As Jason said the words, Kristen approached, her smile broad, her eyes gleaming.
Jason said, “You should be mingling with your staff, making them feel welcome.”
Jason’s assertion that Dean was to blame for Nina’s death was like a knife in Dean’s heart. He hadn’t been chasing her. True, he’d followed her from the restaurant, but once he realized she was going to the marina, he pulled together his pride and turned around. He’d been cleared of wrongdoing because Nina had driven five miles knowing he wasn’t chasing her.
The fact that Jason would bring it up—would make him remember—put a chill in his blood again.
“The staff is fine.”
Jason shrugged. “Okay. Whatever. If you want to lose what you have I’m not going to take the blame.”
Jason shifted away about the same time Kristen reached Dean. He felt the rush of happiness that she was near, but Jason’s comments rang in his ears. His company had teetered on the brink of failure for months after Nina’s death.
And now here he was with Kristen. A woman on the edge of having everything she wanted. It infuriated Dean that Jason would connect Kristen and Nina, and, worse, suggest that he would ruin Kristen’s life.
Because he could? Because that’s who he was? Or because Jason knew, just as Dean knew, that his upbringing didn’t lend itself to Dean being the most understanding, most easy-to-live-with guy in the world.
She said, “That baby’s a doll.”
Everything about her seemed to glow. And he suddenly saw what Jason saw. Not a comparison between her and Nina, but a comparison between himself and Kristen. Kristen was right now as he had been when he met Nina. She looked strong, but looks could be deceiving. Inside of everyone taking their first shaky steps was the potential to screw up royally.
As he had with Nina.
Jason wasn’t worried that Kristen was using him. He was worried that if Dean hurt Kristen, she’d spiral out of control as he had after Nina’s death...and she’d lose her dream.
She caught his hand, as naturally, as perfectly, as if they belonged together, and crazy fear raced through Dean.
What if he hurt her?
What if something he said or did ultimately hurt her enough to destroy her dream?
Some people really did only get one shot at life.
What if he ruined hers?
“So Dom and Ginny took the baby to their room. They’ll leave him with a nanny and be back, but I think it’s so cute that they are hands-on parents.”
He did too. He imagined that being raised by a nanny could be as cold and unhappy as being raised by a grandmother who didn’t want you.
So he couldn’t even think he’d work out his fears of being a bad father by hiring help. Help wasn’t what a kid wanted or needed. Love was. Love from a parent.
His blood ran cold at the truth of it. He slid his hand out of Kristen’s.
“I...um...need to mingle with my staff.”
Her smiled grew. “Great. I’d love to meet them.”
He took another step back. “No. I’m fine. You mingle with your potential benefactors.”
“I’ve already mingled. I talked with everyone in the receiving line.” She grinned. “Any more talk and I’m going to look obnoxious.”
She could never look, act or be obnoxious. She was too honest. Too open. And he was nowhere near that.
He was grouchy, lonely, driven. And two weeks in her company couldn’t change that. Just as two weeks in her company couldn’t possibly cause them to fall in love.
He took another step back. “I don’t want you to come with me.”
Her eyes brimmed with confusion. “What?”
“Look, I get it that you’re excited. I get it that things are going your way. But this is my company, my legacy. I don’t want or need your help.”
He let the words fall out, deliberately cruel, to chase her away, but also to remind her that she didn’t really know him. And getting to know him would be stupid because, in the end, she wouldn’t like the person she would find.
He took another step back. “Goodbye, Kristen.”
He said it the same way he had the night he’d first kissed her, intending it to be the last time he saw her. Except this time, it wasn’t an easy decision. This time he knew her enough to recognize what he was giving up.