She shivers, her head resting on my shoulder, and I remember she doesn’t enjoy car rides. “Are you okay, love?”
″I’d just rather not pay attention to the road,” she says. “How long of a drive is it?”
″Probably forty minutes. We’re having a dinner celebration with my parents.”
″You’re taking me to meet your parents? Isn’t that like taking a relationship to a serious level type of shit? We’ve only gone on a first date last night.″
″It’s just for my birthday. And I don’t want you alone at your house.”
I know that she’s right. We’ve barely known each other for more than a month or so. We haven’t had sex and we’re moving at a snail’s pace. Yet, everything about this seems rushed, to take her to dinner with my family.
But the feelings are there. There’s potential. She and I could be so much more than just a fling.
Da’s right. It’s time I settle down. Marriage, kids and the likes. Haley is a woman I see myself doing it with. Since we met at my brother’s party, I haven’t thought of any other women. It’s only been Haley. She riddles my thoughts with her coconut shampoo, her hard exterior, and soft touch.
She’s hesitant and for a man who isn’t normally, she makes me patient. I’ll wait as long as I need to peel away the shell and expose her soft underbelly.
Before I fall for her, she has to know the truth about who my family is. And what better way than to show her? It may not be the best choice. It could run her off, but before I take this further with her, I need to know if she’s okay with who I really am.
I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb. “Why didn’t you report my gunshot wound?”
She sighs, looking up at me. “I didn’t know why, then.”
″But now you do?”
″Now, I think it doesn’t matter.”
″Doesn’t it? You committed a crime. You helped me when you shouldn’t have. It does matter, because felonies ruin your life, Haley.”
She shrugs. “There are worse crimes to commit. No one is perfect. Everyone does something they shouldn’t. I helped Paddy. That’s what matters.”
″And you’re okay knowing I commit crimes?”
″Multiple?”
″What if—” I sigh, shaking my head. This can go so very fucking badly. Once it’s out in the universe, I can’t take it back. She’ll forever know the truth about me.
″What if you’re a career criminal?” She finishes the question for me. “You’re shady as hell, covered in tattoos, and come into hospitals with bullet holes. Did you think I believed you weren’t?” She chuckles, and I pull her into my lap. Our foreheads touch as she grabs my face. “But, for the sake of humoring you, what types of crimes are we talking about?”
This perfect woman. So calm and collected, despite being in the arms of a man who has killed more times than he’s able to count.
She’s strong, unwilling to bend, and she doesn’t care about my dark side. For a second, I wonder if she’s secretly a cop. It would be the only explanation to have such a calm demeanor.
But she can’t be.
She knows Paddy; she has degrees in the medical field. We’ve done the background checks on her. There’s no way that she is, yet I can’t believe that she’s so perfect, can I?
″How are you so understanding? This doesn’t bother you?” I ask.
″I don’t think anything you do can be worse than the monsters I’ve already faced, Cal.” She kisses my nose, then presses her face into my neck. “I’m just... I’m really glad you’ve been honest with me. No one is ever honest.”
″It’s deeper than a few breaking and entering crimes. You know that, right?”
″Then what is it?”
I sigh, kissing her to delay my confession.
″Out with it, already, Callum.”