He closed his eyes and pulled the woman he loved closer. If it weren't for Jane, he doubted he'd even try to rein himself in. But because he knew it would wound her even more, he battled back the urge. Nothing was more important than Jane. Protecting her. Loving her.
Even if that meant letting a worm like Colin live.
After a moment, she pushed gently away from him, her head down. He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. "I'm so sorry."
Her thin smile just about broke his heart. "I've known the truth for days now. But it's different hearing it--or not hearing it." She hugged herself, her shoulders rising and falling as she sighed so heavily he felt her breath on his face. "I guess I thought he'd be honest with me."
"Would that matter?"
"Maybe. No. I don't know." She sighed. "I didn't even cross-examine him." Her shoulder lifted in a shrug, as if she wasn't sure where she was or what she was doing. "I know everything you told me. Where he's been. When he traveled. I could have demanded explanations. But I just couldn't stand to hear his bullshit."
"Oh, baby. It's okay. What do you need now? Mom?" If she said yes, he'd find a way, no matter how much it pissed off their father. "Brody?" he asked, thinking that as much as it might sting, maybe she needed her best friend. Someone not in their fucked-up family. He twisted slightly, searching for Liam who had quietly slipped away the moment Dallas had taken her in his arms. Maybe she'd want him, their friend who'd stood like a rock with the two of them throughout childhood, but wasn't a man she was in love with.
But then she said, "Just you," and he thought his heart was going to melt.
He lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed her palm. "Home," he said. "I'm taking you home."
"I'm sorry," he said once they were in a taxi and on their way.
She tilted her head. "For what?"
"What he did to us. That he didn't own up to it today."
The corner of her mouth rose ironically. "That's hardly something you need to apologize for. And honestly, I don't think it matters what he said today. It doesn't really change anything, does it? Whether he tells us the truth or not, there's still some psycho bitch after us."
Pressing her fingertips to her brow, she shook her head. "Oh, hell. Now I'm the one who's sorry. It's just that..." She stopped herself, then sighed. "I was just thinking about, well, everything. And sometimes I wonder if I should have kept quiet that day the press saw us kiss. Maybe we should have let them believe that bullshit story you made up about it being a dare. Because that was the beginning, Dallas. That's when the psycho bitch came out of the woodwork. Whether she's the Woman or some crazed female you got naked with, that very public kiss and my very public statement are what set her off."
He didn't argue. How could he when she was right?
"And it's not just her," Jane added. She glanced toward the Plexiglas barrier between them and the driver, then turned back to Dallas, apparently satisfied that the driver either couldn't hear or wasn't interested.
"That kiss brought the press swarming in," she continued. "I mean, let's face it. I wasn't that interesting before. And while you've been a regular on Page Six for ages, the news that you're fucking your sister pretty much kicked your social media stock into overdrive. How much do you want to bet they'll be waiting for us when we get home?"
"I'm going to pass on that bet. I'm not flush enough lately to risk losing."
As he hoped, she smiled. "Yeah, my bank account's a little thin these days, too." She sighed, then shook her head as if exasperated with herself. "I'm just frustrated. I want a life together--a real life. And I'm starting to wonder how the hell we're ever going to make that happen."
"But we will," he promised, though he had no idea how. He slid close to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She curled against him, and he sighed, relishing the way they fit perfectly together. "Somehow, we're going to make it happen."
She tilted her head up to his. "Do you really believe that?"
"I do," he said, then bent to kiss her. Immediately, she opened to him, and in that moment he truly felt as if he really was the one thing she needed in all the universe, and if they could just figure out a way to make the rest of the world go away, then everything would be all right.
"I want you now," she murmured, trailing her fingertip back and forth over his thigh and making him just a little crazy. "I need you inside me. Please, Dallas. I want to feel you next to me, and then I want to fall asleep in your arms and sleep away the whole rest of the day."
"The whole day?" he teased. "It's barely nine in the morning."
"Then you'll just have to tire me out, because I'm done. When I wake up, I want it to be tomorrow."
He slid his hand along her inner thigh, then felt his cock twitch at the sharp sound of her breath as she gasped with anticipation.
He pulled his hand away, and watched her eyes narrow. "Any more, and I won't be able to stop."
"I don't want you to stop. Not ever."
"You do want me to stop," he said as he gently brushed his thumb over her lower lip. "Because we're almost home. And we both know the vultures are going to surround us the minute this car pulls up in front of the building."
For a moment, he thought she was going to protest that she didn't care.