For the Sake of Their Son (The Alpha Brotherhood #5)(28)
Author: Catherine Mann

“I have to confess something.” She angled forward to accept the next bite he fed her.

His face went somber in a flash even as he took the spoonful of flan she brought to his mouth. He swallowed, then said, “Tell me whatever you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”

She carefully set her utensil onto the platter by the last strawberry, her body humming with the memory of the moment they’d shared the fruit, the moment he’d thrust inside her. The intensity of it all threatened to overwhelm her. She desperately needed to lighten the moment before they waded into deeper waters.

“I may like simplicity in many parts of my life—” she paused for effect, then stretched out like a lazy cat until the sheet slithered away from her br**sts “—but I am totally addicted to expensive linens.”

“God, Lucy Ann.” He hauled her against his side, her ni**les beading tighter at the feel of his bare skin. “You scared the hell out of me with talk of confessions.”

“I’m serious as a heart attack here.” She rested her cheek on his chest, the warmth of him seeping into her. “Every night when I crawled into bed—and trust me, cheap mattresses also suck a lot more than I remembered—those itchy sheets made me long for Egyptian cotton.”

“Ahhh, now I understand.” He tugged the comforter over them. “The fairy tale here is The Princess and the Pea. I will be very sure you always have the best mattresses and sheets that money can buy.” He patted her butt.

“My prince,” she said, joking to keep talk of the future light for now, all the while knowing that inevitably they would have to steer the conversation in another direction. “I don’t think I ever said congratulations on your win today. I’m sorry you missed out on the parties tonight.”

“I’m not sorry at all.” He stroked back her hair, extending the length with his fingers and letting damp strands glide free. “This is exactly where I wanted to be. Celebrating with you, without clothes—best party ever.”

“You do deserve to celebrate your success though. You’ve come a long way through sheer determination.” She hooked a leg over his, enjoying the way they fit. “Although I have to say, I’ve always been surprised you chose Formula One over the NASCAR route, given your early days racing the dirt-track circuit.”

Why had she never thought to question him about this before? She’d simply followed, accepting. He’d always taken the lead in life and on the track.

He’d begun racing with adults at fourteen years old, then picked it up again when he graduated from the military high school in North Carolina. He was a poster boy for the reformative success of the school even without people knowing he periodically helped out Interpol.

Elliot rested his chin on her head, his breath warm on her scalp. “I guess I have a confession of my own to make. I wanted to go to college and major in English. But I had to make a living. I went back to racing after school because my credit was shot.”

English? It made sense given the way he’d always kept a book close at hand, and yet she couldn’t believe he’d never mentioned that dream. A whole new side of Elliot emerged, making her wonder what else he’d kept secret.

“Because of your arrest history?”

His chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “Because my father took out credit cards in my name.”

Her eyes closing, she hugged an arm tighter around him. “I’m so sorry. Nothing should surprise me when it comes to that man, but it still sucks to hear. I’m just so glad you got away from him.”

“You should be mad at me for leaving you,” he repeated, his voice hoarse. “I let you down.”

“I don’t agree.” She kissed his chest before continuing. “You did what you needed to. I missed you when they sent you to North Carolina, but I understood.”

“All the same, you were still hurt by what I did. I could see that then. I can even feel it now. Tell me the truth.”

So much for keeping things light. They would always have to cycle around to the weightier stuff eventually. “I understand why you needed a way out, believe me, I do. I just wish you’d spoken to me, given me an opportunity to weigh in and figure out how we could both leave. That place was bearable with you around. Without you…”

She squeezed her eyes closed, burying her face in his chest, absorbing the vibrant strength of him to ward off the chill seeping into her bones.

“I like to think if I could go back and change the past that I would. Except I did the same thing all over again. I let you go. You deserve to be put first in someone’s life, someone who won’t let you down.”

Where was he going with this? Where did she want him to go?

After that, he stayed silent so long she thought for a moment he had drifted off midthought, then his hand started to rove along her spine slowly. Not in a seductive way; more of a touch of connection.

He kissed the top of her head, whispering into her hair still damp from their shared shower, “I didn’t want to leave you back in high school. You have to know that.” His voice went ragged with emotion. “But I didn’t have anything to offer you if we left together. And I couldn’t stay any longer. I just couldn’t see another way out except to get arrested.”

She struggled to sift through his words, to understand what he was trying to tell her. “You stole cars on purpose, hoping the cops would catch you?”

“That pretty much sums it up.” His hand slid to rest on her hip, his voice strangely calm in contrast to his racing heart. “After that first night in jail, I started stealing cars on a regular basis. I didn’t expect to be so good at it. I thought I would get caught much earlier.”

“Why did you want to get caught?” she repeated, needing to understand, wondering how she didn’t know this about him. She’d thought they told each other everything.

“I figured jail was safer than home,” he said simply. “I didn’t worry so much about myself with my dad, but I worried what he would do to the people around me.”

“You mean me and your mother?”

He nodded against her head. “Remember when we went on that trip to the beach and my old rebuilt truck broke down?”

“You mean when the tires fell off.” Only his incredible reflexes had kept them from crashing into a ditch. It had been a near miss.

“Right. When the first one fell off, I thought what crappy luck. Then the second one came off, too….”