it beneath his boot before slowly making his way toward me.
Nothing he was doing should’ve been sexy, but it all was, at least to me. I watched him while he made his way to me and swallowed hard when arousal flooded my system. I had no idea where this reaction was coming from, except that I missed him. I missed feeling his body against mine and his hands on my skin, almost as much as I missed his arms wrapped around me tightly.
I rolled my lips together when he stopped in front of me. He studied me for a few seconds, and I watched his jaw flex before he finally spoke. “Hey.”
I shivered when that one word made my skin tingle. Swallowing hard, I tilted my head. “What are you doing here?”
“Wanted to see you,” he admitted. “And I had some news I wanted to share.” He lifted his eyebrow. “That okay?”
“Yeah.” I smiled softly, appreciating that he asked me. I pointed at the apartment building. “Do you want to come up or go somewhere?”
“I’ll come up.” He reached down and grabbed the tote bag I was carrying. “I got this.”
“Thank you,” I replied, and we walked across the parking lot together. I was nervous and a little excited. Something felt different today, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
I smiled at the doorman who eyed Tank warily while we continued to the elevator. We were just inside the elevator when I turned to Tank and asked what I’d been wondering.
“Does that ever bother you?”
“What?” He lifted both eyebrows. “The doorman’s reaction to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “His opinion doesn’t matter to me.”
