“You don’t have a crystal ball, Eagle. You have no idea what the future holds.”
“You want kids?”
The question startled Taylor. She hadn’t expected it . . . and the pain she felt anytime she thought about her own childhood bloomed inside her belly. “I’d make a horrible mother,” she said.
“You’re wrong. And you didn’t answer my question,” Eagle said calmly.
Taylor felt anything but calm. All the good feelings from the earlier orgasms were gone now. She should’ve just gone to sleep, after all. “It doesn’t matter if I want them or not,” she told him. “The fact of the matter is, I wouldn’t be able to even recognize my own children. If I take them to the park, I wouldn’t know which child was mine. When I went to pick them up from school, I’d have to wait for them to come to me. I’d be a horrible mom.”
“Wrong,” Eagle said vehemently. “You’d be an amazing mom. As for the park, you’d know what he or she was wearing, and you’d keep your eye on them. Same thing for school.”
Taylor merely shook her head. “My childhood was horrible,” she told him quietly. “You know I couldn’t emotionally connect with my own mother, and she gave me up. It was the same with the foster homes I was in. And friends? Forget about it. I was bullied every day, straight through my senior year. The last thing I want to do is pass my condition on to someone else.”
“Is prosopagnosia genetic?” Eagle asked gently.
“It appears to run in families,” Taylor told him. She felt his fingers under her chin, lifting her head until she had no choice but to look at him.
“I think you’d be an exceptional mother . . . whether your kid had prosopagnosia or not. You’d learn to recognize your child by his or her mannerisms. A head tilt, the way he or she walked, the sound of their voice. You said it yourself, your sense of smell is heightened too. I have no doubt you’d find a way to recognize your child, even if that means giving him a Mohawk or letting your daughter put a streak of pink in her hair.
“And I can’t think of anything better for a child with prosopagnosia than having a parent with the same condition. He or she could always talk to you about it . . . think about what a great resource you would be. You’d truly understand what your child is experiencing. And . . . you’d have your husband at your side as well. You wouldn’t be alone, not for a second.”
Taylor’s eyes filled with tears. “Why couldn’t I have met you years ago? Before I became so cynical?”
“Everything happens for a reason. If you’d met me five years ago, you wouldn’t have liked me. I was bitter about everything that happened in the Army, and I was a dick. We were meant to meet when we did. I have no doubt about that.”
“Thank you,” Taylor said softly.
“You don’t have to thank me for thinking you’re pretty amazing,” Eagle told her. “You just need to believe it yourself.”
Taylor nodded, and Eagle lifted his head and kissed her hard on the lips, then let go of her chin.
“What else happened while I was gone?” he asked.
Glad he’d changed the subject, but feeling better after his encouragement and faith in her, she said, “I didn’t feel like cooking one night, so I went out to grab fast food. And for the first time in my life, I had one of those experiences where, when I got to the front of the line to pay, the cashier told me the car in front of me had already paid for my meal. It felt awesome, so of course I had to pay for the person behind me.”
“That’s great, Tay. What else?”
“I went to lunch shortly after with Skylar, and someone paid for our lunches . . . which was a crazy coincidence right after the fast-food thing. Another day, I went to Silverstone Towing because I was missing you and figured I might feel closer to you if I was there. I already told you about beating your high score at pinball—sorry, not sorry—and Skylar showed up. We talked for a bit, and we made plans to go to the mall. We went a couple days ago, and I swear I felt like a teenager trolling the mall again. Skylar is hilarious. I really like her.”
“I have it on good authority that she likes you too,” Eagle said with a smile.
“I’ve never really had good experiences with friends,” Taylor admitted. “But Skylar is so down to earth. I really hope things work out with us.”
“They will.”
“I got lots of work done too. It was a good distraction from worrying about you,” she said.
“I’m sorry you were worried, but you know what? I’ve never had someone worry about me like that before.”
Taylor traced a finger over a few long-healed scars on his chest. She had no idea what they could be from, but she knew life as a Special Forces soldier, and now working for Silverstone, wasn’t exactly like working in an office. It was much more dangerous.
Eagle went on. “I’m not close with my family. I mean, we get along okay, we’re just completely different people. My brother is ten years older, and I never see him. My mom and dad mean well, but they never approved of me going into the Army. They have no idea what I do now. And I’ve never had someone waiting for me when I get home from missions. I think I like it.”
Taylor snuggled into him and was rewarded by his arm tightening around her. “You know what I like?” she asked.
“What?”
“This. Being able to talk to you in person right before I go to sleep, instead of on the phone.” It was a risk, letting herself be vulnerable by admitting that, but it was too late to take it back.
“Me too,” he agreed.
“I’m going to want to see your arm in the morning. You never did let me look at it.”
A chuckle rumbled through Eagle’s chest. “Okay, Flower. I’ll let you examine me and kiss it all better.”
“Wow, that sounded dirty,” she told him with a small shake of her head.
“Well, your man’s got a dirty mind,” he retorted.
Her man. Taylor liked that.
“But he’s also exhausted,” Eagle told her. “My plan was to talk for a while, then take you again, but I’m not sure I can keep my eyes open that long.”
“It’s okay. I’m kinda sore,” Taylor admitted.
“Shoulda run you a bath,” Eagle said sleepily.
Just the fact that he’d even thought about it made Taylor melt. “It’s okay.”
“Missed you, Flower,” he slurred. It was obvious he was almost out.
“Missed you too,” Taylor replied.
Then all she heard was his deep breaths as he fell into a restful sleep.
Inhaling his scent into her lungs, Taylor closed her eyes as well. The night hadn’t turned out like she’d thought it would . . . it was so much better.
Chapter Thirteen
The last few days had been idyllic. Eagle was the boyfriend Taylor had always dreamed about. He was incredibly attentive, and she’d had no idea what she’d been missing in the bedroom. He always made sure she got off several times.
But even outside the bedroom, he was amazing. He didn’t hover. He left her to do her proofreading work while he went off to do his own thing and never made her feel bad if she needed to get some work done instead of hanging out with him.