Page 76 of Miss Trust

Chance

Iwas aware asking Tory to stay after sex I was sending a new message. Redefining our relationship. Yet I wouldn’t have changed my words for the world because when I came out of the bathroom to find her still in my bed, I was a happy man.

She, on the other hand, looked stiff and unrelaxed.

Time to change that. “Hi.”

Her brows drew together. “Hi.”

I got back into the bed and pulled her close. “Tell me about your relationship with Penny’s father.”

“If this is your idea of pillow talk, then I should’ve bolted when I had the chance.”

She had a point, but I needed to know something. “I have a hard time imagining you with someone like him.”

“So you did meet him?”

I nodded.

Her sigh filled the room. “He wasn’t always a loser. Or maybe he was, and I wasn’t invested enough to notice. I saw someone safe. A man who wasn’t smart enough to be manipulative and who wasn’t a threat. After what happened when I was a teenager, I had trouble trusting men, but he was benign. A surfer who was content with his life if he caught a big wave. But since he was carefree, he was also easily influenced. He started hanging with the wrong crowd and drinking more. Then I got pregnant, and he couldn’t cope with the responsibility. It wasn’t what he’d signed up for.”

“You weren’t madly in love with him?”

“God, no. We both loved the beach and surfing, but a love affair it was not.”

For some inexplicable reason, her confession made me inordinately pleased. I liked hearing she hadn’t been hung up on the guy or given her heart to him.

“I wish I could tell Penny I loved her father, but I’ll settle for telling her she’s the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“She’s lucky to have you. I meant what I said earlier about you being an incredible mother.”

“Thank you. What’s your relationship with your parents like?”

I ran my hands down her smooth back. “I haven’t spoken with my mother in months, so it’s never been better. And my father and I speak to each other about twice a year. What do you think of changing the idea of Daisy driving all the way out to Malibu tonight to us going out to dinner and picking Penny up afterward instead? I think you mentioned Daisy is now living in Studio City?”

She propped up on my chest, a grin on her face. “Wow, not only did you reveal nothing about your parents, but I think I got whiplash from your impressive topic change.”

I chuckled, not bothering to deny it. “When it comes to my parents, I’d rather talk about anything else.” My mother was a selfish, superficial woman, and my father was a serial divorcé who had no concept of what a real family meant. There was nothing of value to say about them.

“Okay. Let’s talk about your relationship with Reid.”

I was already shaking my head. “On second thought, let’s talk about my parents. My dad spent my entire childhood working and traveling. Once he divorced my mother, we hardly saw him at all. My mother was mostly interested in appearances, invitations to the best parties, and buying her happiness one Prada at a time. She also was hardly ever around. At best, her love has always been conditional.”

“I’m sorry,” Tory murmured.

My story was absolutely nothing compared to the hell she’d grown up with. “Don’t be. We had Mona, good childhood friends, and the means to do anything we wanted.”

“You had your brother.”

“Yes.” And now I didn’t.

“You miss him.” It wasn’t a question.

Evidently, I wasn’t done talking about things I hadn’t wanted to. “I do. But I don’t miss worrying about him making a mistake with Vanessa. I even hired a private investigator to try to prove his fiancée was cheating. The guy couldn’t turn up anything.”

“Vanessa wanted you?”

I sighed. “Since high school. For years I tried to tell Reid. She was always too touchy, too flirty. He never listened.”