"Hey," she mumbles, giving me a sad smile when she sees me standing in the middle of the office.
"I made you cry."
"No, I…" She trails off and gulps when I growl, not wanting her to lie to spare my feelings. I fucked up and made her cry. That's on me. She doesn't have many people in her life that she trusts. She's protective of the ones she does have. I need to remember that. It's my job to protect her…and part of that means guarding those relationships as closely as she does, valuing them as highly as she does.
"Yeah, I did." I stride forward and take her hand, twisting our fingers together. Once I'm touching her again, I feel better. Calmer. "Come on, Minnie."
"Where?" she asks, already following behind me.
"Your office, pretty baby. We need to talk."
"Okay," she whispers, suddenly leery.
Despite the worry in her eyes, she lets me hold her on the elevator ride down to her office. The hall is empty when we arrive on her floor. Everyone else is either still downstairs trying to find out what happened, or they've gone back to their offices.
I pull her into her office and then close the door behind us.
She flutters around like she's nervous, picking up files and then putting them right back down. She looks everywhere but at me, fidgeting the whole time.
"I'm worried your daddy is goin' to hate me for you," I say.
She whips her head up to look at me.
"You're a goddamn knockout, Miranda. You're intelligent, beautiful, compassionate, young, and full of life. And yes, you're rich. Whether you like it or, it's part of who you are. It's not the most important part, but it's still there. And I'm a thirty-seven-year-old former homicide detective, closer to your father's age than your own." I shrug, restless. "I know I'm not good enough for you. It's not hard to imagine him thinkin' the same thing."
"Jason," she whispers, her expression falling. "You are good enough for me. If anyone isn't good enough in this equation, it's me. You've spent your life saving lives and making the world a better place. I've never done anything that matters like that." She walks toward me, her steps soft. "He wants to see me happy, that's all."
The thought of her not being good enough for me is preposterous, but I can tell by the earnest look in her eyes that she's serious. She genuinely thinks I'm out of her league. She's all wrong, of course.
"That's all I want too." I swallow hard. "I was worryin' that he might make you feel like you had to choose between us or that he'd hurt your feelings by refusin' to accept me. I wanted to protect you from that. I swear that's all I was thinking about. I wasn't judgin' him because he's rich. I was worryin' because he's your daddy and you're the most precious thing on this fucking planet." I reach out to touch her because it's impossible to be this close to her and not have her skin on mine. As soon as my palm meets her cheek, a little of the restlessness vanishes. "You're a goddess, pretty baby. And I'm a simple man with simple needs. But I'll always be your man."
"That's all I want," she whispers, tipping her head back to look at me. "You are all I want, Jason. I could walk away from my dad's fortune tomorrow and never miss it. But if I walked away from you, I'd never recover. I'd never get over you or be whole again. That's why I know he'll love you. Because he knows what it means to love like that."
"Minnie," I whisper, tugging her closer to me.
"I love you, Jason. I choose you." She rises up on her toes, bringing her face closer to mine. Her sweet breath dances across my lips and the side of my face. "And because I choose you, my dad will love you too. Trust me if not him. That's all I want from you. For you to trust me as much as I trust you."
"I trust you with my life, sweet Miranda." I feather kisses across her face, lifting her up into my arms. I sink down into her chair, holding her close. "I'm sorry I made you doubt that. I promise you; it won't happen again. If you believe your daddy is goin' to be happy for us, then I believe it too."
"Yeah?" she asks, unable to hide the hope in her voice.
"Yeah, pretty baby," I say, touching my lips to her crown. "I don't ever want you to feel like you have to choose between me and anyone you love. It's my job to protect you from that pain, not to be the one who gives you that pain."
Even if her dad does hate me like I worry, I will never make her feel like she has to choose between us. I'll fight like hell to make sure he realizes that, while there may be a thousand men out there who deserve her more, there will never be another one who will fight as hard as I will to make her dreams come true.
I'll do whatever it takes to keep this woman as happy as she makes me. She'll never have to worry about or fear a damn thing so long as I'm around. She'll never feel lonely or like she doesn't matter ever again. I may not be able to give her the world, but I can sure as hell make our little slice of it as close to heaven on earth as we can get.
And in that, I won't fail. Not now, not ever.
Chapter Seven
Miranda
"Are you nervous?" I ask, watching Jason out of the corner of my eye. He looks as calm and collected as ever, but we're going to meet my family for the first time, so I can't help but worry that he might be freaking out a little. The last couple of days have been effortless between us, but I can't help but worry that he's still worried.
"Nope." He looks over at me and gives me my favorite lazy grin, the one that makes my heart race and my belly clench. The smile reflects in his steely blue eyes, those gray flecks of happiness on full display. He pulls my hand up to his lips, kissing my knuckles. "You nervous, pretty baby?"
"No." I smile back at him, my worry dissolving. "I'm excited for you to meet my parents and Joey. They're excited too. My mom called me like fifty times yesterday to ask questions about you."
"Oh yeah?" He smirks, one brow arching. "What kind of questions?"
"If you have food allergies, if we're bringing Gomer, if you like Italian," I say, ticking them off on my fingers, and then I laugh, thinking about her last round of questions. "If your ass really looks as good in person as it did in the pictures of us at the bar."
Jason chuckles, the tips of his ears turning red.
"I told her it looks even better," I say, and then squeal with laughter when he reaches over the console to tickle me. "I'm just kidding! I didn't tell her that." I totally told her that, but I'm not telling him the truth. Are you kidding? We're still five minutes out and I'm ticklish everywhere.
My mom is so excited to meet him though. My dad is too, but he's less excitable than my mom. It's why they make such a great team. He keeps his feet planted on the ground so she can keep her head in the clouds. He worships her and everyone knows it.
I'm pretty sure Jason feels the same way about me. Whenever he looks at me, there's always a little awe in his expression, like he can't believe I'm really his. I know I probably look at him the same way. I certainly feel that way. He's perfect to me, larger than life. It's hard to imagine that he doesn't feel like he's good enough for me when I feel the complete opposite. He's too good for me. But I'm going to be selfish this one time and keep him all to myself.