Her heart twisted in agony at the thought. She struggled to listen as he continued.
“This isn’t exactly the same. Before I was trying to protect you, and taking away your work was the wrong thing to do.” His arms tightened around her briefly before easing up enough for her to get up out of his lap if she wanted. But he continued, “This, I want for you because what happened to you isn’t easy. You were attacked, shot at, kidnapped, and beaten. Not any one of those things is something you’ll process overnight. Not tomorrow. Not a week from now. Believe me. And staying here might let you hide from it more than deal with it. A big part of your career has you traveling places by yourself.”
Biting her lip, she held her initial retort. He’d been through these things, seen friends go through them. The look in his eyes, the earnest sincerity in his voice, the way he held her against him spoke of how much he cared about her.
“If you give life a chance to get back on track, you’ll have perspective. See clearly. And then when you decide what you want, we’ll both know it’s because it’s the right thing for you.” He nuzzled her ear. “And you’d be welcome back here if that’s what you want. I’ll stay by you and work with you through every one of your nightmares. But you’ll at least have had a chance to think it all through. Your choice.”
Hers. He always made sure to let her know it was her choice. And it meant everything. The biggest difference between him and her stepfather was the way David respected her right to choose. The confidence he had in her ability to make the right decision.
“Don’t say anything now.” He tucked her head under his chin. “I want you to take your time, go out on a couple of client trips, get back into the rhythm of your career, and then decide. Is that fair?”
Lyn stared at him as her temper simmered. “No.”
He blinked, stilled.
Oh, everything he said made sense, especially the consideration of her traveling alone. She’d already had issues glancing out the windows of the cabin into the falling darkness. Reflections on the windowpanes startled her, like strangers staring in for the first few moments before she really looked at what was there. Tonight was not going to be an easy night and she was glad to have the secure warmth of his arms around her with Atlas nearby.
That was her point, though. She didn’t need time alone or distance from him to process.
“I don’t leave things unfinished.” Rising out of his embrace momentarily, she turned and straddled his lap. Resting her hands on his chest, she looked deep into his gaze.
He waited, silent. Listening.
Listening was something her stepfather had never done. At least, it’d never felt like he had. But David always did. He’d taken the time to hear her out every time she’d had something to say while they worked together. And here he was now.
“You’re right about there being a lot of things to process. But”—she tipped her head to the side—“I don’t need solitude to think straight or see my way clearly and I definitely don’t need to go back to my old life to figure out how I want to live my days. If there’s one thing I learned from you here, it’s that you can’t ever go back and being too stuck in the past doesn’t work.”
A muscle twitched along the side of his jaw. She’d hit a nerve. But that was okay. She leaned forward, her hands flat against his chest, and kissed the spot on his jaw. When she straightened, his lips had softened from the hard line and he settled his hands on her hips.
“I was so caught up in proving to my stepfather that I could be out on my own, I didn’t even realize I’d established myself already. I was just…running, charging forward to prove a point.” She gave him a smile and warmth spread through her chest when he smiled in return. “Working with you and Atlas gave me perspective. And maybe I needed some chaos to knock me off my train tracks and really think about what I’m doing, where I’m headed.”
She paused and he held his peace, patient. It was never a race to get a word in edgewise with him and for that, she was grateful.
He gave her so many things. Time, consideration, caring.
“What happened is going to give me issues for a good while.” She smoothed her hands over his chest, taking comfort from the hard muscles under her palms. “But whatever steps I’m going to take toward recovering from this won’t be backward to resuming my old life. I’m moving forward and I want to do that with you.”
She held her breath.
His hands tightened on her hips. “You sure?”
“I love you, David Cruz.” She kept her gaze steady on his. “And you remember I was first to say it.”
He laughed. “I’d have said it first if you needed me to.”