I wipe another tear from her beautiful face. “Holding you in my arms is far from a nightmare, Holly. I’m glad you’re opening up to me. It means you trust me.”
“I do trust you. I know I gave you a hard time when you first got here, but that’s only because I love this track and I didn’t think someone who looked like you could care about this place the way I do. You’ve proved me wrong since you’ve been here, putting all the work into getting to know everything about the place and us. I never did thank you for convincing your friend to go into business with Dad. That was really amazing, so…thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I smile.
“I still don’t know much about you though. Tell me something about yourself—something personal.”
I clear my throat. If I want to be with this girl she might as well know the darkest details about me. “I was married once.”
She instantly stiffens in my arms. “Ma—married? When?”
“I was nineteen, and stupid. It didn’t end well.”
“What happened?” Holly asks as she sits up straighter in my arms.
I pinch a strand of her blonde hair between my fingers and twirl it as I gather my thoughts. “The typical thing that happens to most marriages involving young people—she found someone else, but neglected to tell me about it until I caught them together.”
She gasps. “That’s terrible! You found them in bed together?”
“No. I used to play in a band, and when we took a quick break, I found Jessica, my wife at the time, practically fucking some dude in the corner of the bar. I didn’t think Jessica was a willing participant, so I reacted like any other man protecting his wife would. I grabbed the guy and nearly beat him to death, thinking he was forcing himself on her…only he wasn’t. She had been seeing the guy behind my back for as long as we had been married.” I take a breath. “I ended up going to jail for assault that night. They both pressed charges against me. She told the cops I hit her that night too, but I didn’t. I have a fucked up criminal record now because of her.”
Holly looks up at me. “Trip, that’s…I don’t know what I can say other than I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”
I give her a sad smile. “It was a long time ago. I learned how to deal and move on from it.”
“Is that why you’re the way you are?” she questions softly.
“What do you mean?”
She sighs. “The first night I met you at the bar, you went from me straight into the arms of another woman. Then when you came here and kept coming onto me the way you did, and how you seemed like the type that never took anything seriously, I figured you only wanted to have sex with me. I labeled you as a player without ever knowing you because I never dreamed you had this other side to you.”
“A non-player side, you mean?” I tease.
“That, and how smart you really are.” She taps the binder lying on the counter top. “In the couple weeks you’ve been here, you’ve organized this place and helped point out all the spots where Dad was losing money. I can see you believe in this place, and want to help it succeed. That made me change my mind about you, and I even found myself thinking about you more and more often.”
I smile. “Are you trying to say that you are falling for me, Holly?”
She laughs. “I don’t know what I’m saying, but I do know that when you first came here I would’ve never pictured myself in this moment—wrapped in your arms after having the best sex of my life.”
To hear her say some of the same things I’m thinking right now is crazy. “I know exactly what you mean. Ever since Jessica, I’ve kept my emotions on lock-down. I’ve never spent much time with a woman until you. Normally I just…” I freeze trying to refrain from sounding like a complete asshole.
“Normally you just have sex and then get rid of them?” She fills in the blanks.
“Yeah…that makes me sound like a shallow fuck,” I admit.
She nods. “It does, but given what you’ve been through with your ex-wife, I understand why you’re like that. I don’t know what makes me so different, though.”
“In the bar when I first kissed you, I’ll admit I had every intention of sleeping with you and then walking away. I know that’s harsh, but it’s the truth. I saw you and I wanted you. I didn’t even care if Max was with you or not. I planned on stealing you away from him, taking you to my hotel and having my way with you. But Max threw a wrench in that plan with he dragged you away. I stood there for a second, debating whether to chase you down…”
“But?” she prods.
“Another chick threw herself willingly into my arms and latched her lips on mine, so I took the easy way out. I figured Max was your jealous boyfriend and if I went after you there would be a fight. As much as you probably don’t believe it, I try to avoid those at all costs. I, more than anyone, know how quickly a simple fight can escalate to the point where the law gets involved.”
“Is that why you didn’t hit Jackson back the other day?”
My nose tingles at the thought of Jackson sucker punching me. If things were different, I would’ve beat that little shit into the ground. “It is. When I was a kid, I fought all the time. I fought with my brother, other kids at school, whoever. All it took was someone to look at me wrong and I would go after them without a second thought. Spending time in jail, and then living on probation for a year, really opened my eyes and I realized that sometimes it’s better to just walk away.”