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“You were never supposed to know,” he reasoned. “But even if you do know, they can’t. They can’t ever know. You know how they are. This would make them panic more than they already do.”

“Based on what I heard the day I learned the truth, I think it might be wise for them to know. It didn’t hit me until just now, but if things are this serious, it’s probably for the best. They might be dramatic on most occasions, but at least this would be one that warrants that reaction.”

“Aria, this isn’t funny. It’s not a game.”

With every word he spoke, I was growing more and more frustrated. How had things gotten this bad? My dad was the guy I used to be able to rely on to look after me. Now, I didn’t trust him.

“Do you think I don’t know that? I had to pack up my entire life and move just to get out of the mess you created,” I reminded him.

“We’re your family. You can’t just walk away from us forever. Unless you don’t care. Unless we don’t matter to you.”

Anger turned to hurt. Just like that, my heart broke into a million pieces. After everything I’d done, my father had the audacity to throw out wild claims like that. “How dare you say that?” I rasped. “I did everything I could for my family, and when I learned the truth about what you didandkept it a secret, you didn’t do anything to protect me from what came at me. I’m done. I’m done with this conversation, and I’m done with you.”

“Aria, wait?—”

I disconnected the call and stared at the floor. My phone rang again in my hand. I turned it off.

Then I took several deep breaths as I attempted to blink back the tears. I had to bury these emotions, but they continued to bubble to the surface.

How was I ever going to make it through breakfast with Paxton?

On that thought, I noted the time, got out of bed, and got myself ready. Then I made Sasha some breakfast just in time for the doorbell to ring.

And in the most bizarre twist of events that I’d ever experienced in my life, I opened the front door to Paxton, saw his handsome face, and reached out to hug him.

I didn’t care how confident Britney was that I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.

She was wrong.

TEN

Paxton

From the moment I stood outside in the driveway with Aria yesterday morning and she agreed to let me take her out to show her around town today, I had no less than half a dozen thoughts about how the day with her might go.

Each of those thoughts had left me feeling hopeful about what the day would bring and where things could possibly go between us.

But in not one of the thoughts I’d had—and there had been a fair amount of variety in them—had I imagined this.

I didn’t expect to show up on Aria’s doorstep and have her launching herself into my arms before I could even say a single word to her. Of course, that didn’t mean I was upset about it. I couldn’t have hoped for much more, considering the newness of our friendship. We had onlyjust met, and I liked that she felt comfortable enough with me to do what she’d done, so there was little that could have made her response to seeing me any better than it had been.

But no matter how much I liked what was happening, I was confused by it. There was a part of me that wanted to believe Aria had simply been unable to stop thinking about me and our interaction yesterday morning. It was all I’d thought about when I was at work. In fact, I found I struggled to think about anything else besides Aria.

And to be honest, I liked it.

I liked being at this stage with her.

Because following that encounter yesterday, I could confidently say there was, at the very least, a mutual attraction. Considering it had been more than a year since my last serious relationship, I liked being in this place again. It might not amount to anything romantic, but at least there was something exciting happening. There was something to look forward to in my life, which seemed to have grown very mundane and routine over the last several months. I was happy for the distraction of Aria.

Of course, I was fully aware Aria and I could wind up spending time together and learn we had nothing in common and weren’t compatible, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t hope for the best, enjoy myself, make a friend, and welcome a woman to town until the worst was proven to be the case.

Regardless of how much I wanted Aria’s reason for hugging me to be something positive, I already knew that wasn’t what was happening right now. I had eyes. I knew what I saw when she flung open her door.

This embrace had nothing to do with her havingmissed me and being excited to see me again. The utter devastation etched into her expression and the tension obvious in her frame told me as much.

I held on tight to her, wanting to give her whatever comfort she was seeking. At the same time, my mind was whirling with ideas about what might have been causing this reaction from her. And beyond that, there was something that came alive inside me at the thought of her being hurt by something or someone. Maybe it was protective instincts. It could have merely been compassion. But whatever I was feeling, fixing this situation for Aria was all that mattered to me now.

Without releasing my hold on her, I said, “I don’t want you to think I’m complaining, because I love what’s happening here, but I get the distinct feeling that you’re not okay.”