“So, I matter to you...?”
A swarm of emotions flits through her eyes.
“Yes, you do,” I finally say.
She pushes up and props herself on her elbows, her lips inches away from mine.
“You matter to me, too,” she says quietly, no longer smiling.
I tenderly cup her face, my thumb tracing her cheek as my eyes delve into hers.
“You matter a lot,” she says softly––almost whispering––her words meshed with a shred of pain.
“I know.”
Tears cling to her lashes as her lips begin to quiver.
“I’m happy when I’m with you,” she says. “I’ve never been close to anyone before I met you, other than perhaps my grandparents when I was little,” she adds in a shaky voice.
Stroking her hair, I smile, yet sadness grows in me.
“I’m not the man for you, Senna...” I say quietly.
Her eyebrows tilt up, her lips parting in surprise before her eyes darken.
“Not yet...” I say.“We both know it.”
Her expression changes again, a sliver of hope flashing through her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t mean anything other than what I just said. I don’t want to be away from you, and I don’t want to be with other women or go back on the streets. Besides my family and Jacob, I’ve never been close to anyone either.”
I pause.
She thinks about it.
“But?”
“I wanna make it right for you. I’m not a man of half-measures. And I’m a loyal man. But right now, Sara and Emma are my priority, and I don’t want to lie to you or hide it from you. .”
She studies me.
“I don’t expect it to be otherwise,” she says.
“Then you must know I can’t make a promise I can’t keep.”
She presses her lips together, struggling with the trembling of her chin. Her gaze tears away from my face and slides down. She no longer looks at me.
“On the other hand...” I say, summoning her eyes to me again.
She tilts her face up.
“You know that we are good together...” I say, giving her a flirting smile.
A grin brightens her eyes.
“That’s because you are good,” she says.