With a sad smile, she glanced down at their half-naked bodies. “Haven’t I?” she whispered.
“No!” He gripped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “This is going to sound harsh, but Mary Anne and I were nothing to each other. Not a damn thing but one drunken night that resulted in a child. And while I wouldn’t change that anymore, Mary Anne meant nothing to me, and she’d say the same about me. There is no betrayal here.”
A choked sob ripped from deep within her, and she sagged against him. “I just want to do what’s right. To keep my family from falling apart even more. But, JP, I don’t want to lose this. It’s…” She pulled back and looked at him. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He cupped her tear-stained face and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
“Same, Hannah. Same.”
And right then and there, she knew for sure she’d lost her heart to John Paul Benson.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
HANNAH WORE HER sorrow all over her face, and it fucking killed JP to witness it. Flat eyes, downturned lips, pale cheeks. The opposite of the light that drew him to her. At the same time, he thanked the universe her phone had chosen that moment to chirp. If it hadn’t, he never would have discovered just how toxic her family situation had become. She’d have kept her struggles to herself and continued smoothing ruffled feathers the best she could. Her family’s wellbeing took priority at the expense of her own happiness. That’s just the kind of woman she was.
Reliable, dependable, loyal, caring. She did so much for her loved ones including and sacrificing her own wants and needs. Whether that meant nursing her ill sister, moving across the country, caring for her niece, or placating her deeply grief-stricken parents, she did it without question because she loved them.
But she wasn’t made of steel. A flesh-and-blood woman with her own unique set of desires, feelings, and needs lay beneath her mask. Who took care of Hannah while Hannah was attending to everyone else?
No one.
The excessive selflessness had to stop. Or at least find a healthier balance. It was time for someone to step in and see to Hannah’s needs for a change. And JP was just the man for the job. In fact, he’d fight any asshole who blocked his path.
If anyone understood complicated family dynamics, it was a Benson. But he and his siblings also knew the power of blood relations as well. He’d do anything for his siblings and vice versa.
Anything.
And now that offer extended to Hannah. Without a doubt and without asking, he knew his siblings considered her one of the fold, just as they did with Mickie. It had nothing to do with her physical relationship with him or her connection to Kayla and everything to do with who she was.
They loved her for her.
“Hannah, I have an idea,” he said as a seed sprouted in his mind. “I don’t know if it will work, but maybe it can help nudge your parents toward healing and moving through their grief.”
She straightened. Black eye makeup had smeared during the crying jag, and her hair stuck out from his wandering hands, yet she still stole his breath. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
He had her full and rapt attention. How had he never noticed how satisfying it felt to be valuable and important to someone beyond his siblings? “Do you think you can get your parents to take a call from you? Maybe a video call with Kayla?”
Her eyes widened as she nodded. “If I text them and tell them I have Kayla, I bet they will. But they’ll probably think I found a way to get her away from you.”
“That’s okay,” he said, letting his hand coast up and down her back. Touching her in an affectionate way felt so natural. Too natural. As though he couldn’t not touch her when she sat so close. “What if I’m there too? We could talk to them together. Show them Kayla is happy and healthy. That I’m not the monster they think I am. Maybe if they get to know me in small doses while seeing their granddaughter, we can begin to come to an understanding.”
Hannah gnawed her lower lip, clearly mulling over his idea. Those lips had been glossy when they got to the club, but he’d kissed the sheen clear off. Hell, he probably wore more of it than she did now.
“You’d do that for me?”
“Babe, I don’t hate Mary Anne, no matter the circumstances surrounding how we met. Half of Kayla comes from your sister, which means your parents are every bit as important in Kayla’s life as my family is. I’m more than happy for them to have a relationship.”
“Really?” she asked with a small measure of hope in her expression.