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She supposed that was all the apology she was going to get She stared at hihtest by the sight of hiht of hiht black Under Ar out of every pocket

And then there was his s the scent of bacon and donuts, damn him, like he knew very well she couldn’t possibly resist She blew out a breath and sat next to hiave hih

"Both it is," he said He handed the whole bag over and she wasn’t h at him not to dive in

"Crispy," she said on a moan around a bite of bacon Just the way she loved it And there were two donuts She grabbed the old-fashioned chocolate glaze and offered him the other "It must be Christht out of her She had to close her eyes to savor it

"Need a ain

"Yes" But when she opened her eyes, he was still there

In fact, he hadn’t taken his gaze off her "I’ive up," he said

She was glad too "I’ar and fat and caffeine sinks into ar off her thu

He patiently waited until she’d finished every last bite

She looked at hi close to the vest, his square jaw suggesting equal parts strength and stubbornness E to learn His broad-as-the-ht of his world

He both drew her in and terrified her "I regrouped," she said

He smiled "Glad to hear it"

"But I still don’t have all the information I need to do the full Kincaid family tree," she reminded him

Jacob His nah," he said "One question, whatever you want"

"Where is he?"

"Missing"

She waited forcame "I want to ask what that means," she said "But the truth is, I can leave Jacob out or I can fake it I’ood faker," she said "I’ to curb it out of respect for you, but I’ve never been very good at curbing hteen when he left"

"Left? But you said he wasfrom my life" He took her e and wadded it all up Then he executed a perfect three-pointer into the trash in the kitchenette on the other side of the room

It hadn’t occurred to her that Jacob had walked away from his family and never returned Bailey had been upset with her oing away and breaking off all contact, every last tie

"Iout an arers settled just behind her neck "Don’t quit Not because of me Don’t let me win I don’t deserve it"

"It’s not because of you"

"Then what?" he asked "You’re not the quitting type"

"You don’t know that," she said

"I think I do"

She htly but his eyes were serious Serious and she found herself wanting to fall into them and drown "I let my doubts take over," she admitted