What the hell?

I stared at Cara, seeing the confusion on her face and felt some of my anger die out. When she had marched across that field like an avenging angel, I was actually happy to see her. She had come back, giving me an opportunity to attempt to explain myself, though it wouldn’t have been the whole truth. But then she had laid into me and it was on from there.

But this was a new turn of events. She was this kid’s mom? I wouldn’t have pegged her to have a child. Did that mean she was married?

“James!”

We all turned to see a man standing along the fringes of the field, keys in his hands. “Are you ready to go? C’mon we’re going to be late.”

Feeling like a bobblehead, I turned back to James, seeing that he was still staring at Cara with a surprised, wondrous look on his face.

“I should go,” he finally said, giving Cara a small wave. “Thanks for coming to my practice today, mom.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” she said faintly, her eyes never leaving his form as he ran past and joined the man that I assumed was his father. We both watched in silence as James and the man walked to a car before I turned back to her, not sure of what to say. I felt like I was trapped in a puzzle I had no hope of solving.

“I should go introduce myself,” she said absently as if I wasn’t even there, her eyes never leaving the departing duo. “I should tell him.”

“Tell him what? That you’re the kid’s mom? Surely he already knows that?” I asked softly, crossing my arms over my chest. “What the hell is going on, Cara? Is that why you are here, to see your son?”

She looked at me then and I was taken aback by the tears in her eyes. “It’s complicated,” she forced out, swiping at the tears. “I should go. This was a mistake.”

She turned to go before I grabbed her arm lightly, forcing her to face me. Tears were streaking down her face and I felt all of my anger drain out of my body, my heart tightening in my chest. She was seriously hurting about it, whatever it was. A bad breakup with the father maybe? A messy divorce that ended up with her not having custody? Was she not allowed to see her kid? “Cara, talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I can’t,” she sobbed, covering her face with her hands. I tucked my arm around her waist and guided her over to my truck, leaning her against it before taking her into my arms. Her sobs were breaking my heart. This wasn’t the tough woman that I had met all those nights ago, this was a broken woman, a hurting woman who I wasn’t quite sure what to do with. I just wanted to make it better.

“Shh,” I said in a soft voice, rubbing her back lightly with my hand. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’ll be okay.”

“It’s not okay,” she sniffed, her face buried in my chest. “It’s never going to be okay.”

I pulled back and tipped my finger under her chin, forcing her to look me in the eyes. The look on her face was heart wrenching. “Listen,” I said softly. “I know you hate me right now, but I think you need me. Let me take you out for dinner. I’m a pretty good listener.”

She wiped at her eyes and looked down at her feet, biting her lip in the process. “I don’t know,” she finally said, making no movement to crawl out of my arms just yet. I was enjoying holding her, feeling like the luckiest man in the world that she wasn’t pushing me away… at least not yet.

“Trust me,” I said. “I know that sounds funny right now, but you can trust me, Cara. I’m not the man you think I am. It’s complicated… just like I assume whatever you’re going through right now is complicated.”

She looked up and I was delighted by the expression on her face. She was no longer looking at me like she wanted to hit me, which was a positive change. “I don’t know who you are,” she finally said, her voice soft.

I reached down and brushed my lips against her forehead. Then rested my forehead on hers so I could look her in the eye.

“We can change that. But what you should know is that I would never intentionally hurt you.” I wanted her to feel safe with me, I wanted her to know I wasn’t going to hurt her.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist, causing me to pull her back into a hug. Her body pressed up against mine was both a feeling of bliss and torture.

“I know you won’t hurt me physically,” she said. I rested my chin on top of her head, knowing what she meant. Hell, if I let myself open up she could damage me emotionally as well. I was scared shitless by all of the thoughts I had daily about her, the way I craved to see her. We hadn’t known each other long, but I felt like she had been in my life forever.

Pulling back once more, I gave her a half smile. “Give me a chance, Cara. Let me be the one to listen to you for a change.”

She blew out a breath, looking suddenly shy. “All right.”

I forced myself to step back and opened my passenger side, bowing to her. “Your chariot awaits my lady.”

The tremendous smile she gave me in return warmed the corners of my heart as she climbed in and I shut the door behind her, walking over to the driver’s side. I knew I was asking for trouble here… getting myself in deeper with her. Somehow, whether I liked it or not, she was changing me and it felt like this was the point of no return. But I couldn’t find a reason to not do this. That scared me even more.

Climbing behind the wheel, I cranked the truck and we pulled out of the parking lot as the first drops of rain fell on the windshield. “Well,” I remarked. “At least it waited until after practice to rain.”

“I’m sorry, you know,” she answered, fidgeting with her purse. “I didn’t mean to get all defensive with you out there in front of James. Maybe I judged you too soon, but I still don’t trust you. Not yet.”

Her voice cracked slightly and I patted her leg, nothing more than to comfort her. This was beyond the sexual tension between us. This was on an emotional level.

“It’s fine. I understand. I know I seem to be mysterious and weird, but I assure you, I’m not.”

“A little weird maybe,” she replied, causing me to grin. That was one reason I liked her. You never knew what was going to come out of her mouth.

“Okay, weird. I will fess up to that.”

“Oh, I pictured this all going very differently,” she sighed, leaning her head against the window as the rain started to pour now. “I feel like such a fool. What on earth does he think of me now?”

I wasn’t sure exactly what she was talking about, but it obviously had to do with James. What were the circumstances? Was that guy her ex-husband? The questions were endless, but I wasn’t going to ask them. I would let her tell me the story in her own time.

“Can we go by my office first?” she asked a moment later, looking tired. “I need to grab my charger. My phone is almost dead.”

I wanted to tell her that I had one in the truck, but she seemed determined to go to her office. “Sure, point the way.” As long as she wasn’t going to abandon me, I was willing to take her anywhere.