‘You were hurting, too, Bailey,’ he reminded her softly. ‘You weren’t being selfish. You were hurting and you didn’t know how to fix it—for yourself or for your husband.’
‘In the end, Ed found comfort elsewhere. But he—he wasn’t like your ex,’ she whispered. ‘He wasn’t out there looking for someone else. He would never have done it if I hadn’t pushed him away and made him feel as if I didn’t care. It was all my fault.’
And now he understood why her family worried about her so much and were so keen for her to meet someone. Not because she was ‘on the shelf’, but because they knew how much she’d been through and they wanted her to find someone to share her life with and to cherish her, someone who’d stop her being lonely and sad.
If she’d let him, maybe he could do that. Maybe they could both help each other heal.
But Bailey had pushed her husband away, terrified of getting pregnant again. She’d ended her marriage rather than risk another pregnancy going wrong.
And that explained why she’d responded to him and then backed off again so swiftly. She’d felt the pull of attraction between them just as much as he had, but she was too scared to act on it. Too scared to date, to grow intimate with him, to make love with him—in case she became pregnant and she ended up having another ectopic pregnancy.
‘It takes two to break a marriage,’ he said. ‘Your ex gave up on you.’
‘You gave up on your marriage,’ she pointed out.
He knew she’d only said it because she was hurting. Clearly she thought that sniping at him would make him walk away and leave her to it. Maybe that was one of the tactics she’d used to push her husband away, but it wasn’t going to work on him. ‘Yes, I did,’ he said. ‘I’ll take my share of the blame. Just as long as you accept that not all the blame of your break-up is yours.’
‘It feels like it is,’ she said, sounding totally broken.
If only he had a magic wand. But this wasn’t something he could fix. The only one who could let her trust again, let her take the risk of sharing her life with someone, was Bailey herself. Until she was ready to try, it just wouldn’t work.
So he said nothing, just held her. If necessary, he’d stay here all night, just cradling her on his lap and hoping she’d be able to draw some strength from the feel of her arms around him.
Eventually, she stroked his face. ‘Thank you, Jared. For listening. And for not judging.’
Unable to help himself, he twisted his face round so he could drop a kiss into her palm. ‘No worries.’
‘I’m sorry I cried all over you.’
‘It probably did you good,’ he said.
‘And we were supposed to be talking about Darren,’ she said.
He smiled. ‘Don’t worry about it. Darren can wait. We’ll talk about him tomorrow, maybe. Right now, this is a bit more important.’
‘I don’t normally cry over people.’
No. He’d guess that normally she sparkled that little bit more brightly, pretending everything was fine and waiting until she was on her own before letting her true feelings show. ‘It’s fine. Really.’
‘I, um, ought to let you go. It’s getting late.’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said softly.
‘But …’
‘Bailey, do you really think I can walk away and just leave you here alone, upset and hurting?’ he asked.
She just looked at him, those huge, huge eyes full of pain.
‘It’s your choice,’ he said. ‘I can sleep on your sofa tonight—just so I know you’re not alone, and I’m here if you need anything. Or …’ He paused.
‘Or?’ she whispered.
‘Or I can hold you until you fall asleep. Sleep with you.’
Even though she tried to hide it, he could see the panic flood into her face. ‘I said sleep, Bailey,’ he reminded her quietly. ‘Which isn’t the same as having sex.’
‘I—I’m sorry.’
He kissed the corner of her mouth. ‘You’re upset, you’re trying to be brave and all your nightmares have come back to haunt you. Some people might use sex as a way of escaping it all, but you’re not one of them. And I would never push you into anything you’re not happy with.’
‘I know.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I’m a mess, Jared. And you’ve been hurt in the past, too. I’m the last person you need to get involved with.’
‘Let me be the judge of that,’ he said gently. ‘And let me be here for you tonight.’
Bailey knew it was a genuine offer. It would be, oh, so easy to take him up on it. To lean on him. To take comfort from the warmth of his body curled round hers.
But it would also make things really complicated.
‘You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?’ he asked wryly.
She nodded. ‘And you said I had a choice.’
‘Sofa?’ he asked.
‘Go home,’ she said. ‘Really. I’ll be fine.’
‘How about we compromise?’ Jared suggested. ‘You let me hold you—on the sofa—until you’re asleep. Then I’ll tuck you in and I’ll leave—though if you wake at stupid o’clock and you need to talk, then you call me.’
So, so generous. She stroked his face. ‘I’m sorry I called you Herod.’
He smiled. ‘That was the autocorrect on your phone.’
‘But I never took it back. And you’re not a tyrant at all. You’re more like Sir Galahad. A knight on a white charger coming to the rescue.’
He laughed. ‘Hardly. I’m just a man, Bailey.’
‘There’s no “just”. You’re a good man, Jared Fraser. Kind. You do all that gruff, dour Scotsman stuff—but that’s the opposite of who you really are.’
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Now lead me to your sofa.’
‘Don’t you want a drink or anything? I’ve been horribly rude and haven’t even offered you a coffee.’
He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘In the circumstances, that’s not so surprising. And I don’t want a coffee. I just want to hold you until you fall asleep.’
‘Yes,’ she said softly, and led him through to the sofa in her living room.
THE NEXT MORNING, Bailey woke to find herself still fully clothed on the sofa, with her duvet tucked round her.
Falling asleep in Jared’s arms last night had felt risky—but it had also felt so, so good.
She grabbed her phone, but a wave of unexpected shyness stopped her calling him. What would she even say?
Instead, she sent him a text: Thank you for last night.
Her phone pinged almost immediately with his reply: No worries. Sleep well?
Yes. Thank you.
Good. See you at work. And this time he’d signed his text with a kiss.
Maybe this was going to work out after all. Jared made her feel brave. And his ex, Bailey thought, really needed her head examined. Why would you throw away the love of a kind, decent, thoughtful