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She sucked in an audible breath and put her palms flat on her desk "That is a lot of loss"

"It is He’s been kicked around a lot by the people that were supposed to take care of hi to keep himself safe"

She tilted her head to the side just a fraction and those sky-blue eyes narrowed at me "What about you? You left and he let you back in"

I let out a dry laugh "I have a toe in the door but I’rab my purse, every ti, he looks atback He knows me better than anyone in my entire life ever has even after ten years apart, but he doesn’t trust me to stay with him at all"

"But aren’t you involved with one another?" She laughed and wrinkled her nose up a little "He thought I was trying to ask hiht and toldsomeone"

"We’re involved, but I think that level of involve to"

Her pale eyebrows shot up "You love him?"

I snorted in an entirely unladylike way and tapped ers on my knee to dispel some of the tension that built up inside of me at that question

"I’ve loved him in ed because even I could hear the wistfulness in my voice "I told you I was here for him"

"How did you knoould welco time"

"I didn’t But it was a chance I had to take because in all the time that passed he is the only one that stuck with h I know stuff now I didn’t know then"

"What are you trying to tell me, Salem? I can see it in all of this but I don’t know you, or Roell enough to put it all together"

I got to my feet and s you he’s worth it and that eventually he’ll get out of his own head and want you to be there Be patient with hi terrified that you’re just another person that can leave hi for you" Iher was in er interested when he startsto break him and he doesn’t deserve that So before youin his life--think about how co put until he finds his way to you"

She got to her feet also and I had this weird thought that Rowdy really couldn’t have twoto find a place in his life at the exact sa was obvious that Sayer and I did have in co and both determined to force our way in noanywhere, Sale humanly possible to make sure he can find me I will not just disappear He can find aveis, I understand all about loss Myand my dad was a cold, distantand a lot of ti I didn’t exist I mean I physically had a parent in ed one of her shoulders--"I was just as alone and unwanted as he was and really, he had you I had no one"

I smoothed some of my hair down and turned to walk toward the door "Don’t hurt my boy and you can have me as well, Sayer I like you I think you have class and coolness for miles That’s why I caht you were out for anything other than a real, tangible connection to Rowdy, I would have stormed in with claws out and one of us would have been bloody by the tiive it so it open when she called my name softly I looked at her over leam in her ocean-colored eyes

"I know I don’t have the saain, okay? If you think I could break hiine what it would do to hiain He loves you I can see it, so you have to be able to see it"

"Oh, I see it all right I just have toleft over from the past before I fully believe it If you wanna talk you knohere to find me"

I closed the door behind me and took the elevator back down to the lobby I winked at the security guard as he cocked a questioning eyebrow atwhat a tatted-up rockabilly chick wanted with one of the partners, but he was too polite to ask

I was tired After being up all night with Rowdy and the emotional toll he took on me as well as the shoith Sayer, I was ready to spenda hike in the h tial Pete’s and catch a few z’s before Rowdy showed back up with the puppy and both of the and saw a really cutewith ideas of how to turn it into so I could use at the store, and before I knew it I had squandered away an hour and was hustling back toin shirtless and sweatyyum