Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
He wasn’t only interested in her connections, he was interested in her.
Since he didn’t want to be interested in any woman, he found reasons to push them away. He planned on using her connections as a reason to do that with her.
By finding faults with any woman he may have even the slightest interest, he used those faults as an excuse to not let that woman in and continue to keep himself closed off.
He looked for problems to avoid finding happiness.
To him, being alone was safe. And painless.
She wondered how long ago his wife or partner—she still didn’t know who it was—died.
If it had been years, this man needed more help than what she, and maybe even the average therapist, could give him.
But she was willing to take a shot at it.
She closed her eyes and pulled in a breath. Why would she even consider getting herself involved in his emotional mess?
She was busy with her career. She had two young men to raise. She had family to deal with. Not to mention, all the extra people who came along with that family.
And now she had the weekly group to lead.
A murmured, “Please,” had her opening her eyes and meeting his.
She had two options. She could leave and wash her hands of him. Or…
She could sit and feel him out. See what “faults” he could uncover.
Would her father and his family be a fault? Her being a single mother? The fact her two sons were fathered by two different men?
The fact that she still loved her first husband with all her heart? And always would?
She truly believed that Mark had been her soulmate.
She found out the hard way that Jason had been a soul crusher.
Every day she wished Mark was still alive. Every other day she wished Jason was… not.
Maybe she judged Keenan’s father more harshly than she should. Even so, she knew better than to ever say that occasional thought out loud. Because if it passed her lips, she was afraid the wrong ears would hear it and it might actually happen.
She held onto the thinnest thread of hope that one day Jason would change and see how he was missing out on his own son’s life. But if he didn’t change, then Liyah didn’t want him anywhere near Keenan. Her boy would be better off without him.
She made a mistake, and her youngest son didn’t need to pay for it.
With a single nod, she moved to sit down and was surprised when Nox did the gentlemanly thing and moved her chair into place once she did so.
The man had manners. It was possible he only dusted them off when he wanted something.
And what he wanted from her was information.
Chapter Six
Aaliyah waited until he rounded the table and retook his seat before saying, “I’ll consider giving you what you want but only if this is an actual conversation. Not just you lobbing questions at me, expecting answers and not giving me anything in return.” When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Does the thought of that scare you?”
“No.”
Maybe scared wasn’t quite the right adjective. The more she dealt with him, the more she realized, like her, he probably didn’t scare easily, either. “Make you uncomfortable?”
Again, he didn’t answer.
“You lied to get me here. Because of that, I have no problem making you squirm a little. Get you out of your comfort zone.”
Holy shit, the man was like a blank wall. So hard to read.
But then, she’d been right where he was. Not wanting to go on. Thinking life wasn’t worth living anymore. Thinking all the hopes and dreams she and Mark made together would never come to fruition.
Devyn had been her reason not to give up. Not to bury herself under the covers and pretend the world didn’t exist.
In truth, Devyn had become her world. Her world was only a little smaller without Mark in it.
With every step, every breath, every heartbeat, it got easier.
She didn’t have to forget Mark to move forward, she only needed to learn how to live without him.
The man across from her needed to learn how to do the same.
“I will tell you what you want to know, but only if you do the same. Don’t mistake this as a negotiation. Since you lured me here by telling me you needed to talk, that’s what we’re going to do. But like I said, this won’t be one-sided. If I give you what you want, then you’ll give me what I want. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
His lips thinning proved he didn’t like that deal.
Too bad.
“We’ll start off with a simple question…” She was making an assumption with her next question, but she was pretty confident that her guess was correct. Because every time she looked at him, it was like looking at herself in the mirror sixteen years ago. The only loss he could be this devastated over was a child or a soulmate. And because he came to the group alone, she narrowed it down. “What was her name?”