She blinked a few times and then inhaled. The confusion on her face was precious. She was incredibly expressive, so she wouldn’t be able to do naughty things without him finding out quickly because the guilt he knew she wouldn’t be able to hide would get her every time.
“So … um … I lived with my parents until I was sixteen and then went to live with my uncle Jerry.”
“Can I ask why?”
Gavin saw her eyes fill up and hated that he’d made her sad.
“They … my parents died in a car accident.”
He pulled her tightly against his chest. “I’m so sorry, baby.” The same thing had happened to him. A car accident had taken his parents’ lives.
She tucked her face against his neck and sniffed. “Thank you.”
He smiled. She was always so polite.
“Did you like living with Jerry?”
She nodded. “I think so at first. He was the only other relative I had, so I was grateful he took me in. Then he had to deal with my broken heart, which couldn’t have been easy.”
He rubbed her back. “Sweetheart, you’d just lost the most important people in your life. Of course, he understood. Which of your parents is Jerry’s sibling?”
“My mom’s.”
“I bet he was hurting too, and you just being in the house with him made him feel better.”
She straightened, wiped her eyes, and looked up at him. Even sitting on his lap, he was still taller than her, and he loved how she fit against him.
“Really?”
“Yes, honey.” He used his thumb to wipe away a stray tear on her cheek. “Tell me what happened after you moved in.”
“I did everything I could to help. I’d keep the house clean, do dishes, make meals, do laundry, and mow the lawn. When I turned eighteen, I was able to work in his bar.”
“But you kept on doing everything else?”
“Yes.”
“What about school?”
“I worked as hard as I could to graduate a semester early.”
“Why did you do everything for Jerry? Did he ask you to do it all?” Gavin couldn’t see that, but he didn’t know the guy either.
“No. I wanted to. I was afraid he wouldn’t want me and throw me away.”
Fuck. After losing her parents, then to being a heartbroken child, to being an enslaved person afraid of being discarded, it was a harsh blow to someone like her.
He hugged her against his chest again. “Oh, honey, I don’t think he would have done that.”
She shook her head. “He didn’t even when my aunt moved in and demanded I go. He told me I could stay in the apartment above the garage. I didn’t even know there was one. He helped me clean it and get some things for it. He promised to make it better, but he was so busy all the time.”
Gavin gritted his teeth. He’d like to beat the man for how he treated her, but he was afraid it would upset his girl. Shit, he already thought of her as his, and he was afraid if she didn’t want to be with him, it would break his heart. At that point, he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to give up an opportunity to be with her.
Chapter Eight
She rested against Gavin and wanted to stay there forever. She felt so warm and cared for, and she loved the woodsy scent of him even when it made her body all tingly.
“How about we go to my office? I’ve got a few things I need to get done, and I’ll show you around.”