Come to Me Quietly(153)

This is something he will struggle with in the new book… .

I stood outside the shitty, run-down house, shaking. Fucking shaking.

What was I supposed to say when he answered the door? I guess the better question was, what would he say to me? Chances were, he’d tell me to go to straight to hell. Exactly where I deserved to be.

Warily, I raked a hand through my hair and glanced back at the street, where Aly sat in the driver’s seat of her car. The girl. Her face was all soft and perfect and reminded me why I was doing this in the first place. I had to do this for her. Had to do this for them.

Swallowing down the lump wedged in my throat, I turned back and forced myself to ring the doorbell.

In Come to Me Softly, Aleena is and will always be his rock, the only one who can hold the shattered pieces together. And Aleena and the baby will be what drives Jared to the places he’d always most feared.

I can see how she loves him in the next book… .

I wrapped myself around his back, my cheek pressed into his spine and my hands fastened around his stomach.

Jared released a weighted sigh. For the longest time, silence overtook us. We swam in it. Tension thickened in the crisp fall air.

I knew he was hurt. Those words had cut him deep. I’d wanted to shield him from them, protect him, but this was just another obstacle we had to face. All I could do was support him, hold him the way I was now, my touch a promise that I didn’t believe the insinuations that had been spewed.

Finally, he spoke, the words a strained groan. “Fuck, Aly.” Harshly, he shook his head. It seemed in surrender. “I knew I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t belong here. Your dad is right.” He slumped farther forward in a blatant attempt to move away. “Every f*cking word of it… he’s right.”

His pain pushed into my spirit, and I wound my arms tighter around him, unwilling to allow him to drive that distance between us. My voice came as a whisper as I begged at his back, “No, he’s not. He doesn’t know you, not the way I do. He’s just surprised.” I blinked into the darkness, trying to make sense of what had just gone down inside. “Shocked,” I added. “There’s a big difference.”

Even though my voice lowered, my tone strengthened. “And even if he really believed what he said, it doesn’t change anything.” I hugged him closer, my cheek pressed flat against his shoulder blade. “Do you remember what I told you the night you came back? I love all of it, Jared. I love all of you. And what I think is what’s important – not what he or anyone else thinks. It’s just you and me. Nothing else matters.”

Hesitation stilled him before he turned around to stand between my legs. His strong hand spread out against my still-flat belly, where our child grew. Blue eyes flamed as they locked on mine. “Just you and me and this.”

Everything softened, the tension, the worry, the shame that had seethed through his veins.

It was Jared’s own promise. An oath.

We wouldn’t let any of this stand in our way.

“Just you and me and this,” I promised back.

His gentle gaze slipped all over my face. A caress. “I love you, Aly Moore. You know that, don’t you?”

I cupped his face. His fire burned my skin, the connection we shared greater than anything that should be possible. My head listed to the side, lost in his desperate expression. “Of course I know that.”

I had known it long before he knew it himself.

In Come to Me Softly, Jared will finally be ready to face his past head-on.

When jealousy and secrets and dishonest intentions threaten Aly and their baby, Jared will be ready to stand up and become the man he has always wanted to be – even if he destroys himself along the way.