Inked in the Steel City Series(31)

He took one of her hands in his. “Mina…”



She held her other hand up, imploring him to let her continue. If she was going to get this all off her chest, she was going to say it all at once, not dole out her discomfort in little doses, extending the heartbreak of separating herself from Eric. “My life is more like the existence of a middle aged mom’s than a twenty-four year old’s.” At just fourteen, Jess would need Mina for years to come. “Sometimes I look at other people my age, and I can’t believe they’re supposed to be my peers. I don’t have their freedom, and I don’t have as much to offer someone like you.” She clutched her coffee cup with her free hand, still meeting Eric’s gaze. If that hadn’t been direct enough, nothing would be.



His expression was unreadable. “Is that everything you wanted to say?”



She nodded silently, her heart in her throat as she awaited his response.



“Good.” He squeezed her hand as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her mouth. It was soft and, in comparison to the way they’d kissed in his car several nights ago, light. His lips were hot from his coffee, just as she’d imagined them. Something inside her wavered as his heat suffused her, warming not just her lips, but her entire body. Maybe she should have resisted, but the rigidness she’d mustered up had gone out of her spine and shoulders and all she wanted to do was melt against him. When he pulled away, it was too soon. Left to face reality instead of focusing on the perfection of his touch, her mind whirled with confusion.



“Mina, I want to keep seeing you. I don’t care if our relationship isn’t your top priority – I don’t expect it to be. I think what you do for your sister is amazing.”



The defenses she’d quickly erected in preparation for his rejection crashed down, leaving her feeling exposed and stunned. “Really?” She hated the hopefulness that tinged her voice, but she couldn’t help it. Of all the reactions she’d imagined he might have to her words, this wasn’t one of them. Amazing? Could he be serious?



“Yeah.” He leaned in – not kissing her, but close. “I can’t believe that’s what this was all about. I didn’t contact you after I took you home that night because I really thought you weren’t interested in dating me.”



She knew her confusion showed on her face as she replied. “Why would you think that?” After all, she’d responded to his advances with alacrity until she’d gotten a rein on herself and allowed him to drop her off at her apartment.



He laughed softly. “I didn’t know, but I had a few guesses. Believe it or not, tattoo artists aren’t exactly at the top of most women’s lists for potential boyfriends.”



She couldn’t help but smile. “Like I care about that. I love what you do. And besides, I’m just a bank teller. Well, an ex-teller.” Her expression rapidly turned into a frown. Back at Ruby’s, when he’d said that life had gotten in the way of the education he’d dreamed of as a child, she’d known exactly what he’d meant.



His smile reached his eyes. Had he really thought she’d fled his advances despite her attraction because of his job? Maybe she wasn’t the only one who’d harbored some major misconceptions until now. The thought threw her mind into a spiral of doubt. Before, she’d taken comfort in knowing what to expect, even if it had been painful to imagine Eric rejecting her. Now, she didn’t know what to think.



He loosened his grip on her hand a little and began to massage the back of it in a comforting gesture. Her muscles were stiff beneath his fingertips, knotted with anxiety. “Mina?”



She raised her gaze – she’d lowered it into her lap, lost in contemplation as she tried to wrap her mind around the concept that Eric thought the fact that she cared for her sister was ‘amazing’. “Yeah?”



“I mean it, you know. The fact that you’re responsible for Jess isn’t going to cause me to lose interest in you.”



The uncertainty she felt must have shown on her face, because he continued.



“I had a little sister,” he said, his eyes a shade darker than usual. “Amanda.”



Had. The word tripped some internal alarm inside Mina, and she braced herself for whatever he was about to say. The faraway look in his eyes told her it wasn’t going to be a happy story. Her heart wrenched a little in premature sympathy. She knew all about tragedy.



“She was killed in an accident,” he said, “when she was about Jess’s age. She and my brother were in the car when it slid on an icy road and rolled into the median. He only suffered minor injuries, but her side of the vehicle was obliterated. I like to think that if she’d survived, I would have done whatever I could have to make her life whole again, even if she’d been badly hurt or disabled. So when I see you taking care of Jess, I think of her, and I know that I would have done the same if I’d had to. If I’d had the chance.”