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“I usually do my power flows when Cody isn’t here. He likes to do yoga with me, and some of those poses can’t be altered for his little body, so while I did want to see what you could do, I was already going to do that flow.”
“Understandable.”
“How long have you been doing yoga?” She sits up with graceful movements, highlighting every long line of her body.
“Eight months or so? To be honest, I started going because I was interested in the instructor. It took one class for me to lose interest in her and start going because I loved it. What about you?”
“Oh, years. I started before Cody was born and have stuck with it ever since. I try to do a flow every morning. It keeps me centered when my students are being unruly.” She stands and starts to clean up the living room. I help get everything put back the way it should be.
“What time is Cody getting back?” I ask as we head to the kitchen. I start a cup of coffee for Katie, internally laughing when I read the saying on it. Not my monkeys, not my… Oh, shit. That is my monkey. And my circus.
“Not until this afternoon.” She reaches for the cup that I slide toward her. I turn back to the coffeemaker to start my cup.
“Do you want me to go?”
She frowns at me. “Why would I want that?”
My stomach flips over at her question. I move around the island to stand in front of her while the coffee maker buzzes. “I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t wearing out my welcome. I could stay here for… days.” I practically choke on the last word. I almost just fucking told her I’d stay with her forever. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
“Stay, please.” The vulnerability shining in her eyes gives me the opening to talk about what happened between us last night.
I kiss her softly, needing the connection more than I can tell her. “My feelings for you are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s as if I was going through the motions before, but now I know what it means to truly live my life to the max.”
Pleasure softens her gorgeous brown eyes. “No one has ever treated me the way you do, Nolan. It’s hard for me to trust it sometimes. Even when you have never given me a reason not to believe the things you do or say. In fact, I’ve never trusted anyone more than I do you. Well, Ellie and Sue maybe, but that’s it. The sad truth is, my past has proven time and again that trusting someone is a dangerous game. I don’t let people in easily. I don’t let them spend time with my son. I refuse to put him through the same heartbreak I’ve experienced at the hands of people who say they care. But I’m trying. You wouldn’t be standing in my kitchen right now if I truly didn’t want you here.”
I palm her cheeks and press a kiss on her forehead. What has she been through to make her this distrustful? How shitty of a man do you have to be to treat a woman as special as Katie so horribly that she can’t trust when someone is being kind to her?
“Some day, when you’re ready, will you tell me about your past? I want to know about every piece of you—the good and the bad—because it made you who you are today, and that woman is the one I’m starting to fall hard for.”
Katie looks at me for a long moment and then nods her head. “I promise. One day, I’ll tell you everything.”
I kiss her plump lips before pulling away to get my coffee. We spend the rest of the morning getting to know one another, sharing the things we love and things we don’t. She tells me a little about raising Cody on her own after her parents died, and I want to rage over how strong she was forced to be. No one should have to go through that alone.
Her phone rings in the living room, and she jumps up to grab it. “This might be Cody’s friend’s mom. Hang on.” She lifts the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
I shoot up from the table as the blood drains from Katie’s face. Her wide eyes are locked on me. I hold on to her arms, wishing I could do something to take that look from her face.
“No,” she says with force. “I won’t let you. You’ve done nothing to deserve that privilege.”
I stay silent. I’m in awe of her strength, despite how visibly terrified she is. Who the hell could scare her this much?
“You can’t,” she whispers, shock and terror battling back and forth. Resignation fills her. “Fine. But I will be there the whole time, and if he wants to leave, we will.”
When she hangs up, she drops her forehead to my chest. I wrap my arms around her, doing my best to be her solid ground.
After a few minutes, she pulls back from me, visibly rebuilding her walls. Is she putting them up between us, or is she merely finding her strength again? Only the next few minutes will tell me.
Katie swallows as her eyes meet mine. Her gaze is intense, as if she’s trying to read something on my face. “You’re not asking what happened.”
“Do you want me to?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
The corner of my mouth tilts at that. “Well, I just figured you’d tell me if you wanted to. It wouldn’t have mattered if I asked or not. I’m not going to say I don’t want to know. The fucker who put that look on your face needs their nose broken, but I’m patient enough to wait until you’re ready to share.”
Her shoulders soften, and she steps back into my arms. She tightens her grip around my waist, laying her cheek on my chest. For a minute, I’m not sure she’s going to say anything, but then her quiet voice drops a bomb I wasn’t prepared for.
“That was Cody’s dad. He threatened to sue me for custody if I didn’t let him see Cody.”
