you. I’ll be paying child support anyway, so why don’t you let me help you with money now too.”
“No, oh God no,” she refused, shaking her head adamantly. “No, I won’t take any money from you unless it’s a court-ordered agreement. Because I don’t want to end up owing you anything.”
“You won’t owe me.”
“You say that now…”
I wasn’t going to be able to convince her to trust me. She’d been burned too many times, and I would have to show her - not tell her - that I expected nothing in return for helping her. I needed to start small.
“Fine, if you won’t accept my money, will you at least let me help you deal with the insurance agency? I can make some calls, see what’s holding things up, maybe light a fire under their asses.”
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“It’s just some phone calls, Danielle,” I said.
“I’ve called them already. What can you do that I can’t?”
“I don’t know, but I can be a stubborn prick if I put my mind to it.”
“You can say that again.” She chuckled, and it was nice to hear a genuine laugh out of her, especially after everything she’d told me. “Fine, feel free to call them and see what you can find out. I doubt you’ll get anywhere, but who knows?”
“Thank you.”
“For what? You’re helping me, remember?”
“No, I meant thank you for trusting me,” I said softly, staring at my hands. “I know it’s hard for you to let people in, so I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well, it’s only a few phone calls,” she muttered.
“But it’s something. I don’t like feeling so damn helpless when someone I care about is struggling.” I wanted to fix the problem, now. And I knew that if she would just let me give her some money, these problems would go away.
When I looked up at her, I caught her staring at me, a small smile on her face.
“What?” I asked, pawing at my beard. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No, it’s just, I like you, Mason. I like you a lot, in fact,” she said. “And it scares me to admit that.”
“Well, I like you too,” I said. “And believe it or not, it scares me too.”
“Why is that?”
She had confided in me, told me about her past and her current problems. The least I could do was return the favor. But as I opened my mouth, it felt like my vocal cords got tangled up. I muttered, “I don’t date much, that’s all.”
“And why not? A good-looking man like you probably has his pick of the woman around here.”
I shrugged, feeling like I forgot how to speak.
“An ex?” she guessed. “Did you get burned too?”
I flinched at her choice of words, imagining Katie’s charred skin. The images flashed through my head as my heart raced. I didn’t even realize it, but I’d stood up and was stumbling around the room, lost and confused.
“Mason, Mason,” Danielle said, jumping up and coming to my side. “What’s wrong?”
She put her hand on my arm, and I turned toward her. I saw her, really saw her. Her angelic face. The light splattering of freckles on her cheeks. Those big, blue eyes surrounded by dark lashes. God, she was beautiful. And she pushed all the dark thoughts away from my mind.
“It’s nothing,” I lied, my heart rate returning to normal as she stroked my back. “Just some bad memories, that’s all.”
“You can talk to me about it, you know.”
“I know. No offense, Danielle, but I can’t bring myself to talk about it with most people.”
She remained quiet at first, and I half expected her to argue with me. When I’d tried to date a couple years after losing Katie, I found most women didn’t care much for secret pasts. They wanted to know about my past, and if I said I didn’t want to talk about it, they assumed I was hiding something. I went on only a few first dates that never turned into second dates before giving up on dating altogether.
But Danielle spoke soothingly. “I understand, Mason. It’s okay. You can talk to me when you’re ready - if you’re ready. Just know that I’m here for you.”
I stared into her deep blue eyes and felt like I was drowning. Her lips were so pink and plump, and I knew from experience just how soft they were. I wanted to kiss her so damned badly, but I stopped myself.
“I should probably get going,” I said, even though I didn’t want