“But that has to be your decision,” Dalton argued, watching her carefully as she paced the room. “This is still your business. You could walk away from Jeremey if you chose to, maintain your studio here and grow the business at a manageable rate.”
She knew he was right, but that would feel like settling in some ways. “When I first started out, I imagined Easton’s being a household name.”
“I’d say you’ve accomplished that.”
“Not quite.” Sophie braced a hand on the wooden window frame as she stared out at the lake. “I’m incredibly grateful for the success I’ve had, don’t get me wrong, but things aren’t where they could be. That’s why I partnered with him in the first place, to help take us to the next level. If I walked away now, without giving Jeremy a chance to prove what he was capable of, would I regret it?”
“Only you can answer that question, Soph,” Dalton said, sounding resigned. “You know whatever you want to do, I’ll support your decision.”
She looked up at him and smiled before reaching for his hand. “That’s one of the many reasons I love you.”
Chapter Ten
Shyanne joined Dalton on the porch swing, where he was rocking her son to sleep. He’d volunteered for the job after Shyanne’s husband brought the little guy out from his bath, wrapped in snuggly fleece pyjamas.
“You’re a natural,” she whispered, smiling when her son stuck his thumb in his mouth.
“I babysit for my sister and brother-in-law whenever I can,” Dalton responded, feeling a sense of peace when Trevor released his thumb and curled into Dalton’s chest, sighing contentedly.
“You want to be a daddy.”
It wasn’t a question, so Dalton didn’t feel compelled to respond. He just continued watching Trevor, knowing the truth must be written all over his face.
“Does Sophie know how you feel?”
“She knows I want kids someday.”
She smirked, crossing her arms. “Ah, but does she know you wanted them yesterday?”
“God, am I that obvious?” He slipped his index finger into Trevor’s hand.
“I’m afraid so.” Shyanne laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t think she’ll hold it against you.”
He knew Shy may be able to give him some insight into whether it was too soon for him to talk to Sophie about their future, but after the concession she’d made, allowing him to buy the cottage with her, he didn’t want to push his luck.
“I didn’t feel this way until my niece and nephew were born,” he said, getting the sense Shy was waiting for him to explain his position. “I’d always assumed I’d settle down after football, you know, get married and have a few kids, but then I started seeing Sophie and I knew she wasn’t ready for that.”
“But that didn’t stop you from falling in love with her, did it?”
Their dinner conversation told him Shy was a forthright and perceptive woman, so he wasn’t surprised by her question. “No, it didn’t.”
“She clearly feels the same way.”
He was tempted to ask Shy whether they’d talked about Sophie’s feelings for him, but he knew he had to learn to trust that her feelings for him were real. “I hope so.”
“You have your doubts?”
Instead of responding, he stared at Trevor, trying to imagine what his own son would look like, if he was ever blessed with one. “Things have been up in the air for a long time. Until today, I had no idea what Sophie’s plans were.”
“Her decision to buy the cottage with you should be enough to put your fears to rest.” Shy touched Dalton’s forearm with her fingertips. “You have to know that’s a big step for her. She’s never lived with anyone before.”
“I know it’s a big step, but…” He didn’t want to fixate on the negative, but it was hard to forget she was still entertaining the possibility things may not work out the way he prayed they would.
“But?”
“We’re going into this arrangement as co-owners. It’ll all be spelled out in a legal document. If the relationship ends, she has the option of buying me out so she doesn’t have to sell the cottage.”
“Oh.” Shy reached forward to collect her son when he cried out in his sleep. “I know how you must feel. My husband’s family asked me to sign a pre-nup before we got married.”
“What did you do?” Dalton asked, knowing his own father would have the gall to suggest the same thing.
“I told them to go to hell.”
Dalton chuckled. “Good for you.”
“I think it’s pretty obvious I’m not a gold-digger by the way we live. Paul’s a trust fund baby, but he knew I didn’t want to live off his family’s money.”
“I admire that.” Dalton wouldn’t have wanted to profit from his father’s success either. He would never have agreed to work for the family business had he not made a name for himself in football first.
“Sometimes I feel guilty,” she said, gliding a fingertip over her son’s chubby cheek. “It’s caused a rift between Paul and his family and that’s the last thing I wanted. They’re still Trevor’s grandparents, after all.”
“Yeah, but you and Trevor are Paul’s family now. I’m sure given the choice he’d choose you guys every time.”
Shy grinned. “That’s what he says.” After a few moments of comfortable silence she said, “I think the hardest thing about falling in love is learning to trust.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” he admitted. “That and allowing yourself to be vulnerable.”
“Am I to assume you haven’t had a lot of practice?” Shy’s sidelong glance and sassy smile let him know she was teasing.
“There was never time for relationships while I was playing football.” He knew she didn’t expect him to open up about his past, but it felt right. He could understand why Sophie counted this lady among her closest friends.
“From the time I was old enough to throw a football it was all about the game. Training to get better, working out, trying to make the team.” Thinking about the early years still made him smile, reinforcing his decision he’d chosen the right career. “Playing in the big leagues was all I ever wanted. Girls were kind of an afterthought in high school and college. And when I was playing pro there was no stability in my life. I didn’t think it was fair to commit to someone without knowing whether I’d be living in the same city next year.”
Shy stroked her son’s hair gently, brushing it back off his forehead as he slept. “But now that part of your life is over and you’re ready to start a new chapter.”
“Yeah.”
“With Sophie.”
Dalton knew he could bow out of the conversation now without offending Sophie’s friend, but he was getting tired of running from the truth… in all areas of his life. “Things still aren’t ideal.” He shifted, feeling the offending pill bottle in his pocket as his knee pained, reminding him why he needed them. “I still have some issues I need to work through before I’m ready to settle down.”
He had to kick the pills for starters, have the surgery, and figure out what life would look like when he was no longer walking around in a haze. Would his feelings for Sophie change? Would they be less intense? He didn’t think so, but he knew he couldn’t promise forever until he’d beat his demons into submission.
“Issues?” Shy asked. “You can tell me to mind my own business, but I have to ask this. Are you one of those guys who’s afraid of commitment? You say you’re ready to be a dad, but when pressed about settling down you-”
“Acknowledge I’m not ready. Yeah, I know that sounds pretty messed up.” He leaned forward, lacing his hands between his knees. “I’m scared to death of hurting her, Shy. Her brother is one of my best friends. It would kill our friendship if I messed this up.”
“But that’s not your biggest concern, is it?” she asked. “You’re afraid of getting hurt yourself.” She touched his back. “Don’t worry, that doesn’t make you sound selfish, Dalton. We’re all afraid of that to some degre
e.”
He knew if Sophie found out about his dependence on pills it would change everything and now that his sister knew he couldn’t expect her to keep the secret from her friend forever. “I guess I am.” He’d been taught fear was akin to weakness, especially on the football field, so he got good at pretending to be fearless. “When Soph left town it made me realize I don’t want to live without her.”
“But you’re not ready to ask her to spend her life with you?”
Dalton released a nervous chuckle as he shot a look at Shy over his shoulder. “Girl, you don’t believe in pullin’ punches, do you?”
“When my friend’s heart is on the line? No, I don’t.”
“That’s fair.” Dalton was grateful Sophie had so many people looking out for her, but it reminded him how much trouble he would be in if this went south. “Am I ready to propose?” The air seeped between his teeth on a long, slow exhale. “No, I guess I’m not. Not because I don’t love her. Let’s just say we’re not there yet.” At least he wasn’t. “Football left me with a lot of battle scars. I have to wait for those to heal before I can be the kind of husband Sophie deserves.”
“That’s fair,” Shy said. “You two haven’t been dating all that long, and like you said, you weren’t even sure where you stood until very recently. I guess I just wanted to make sure you weren’t playing her.”
“I’m not.” Dalton heard the devil in his ear remind him he wasn’t being completely honest with Sophie, which was akin to playing games. “I’m serious about her.” At least he was being honest about that. “I’m hoping the decision to buy this old place together will be a good place for us to start building a life together.”
“I hope so,” Shy said, sounding uncertain.
“You don’t think so?” Dalton asked, leaning back so he could read Shy’s expression.
“I’d hoped to walk away from this conversation with some answers. But I just have more questions.” She narrowed her eyes as though she was trying to read his mind. “I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character and while I believe you when you tell me you love her, I can’t help but feel there’s a whole lot more you’re not telling me… or her.”
Damn, Dalton hoped she wasn’t about to tell him she was psychic. That would mean a whole world of trouble. He laughed, trying to hide his discomfort. “Come on, Shy. We all have skeletons in our closets, right? You can’t tell me your husband knows everything there is to know about you?”
One side of her mouth lifted in a reluctant smile. “No, I suppose there’s a few things he doesn’t know. But he does know all of the important things. Can you say the same? Have you told Sophie everything she needs to know?”
He couldn’t look in her in the eye and lie to her. He wasn’t that kind of man, but he didn’t want to invite a host of questions he wasn’t prepared to answer either. Lowering his head, he muttered, “I’ve told her all I can, for now.”
“That doesn’t put my mind at ease.” She stood, cradling her son against her chest. “You may think this is none of my business, but I love Sophie and I don’t want to see her get hurt. If you feel the same way, you’ll have the guts to come clean, and soon.”
***
Sophie couldn’t shake the feeling Shy had some reservations about Dalton after their talk on the porch so she’d offered to stay behind after walking Dalton to his truck, under the guise of helping her friend clean up after she put the baby to bed.
“So?” Sophie asked, stacking the plates on the counter as she removed them from the dishwasher. “What do you think of Dalton?”
“He’s nice.”
Nice was not a word Shy used often, making Sophie’s radar go on high alert. “Nice? That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna give me?”
Shy laughed. “What do you want me to say? I just met the guy tonight.”
“Yeah, and you knew you wanted to marry Paul after you spent like two hours with the guy. It doesn’t take you all that long to figure people out.” Sophie hated to admit it, but that was part of the reason she’d wanted to introduce Dalton to her friend. She wanted Shy to tell her that she was crazy for having reservations about him. “So let me hear your take on Dalton.”
“My take on him…” Sophie wiped down the counter with a damp rag, a contemplative expression on her face. “He’s handsome, maybe too handsome.”
Sophie laughed, trying to ease the ball of tension that had formed in her belly. “Too handsome? Is there such a thing?”
Shy rolled her eyes before rinsing her cloth in the sink. “You know there is. Guys like that, rich, famous, gorgeous, talented… they know they can have any woman they want and they often have a hard time picking just one.”
Sophie couldn’t deny she’d been living with the same fear ever since she and Dalton started seeing each other, but hearing her friend voice her concerns made her want to jump to Dalton’s defense. “He may have been like that before, but I have no reason to believe he’s seeing anyone else.”
“I don’t think he is either,” Shy said, leaning her hip against the counter. “I walked away from our talk certain of one thing. The man does care about you.”
Sophie knew that should put her mind at ease, but the uncertainty etched on Shy’s face only made her feel worse. “But?”
“He’s hiding something.”
“What?” That’s the last thing Sophie expected her friend to say. “Why do you think that?”
“Call it a hunch.” Shy reached for Sophie’s hand. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, and I hate like hell to say it, especially with no proof to back it up, but I owe it to you to be honest with you.”
Sophie knew Shy was only looking out for her, but hearing she wasn’t the only one with reservations made her question everything. “I love him, Shy,” she whispered, easing back on a stool at the counter. “What am I supposed to do now? I agreed to let him buy that cottage with me.”
“I know.” Shy sighed. “You want my advice? Tell him you’ve changed your mind about that. Buy the place and fix it up yourself. If things work out, you’ll share it eventually anyways. If they don’t, you won’t have to deal with the messy legalities later on.”
Sophie had made that offer to Dalton hoping to strengthen their relationship. Telling him she’d changed her mind would be like taking ten steps back and she didn’t think she could do that without putting their relationship in serious jeopardy.
“You know I love you. And I trust your instincts, but you gotta give me more than that if you expect me to call the whole thing off,” Sophie said, feeling desperate. “Was it something he said, or just a feeling you got?”
“It was the things he wouldn’t say,” Shy said, sighing. “I dealt with enough liars and phonies before Paul came along to be able to spot one from a mile away.”
“You think Dalton’s lying to me about something?” Sophie asked, feeling her stomach bottom out.
“That depends,” Shy said, looking thoughtful. “Do you consider a lie by omission a lie?”
If so, Sophie realized she could be considered a liar as well, since she’d waited so long to tell Dalton about her deal with Jeremy and her move to L.A. “Then you think he’s hiding something from me? Like, another woman, maybe?” She hated to think Dalton would stoop so low, but since they hadn’t defined their relationship until recently, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he had someone waiting in the wings in another city.
“I don’t think it’s another woman,” Shy said, turning her back to Sophie as she began putting platters back in the cupboard. “Judging by the way he talked about you and his desire for a family, I’d say you’re the only woman he wants.”
That made her feel marginally better, but she still had so many doubts. What am I missing? “I need to confront him,” she said, grabbing her purse. “I’ll go crazy if I don’t.”
“I think that’s smart,” Shy said, kissing her cheek. “And for the record, I do hope I’m wrong about Dalton. I want him to be the guy yo
u need him to be.”
“So do I,” Sophie said, hugging her friend. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying just this once, Shy’s intuition had failed her. “More than anything.”
***
Dalton was channel-surfing, trying to get Shy’s warning out of his head when his doorbell rang. He tossed the clicker on the ottoman and reached for the t-shirt he hadn’t bothered to put on after his shower before he made his way to the door.
A quick glance through the peep hole made him smile. “Hey, baby. I didn’t expect to see you tonight. I thought you were gonna-”
“We need to talk,” Sophie said, pushing past him. Her eyes scanned the living room quickly before searching the hall and glancing upstairs towards the bedrooms. “Are you alone?”
“Of course I’m alone.” He frowned when he reached for her arm and she pulled away. “What kind of question is that?” That’s when he realized Shy had planted seeds of doubt in Sophie’s mind after their talk. “Why? Did you expect to come here and catch me with someone else?”
He regretted the remark as soon as he saw the look of shock and hurt on Sophie’s face.
“Then there is someone else? Why didn’t you tell me you were-”
“There’s no one else!” he shouted. “Jesus, Soph. How can you even think that? You know how much I love you!”
She followed him into the sunken living room. “I’m sorry, but…” Her voice tapered off, prompting him to turn and face her. “This may sound crazy, but Shy said she got the feeling you’re keeping something from me, Dalton. Is that true?”
The moment of truth. He could look her in the eye and lie or come clean about everything and risk losing her. When he couldn’t find the voice to do either, he turned and walked away, knowing he was only putting off the inevitable, he turned the knob leading to the patio while chastising himself for being a coward.
As he knew she would, Sophie gave him a few moments alone before following him outside. He was standing with his back to her, staring out at the lit pool, as he searched for the right words.
Possession (Texas Titans #8) Page 12