He ran a hand over the back of her head and closed his eyes. “Bec.”
They stayed that way for a few seconds, her breath easing into a slower, calmer rhythm, but Wes’s whole body stayed tense, his words and confessions and offer floating between them unmoored.
Finally, her voice broke the silence. “You lie. You’re never going to let go of the mac-and-cheese thing.”
The breath he’d been holding whooshed out of him. He lifted his head and cupped her face, erasing her tears with his thumbs as something rusty unlocked inside him. She wasn’t going to run away. He swallowed past the emotion lodged in his throat. “Okay, you’re right. The cheese is powdered. That’s just unnatural and uncalled for.”
A tear-choked laugh tumbled out of her, and he inhaled that sound like it was a drug.
“But all the rest is truth, Bec,” he said softly. “I know you think relationships are a bad bet, but taking a gamble has two sides to it. Sometimes you push all your chips in, and…you win.”
“And you think we’re going to win?”
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But what I do know is that I don’t want to walk away without finding out. The biggest risk isn’t the risk of failing. It’s the risk of letting what could turn out to be the love of your life slip through your fingers because you were too scared to take a chance. I’d rather have a failure than a regret.”
Her lips curved at that. “You’re a pretty smart guy, Wes Garrett.”
He shrugged. “Meh, I’m a C student at best.”
She burst into a laugh at that, her hand flying to her mouth when she snorted.
He smirked. “What? Something I said?”
She shook her head, eyes smiling. “Nothing. And you’re an A-plus. Don’t let anyone tell you
any different.”
He dragged her into his lap and kissed her.
When he pulled back, she pushed his hair away from his eyes and looked at him with a bewildered expression. “How the hell did I manage to fall for you in a month?”
The words filled him up inside, made his chest expand. “Well, first of all, I’m spectacular in bed, so there’s that.”
She gave him a droll look.
“And I cooked and fed you delicious food, so it really couldn’t be helped. Also, I’ve heard a rumor that you can be impulsive.”
She grinned, the effect like sunshine after so much grief. “Maybe I am.”
“Maybe that’s okay.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Wanna go to Vegas?”
She poked a finger to his chest. “Slow your roll, chef. First, we have a kid to free from jail. Then we’ll talk.”
“That, lawyer girl, is a deal.” Wes pressed his lips to hers, savoring the privilege of being able to do that again, of having her here in his arms. “So do you know what you’re going to do about your dad?”
Her shoulders lifted with a deep breath, her expression sobering. “Yes. The only thing I can do.”
“What’s that?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “I have to tell my story first.”
chapter
TWENTY-NINE
Taryn adjusted her dark-rimmed glasses while fiddling with the settings on the small voice recorder she had in her hand. Rebecca sat across from her at a table in the university’s psychology building Monday afternoon and tried not to jump out of her skin. Outside in the hallway, student voices chattered in a dull drone as they changed classes. Rebecca rubbed her damp palms on her jeans.
Taryn looked up, concern heavy in her brown eyes. “You sure you want to do this, Bec?”