from his rumbled words sent a shiver down my spine. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I was. She made an approach in one of the aisles, tried to tell Brantley she was his grandmother. I shut her down really fast, but she insisted she needed to speak with me, even grabbed my arm when I tried to walk away. I said some words and she backed off, but she cornered me a while later while I was loading my groceries in the car.” He looked like he was a second from exploding, so I hurried to get the rest of it out before all hell broke loose. “She was really desperate, Jensen. She confronted me because she was hoping I’d talk you out of trying to get that money back your father stole. She thought I’d feel sorry for her if she told me that they were gonna lose everything.
“Obviously, that didn’t work. That’s when she told me the real reason you left was because you nearly killed someone. She tried to get in my head, telling me you were dangerous, that you were gonna hurt me and Brant.”
“I would fuckin’ never—” he started on a growl, but I silenced him by straddling his thighs and taking his face in my hands.
“I know,” I insisted with a passionate whisper. “Jens, I know you. I know who you are in here.” I pressed my palm firmly to his chest above his heart. “I’ve never once worried that you’d lose control and hurt me or our son, not for a single second. That was her playing games, trying to get in my head so she could get what she wanted. It didn’t work.”
“Did she get anywhere near Brant? Say anything to him?”
“No.” I shook my head vigorously. “I didn’t give her the chance. I wasn’t about to let that happen. But, honey . . . she did freak him out pretty bad.”
He let out a long, steady breath, getting hold of his rage and letting it go. Letting out a weary sigh, he scrubbed at his face and groaned before dropping his head back and closing his eyes. “Christ, I can’t fuckin’ believe this. They just don’t quit. Every time I think I’m done with them once and for all, they come in and take a giant fucking sledgehammer to anything good in my life.”
“Hey, look at me.” Those stormy grays hit me and, in spite of the cloud swirling inside of them, when I looked at him just then, I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be. “We’re done letting them have any effect on our lives, okay? They can’t take a sledgehammer to anything because, from here on out, we aren’t going to let them. That’s done. They can play all the mind games they want, but for us, for our family, they don’t exist, okay?”
“You know it’s not that easy, baby.”
“But it is,” I insisted, scooting up on his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. “It is that easy, bunny, ’cause they’re nothing to us. And when a person is nothing, they don’t have any control, they can’t hurt you anymore. From here on out it’s me, you, and Brant. That’s it. If we concentrate on that, nothing can touch us.”
Those clouds began to part, and a light I’d never seen before, even when we were at our best, came shining through. “Nothing can touch us.”
I slid my fingers into his hair, tangling them in the soft, silky strands. That’s right, baby. From here on out, it’s nothing but good. Even if we’re fighting because you’ve done something incredibly stupid that pisses me off, it’ll still be good.”
He hit me with that cocky smirk that made me fall in love with him. “And if you do something stupid that pisses me off?”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Pfft. Like that’ll ever happen. I’m freaking perfect.”
Just then, he grabbed my hips and rolled quickly, taking me to my back. “That you are, sunshine,” he said tenderly, looking into my eyes with so much love it made my throat grow tight. I lost his gaze a second later, but only because he lowered his head and gave me a slow, thorough kiss that made my toes curl and every nerve ending in my body spark to life. “Want you again, baby,” he said gruffly once he pulled back. “But to make that happen, I need to rehydrate.”
I could seriously get with that plan. “Then you