fistfights anymore. I’ve grown up, become more levelheaded.”
Xander turned to look at me, a skeptical expression on his face. “Since when?”
“Since a couple months ago.”
“Ahh, that’s interesting.”
“It is, isn’t it?” I kissed his lips. “I started dating this classy, sophisticated guy who makes me want to be…”
“Makes you want to be what?”
“The man he sees when he looks at me.”
“You are that man. You’ve always been that man, Sean.”
Unable to help myself, I lowered my head and stole the sweetest kiss I’d ever had in my life. It was gentle but passionate, and spoke of the connection that neither of us had expected but now both craved.
“I love you.” Xander cradled my cheek and looked me directly in the eye. “All of you. The rough-and-tumble side that I grew up with, and this sweet, sexy side that I’m just now discovering. I love it all. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”
I kissed the palm of his hand and then drew it down to cover my heart. We sat there in comfortable silence, letting the moment settle around us.
My entire life I’d always felt alone in some capacity, even though I was part of a large family. Two brothers, a loving mother, and a father who was always there, even though at times I wished he hadn’t been.
But unlike Bailey, who had made friends wherever he went, and Kieran, who had found his place in the fire department and made “friends” with any woman who looked his way, I’d always had a difficult time connecting with others, preferring to keep them at arm’s length rather than invite them in.
It wasn’t a mystery as to why. My relationship with my father was nothing but a wall I’d built over time to eventually keep him out. I just hadn’t realized that that barrier also stood between me and everyone else as well.
I’d always felt excluded from the mix, and I’d done a really good job of pretending I was okay with that—until now. Until this moment right here. I’d never felt more present or more connected with someone as I did Xander.
“Sean?”
“Hmm.”
Xander straightened up so he could look at me. “I know a lot has happened today already, but there’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
The seriousness of his tone made my pulse thump a little faster. I tried to think of what else could’ve possibly happened—but then it hit me. I’d been so caught up in this magazine and the article that I’d almost forgotten the other issue when it came to the two of us: Bailey.
20
Xander
“IT’S ABOUT BAILEY, isn’t it?”
One thing I’d come to learn during the time that I’d spent with Sean was that not much got by him. He was smart, intuitive, and perceptive as hell. He was also a professional at reading me, apparently.
“Yes.”
Sean took my hand, weaving our fingers together as though he was afraid I was about to leave. “He reached out to you?”
I couldn’t help my smile. “Tonight, just before I went on air.”
“I assume it was good, judging by the look on your face.”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I’m just happy he wrote me back.”
Sean squeezed my fingers. “What’d he say?”
“Well, you know how I asked him about my birthday?”
“Yeah.”
I shifted on Sean’s lap to pull my phone from my pocket. Then I opened the messages and handed it over. I held my breath as Sean read the first response I’d gotten in weeks from Bailey. Then he handed the phone back and nodded.
“That definitely seems like a step in the right direction.”
I looked down at the words I’d been over analyzing all night: Tell me what time and where. We never miss birthdays. Then I looked back to Sean. “You really think so?”
“I mean, it’s more than I expected after talking to him this past weekend. So maybe he’s had time to think things through. Maybe Henri finally talked some sense into him.”
I wanted to believe that, and had tried to convince myself of it. But I wasn’t naive enough to believe that just because my birthday was coming up, everything would magically right itself and Bailey would forget why he was ignoring me in the first place. Especially when faced with Sean and me together.
“I don’t know.” I shut the phone and slipped it onto the side table. “It seems a little too good to be true.”
“No.” Sean pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. “It seems like Bailey, the old Bailey. You’re important to him,