“Thanks for makin’ me drink only a glass so I could move on to beer.”

I smiled at him and his eyes dropped to my mouth.

They came back to mine and I felt my body still at what I saw.

Then he spoke words that described the feeling I saw in his eyes.

“My dad was a dick. I grew up fast. I lost Bree the way I did and lost all our history with her. And I found Olivia and she made my life shit. Then I had a job where you wouldn’t believe the shit I saw, the shit I did, and I hope to God, baby, you never get to a place you do. But all that was worth it, all of it, since my reward is you.”

“Shut up,” I whispered. I didn’t know why, it just came out of my mouth but what he said meant so much, it filled me so full, it felt like I was going to burst.

A beautiful pain.

But he didn’t shut up.

Instead, he went on. “McManus said he started with a good one and I was lucky I was ending with one and he was not fuckin’ wrong.”

Both my hands moved to either side of his face and I begged, “Please, Brock, be quiet.”

“No fuckin’ way, baby,” he whispered. “Today, I been thinkin’ a lot about McManus and he lost his good one and there is no way I’m gonna find mine and not know right to my fuckin’ bones she doesn’t understand precisely what she means to me.”

I felt the tears well then slide out the sides of my eyes as my thumbs moved over his cheeks and I told him, “Well, I’m lucky too. I had it shit for a while and I found you.”

He shook his head and his hand captured mine. He turned his head and pressed my palm to his lips where he kissed me and then his fingers curled around mine and he held my hand to his shoulder.

“It isn’t the same. You’re made of sugar, Tess, and it’s a given you’d eventually get it good because people like you, sweet to the core, they deserve it. What I’m sayin’ is I’m glad I’m the one who gets to give it to you.”

Oh God. I loved this man.

“You’re sweet too.”

He grinned.

Then he muttered, “I see, all this time, you still don’t know me.”

I didn’t grin. My hand tensed on his face as the other one clenched in his.