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"Yeah." He sat up, energy rushing through him. "I'll be honest. I was thinking about doing it anyway. I don't have any heirs. My siblings have everything they need and more. What's my legacy when I go? I have everything set up in assorted charities, except for the land, which stays in my family, but I'll switch it over to take care of Annie. Do you think she'd want the house? She can have my house."
Phoebe stared at him, stunned. "We just met you."
He raised his brows. "And yet, you just asked me to be Annie's dad. How can it be okay for you to be sure about me, but not for me to be sure about you and Annie?"
"I…I…I'm just not used to anyone taking care of me. Or having someone to help make sure Annie's safe and loved."
Jacob nodded. "I get that, but when I look at the shadows in Annie's eyes, I know what it's like to be six years old and living like that. It's like looking into my own eyes again, talking to myself as a kid again. I want to help her in a way that no one helped me."
Phoebe felt the absolute truth in his words, and she knew he meant them. No matter what, Annie would forever be on his radar to take care of. "Thank you!" She threw her arms around his neck, and he caught her, wrapping his arms around her.
"No need to thank me," he said, gruffly. "It means…a lot…that you would trust me with her."
Phoebe pulled back to look at him. "Of course I would. You're an amazing person."
He shook his head. "I'll be honest. I know I'm a great guy. I know I'm a protector. I know that anyone who matters to me can count on me, no matter what. But people don't see that because I'm different. You see it, and that…I just…yeah. It means a lot."
She smiled through her tears. "Well, it means a lot to me to know that Annie will be okay no matter what."
"She will. I promise. She'll be a Hart now, for life."
Phoebe suddenly felt like she couldn’t talk. She felt so overwhelmed. To know that her daughter was safe. That Annie had the protection of Jacob and his siblings. That Annie had the financial resources. And most importantly, that this family that was so full of love would give that to her. "Great." Great. Such an understatement. But there were no words to express the enormity of emotions consuming her.
Jacob laughed softly. "If you keep crying, I'm going to cry."
"No, don't. If you cry, I'm going to completely lose it."
"I'd love to promise that," he agreed. "But we both know that I am a total failure at playing whatever game I'm supposed to play."
"Not a failure," she whispered. "You just play the game that's right for you."
"I don't play any games. I just survive." He paused to run his hand along her hair. "You need to know that whatever happens between us won't change what we just discussed. If you go all cold turkey on me again tomorrow, I'll still call my attorney and get Annie set up financially and legally as my heir, and my siblings as her guardians. My promise is to Annie, not to you, and you don't need to fall in love with me to protect her. Got it?"
"Fall in love?" she echoed, her heart almost stopping. "With you?"
"Yeah, you don't need to do that to protect her. It's not conditional. I want you to understand that. Do you understand that?"
She nodded silently, his words still overwhelming her. Fall in love with him? That was so much. She didn't deserve that. Not with him. Not with this amazing man.
"But I am going to be honest with you," he said.
"Okay."
"I never thought that there was a human being alive that I would want to be with in my darkest moments. But then I found you." He paused. "I wasn't prepared for you. So, I'm having to play catch up to being able to handle it. But I like it. I want to pursue it. I'm not going to give up because it's tricky, or because it sometimes rocks me on my ass."
She swallowed. "What are you saying?"
He laughed softly. "I'm that bad at communicating, am I? Shit. I'll lay it out. I'm falling hard for you. Maybe in love. Still trying to understand it. But I want to keep going, and I'm going to keep pushing at both of us to see what can happen between us. I'm not going to stop just because one of us freaks out, unless, of course, you tell me to stop. If you don't, then, I'm going to try to romance the hell out of you, and us, and see what can happen."
"I wasn't prepared for you, either." Her heart started racing. "I'm going to freak out," she said. "I can promise you that."
"Yeah, I will too. That's part of why we fit."
"If we fit. We don't know."
"We know we fit so far, that's as far as we need to know." He grinned suddenly. "You didn't tell me to stop."
"No," she agreed. "I didn't. Not yet, at least."
