Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“I don’t know she wants me to concentrate on her.” He felt a deep sorrow well inside. “I think she trusts Grim more than me. I think they understand each other in a way I can’t.”
“Of course they do. Josh, at the end of the day, you’re the top,” his father said with quiet wisdom. “You’re the Dom, and you have to lead when it comes to something like this. She would have gone the rest of her life running. Grim likely would have kept quiet and she would have left. You forced the situation, and there’s a cost. But it’s one you’ve got to be willing to pay. She’s coming home with us. You have something Sam and I didn’t have.”
He knew exactly what his father was talking about. “Mom. I have Mom. From what I can tell Nicole’s never had a mother in her life. Not one who loved her. She was the outsider in her family and then she was the victim in her husband’s.”
“It’s going to take a while to sort through this, and Nicole’s a smart young woman. She’s not going to run away this time. She knows she’s in a good place, but she’s been in a lot of bad places, and it’s hard to trust good luck when you’ve had so much bad. Grim does understand. You, on the other hand, seem like you breezed through life, and I’m so proud to be able to give you a happy childhood. Pain and suffering don’t make you a good person. A good person comes through it, but not having a painful background doesn’t make you less of a man.”
“It makes me lucky.” He’d been lucky in so many ways.
“And wanting to share your luck with others, son, is what makes you a good man. So here is the hard part. You’re feeling jealous right now and that’s normal, but you need to adjust your thinking. She couldn’t turn to you tonight. Do you want her to be alone?”
Josh thought for a moment. “When I think about it, I’m glad Grim’s there. I’m glad she has him, too.”
His father laid a hand on his shoulder. “Which is why this relationship can work. You’re human. You’ll feel jealous from time to time. Sit down. Think about the situation. Talk it out if you need to, but don’t react. Act. Be the man you want to be.”
“I want to give her what she needs. I want to give Grim what he needs, too. And I know that’s me. I know it deep in my bones. We were meant to be together, but what if I can’t convince her? Should I give them my blessing? I don’t want to cost them their relationship.”
“Their relationship doesn’t work without you,” his father said. “She’s angry and scared and you’re a safe place to put both of those emotions. Think long and hard. This is a woman who hasn’t felt safe in a long time.”
She’d felt fine yelling at him.
And he’d known he was on the right path. He’d known it when she didn’t back down. He’d known it when she let him in their bed. It had only been the moment when she’d turned to Grim that insecurity had set in. Insecurity had no place in their relationship. It would fester and cause stress between them. He would let it go. He would continue to be her safe place even if she didn’t turn to him.
Yet.
“I have to be patient.” It would be the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. He wanted her more than anything, wanted to start their lives together.
She wasn’t ready. She might never be, and he couldn’t simply make it happen. He couldn’t willpower his way through this.
“She needs some time, son,” Dad agreed. “She needs to rest her soul in a place where she’s safe, and we’re going to give it to her. You need to be ready for her to not move into your house, not sleep in your bed for a while. This courtship of yours went fast because she thought she would leave. Now it’s time to slow things down and do this right. She’s been burned. Give her the time she needs to realize it’s not happening all over again. Let your momma baby her. Let Olivia be her friend. Let me and your pops dad the hell out of her.”
“And what am I supposed to do?” Josh asked.
His father gave him a weary smile. “Well, I was thinking she might like a job.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea. “She could work with me in admin. I can find her a job. Or if she wants to help out Grim, she could do that, too. She can explore and figure out what she wants while we wait for Mrs. Kent to decide how to best handle the situation. I want to get Uncle Lucas on this.”