Griff raised his head and looked into her pale, wounded face. “Try not to take it personally. I don’t trust anybody. I should never have told you about Sam.”
“Why did you?” Kinga quietly asked him, nervous fingers drumming on her thigh.
He jerked a shoulder up. “I’m not sure, actually. It kinda slipped out.” Griff looked into her lovely eyes and saw her hurt and disappointment. Dammit. He never meant to make her feel either emotion. How could he explain his fears without insulting her? “I have a lot of trust issues, Kinga.”
She nodded. “I’m sure you do. I’m sure growing up in a superficial world with superficial people has scared you, made you wary.”
“Not everyone in the industry is shallow and superficial. I’ve met some lovely people, like Stan and Ava.”
“But more people let you down than supported you,” Kinga pointed out. He couldn’t argue with that. And the person he trusted the most, with his career and with his sister, had done the most damage.
Before he could reply, Kinga spoke again. “And you don’t know whether your impulsive confession will backfire on you spectacularly.”
Yeah, well.That.
“I’m not a groupie, neither am I easily impressed with stardom,” Kinga told him, sounding pissy. “I thought you understood that.” She pushed a finger into his shoulder. “I went to bed with Griff, the man, not Griff, the star. I don’t even like Griff, the star with the stunning voice.”
Ouch.
But the pain was clean, sweet rather than jagged. And in her eyes, he saw that she spoke the truth. But he needed to hammer home the point.
“If the press found out Sian has a son, the ramifications could be devastating, Kinga,” Griff said, his voice as cold as an Arctic storm. He saw her eyebrows lift and knew she thought he was being melodramatic. But he couldn’t explain. That level of trust had died with Finn.
“Your secret is safe with me, Griff. I’d never betray you,” Kinga stated, and Griff knew that she’d try to keep that promise. That didn’t mean she would.
“If it helps relieve your anxiety, I’m not an impulsive person,” Kinga explained. “I always have a backup plan, maybe two. I overthink everything and I never, ever make quick decisions. So the chances of something slipping out, as you say, are minimal.”
“I know I sound like an asshole, but...” Griff rubbed the back of his neck. Kinga placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“I get it, Griff, I do. The less I know, the less you’ll stress,” Kinga nodded. “But...” she added, pulling her bottom lip between pretty teeth, “...given your trust issues and my fear of doing something stupid, maybe this is a good time to have a conversation about us...”
She was going to tell him something he didn’t want to hear, like she couldn’t see him anymore.
“I can’t keep doing this.”
Was he a genius or what? Griff cocked his head, silently asking for more of an explanation. Kinga twisted the ring on her middle finger, a colorful concoction of brightly colored stones.
“You’ve slipped under my skin,” she admitted, her frustration obvious.
And he had no problem admitting, to himself, that she was deep under his...
“It normally takes me ages to feel comfortable with somebody, longer if that person is a man. And I’ve never felt as comfortable with a guy—or anyone since Jas—as I do with you. That scares me because I can see myself falling for you and I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to risk falling for anyone. I can’t risk losing someone I lov—like, again. I can’t do it. I don’twantto do it.”
Griff stared at her, unable to believe they were having this conversation thirty thousand feet in the air.
“I’m thinking that we should stop this, Griff, before it runs away with us,” Kinga ran her hand through her hair. “We both know it could never work.”
Did they know that?
“Explain it to me...”
Kinga’s expression was pure who-are-you-kidding? After hesitating, she sighed and lifted her shoulders, allowing them to drop quickly. She lifted her leg off his and withdrew from him, putting as much space as possible between them.
Shit.
“You live in Kentucky, and in Nashville.” She wrinkled her nose. “In fact, I don’t even know what property you call your true home.”
He loved his homes in Nashville and Malibu but also loved being on the ranch in Kentucky. He loved spending time in Key Largo... Asking which place was his true home was a good question and one he didn’t know the answer to.