fix this.” She opened her mouth, but he went on. “I’ve got three spare rooms. My place is so big, we won’t even see each other. And Holly will be close to the school.”
“She’s close now.”
“So are the local dealers and punk-ass kids who’ll steal your tires.”
“I know where I live, Gabe. And I don’t need you to fix my life.” Although if he kept stroking his thumb over her wrists, she might melt into a puddle at his feet. “You and I living in the same space—” She shook her head. “We just agreed that taking this...attraction any further could never happen.”
“I never said that.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No. I agreed that you and Holly can’t end up in a shithole again. I never said anything about not kissing you again.” He wagged a brow. “Or sex being off the table.”
God, sex. Something Regan had accepted that she would never have again. Between being heartbroken, her mom dying, and raising Holly, she hadn’t had a man-made orgasm in six long years. But single motherhood didn’t leave time for men, and Holly was her main focus right now.
Plus, Regan had already learned her lesson with regard to relying on someone else for survival. It was too hard when they walked away. And with women like her, they always walked away.
“I don’t date.”
“Ever?” He sounded shocked. And she guessed it did sound weird. She was only twenty-seven, and already she had resigned herself to the life of a retiree. Although, she’d worked at a retirement community for a few months and those people had sex. A lot of sex. Which made her next admission a bit embarrassing.
“Not since Richard. Holly is my number one priority right now. And think of how your family would react to you living with Richard’s ex-mistress.” His panicked expression proved her point. Even though it shouldn’t sting, it did. “I won’t put Holly through that. Or myself.” Not again.
“I don’t know how to fix this.”
His voice broke her heart. Here was a guy, a surprisingly good guy, who just wanted to keep everyone safe. She admired that, even though she knew from experience that it was an impossible goal to keep.
“You already did,” she whispered. “By making my kid feel like she matters. And helping me through a really hard day.”
Slowly she extracted one hand and fished through her front pocket. She closed her eyes when her finger brushed metal. Taking Gabe’s hand, she maneuvered it palm up and placed the item in it before closing his fingers around it.
“So this is where I say, ‘Thank you, Gabe, for all your help.’” She stretched up on the tips of her toes and brushed his cheek with her lips, her hand still covering his. “And you say, ‘No problem. See you around, Vixen.’”
The moment her hand was free of his, the weight was lifted, releasing her from the past. He had given her the moment she was desperate for, the day when she got to move on with her life, free of the guilt and regret. Regan wanted to smile, laugh, and cry—all at the same time. But she would wait until she was alone and Holly was in bed for the night.
Gabe opened his fingers and froze. His eyes flickered to her and back to the platinum and diamond band that lay on his open palm. It was as beautiful as it had been the night Richard slid it on her finger. Only now, when she looked at it, she saw it for what it was, a stunning piece of twisted metal and crystallized carbon.
“Why?” was all he said, but that one word held so much pain.
“I saw how you looked at it the night we met. You search my hands every time we run into each other. I figured Richard didn’t get it at an estate sale.”
Gabe’s fingers traced the filigree scrollwork on the antique band. “It was my mom’s. My dad got it for her on their twenty-fifth anniversary. Abby thought she had lost it.”
“Well then, I’m glad it’s back with the right family.”
She stepped back and held open the door. But Gabe didn’t leave. Instead he studied her much like his grandmother had. Yet the pain in his eyes when he looked back at the ring, clutching it as if he was afraid he might lose it, tugged at her heart. Because that feeling Regan connected with in a way that only someone who had lost something precious could.
“Now, it’s your turn, Gabe.”
She could tell