Libby jerked her head in his direction. “What the hell are you talking about? Dirty little secret? You’re not any such thing. I brag about you to all my friends so often they’re growing tired of me. I didn’t even know you were from Iowa. You’ve never talked about your childhood. I didn’t know you don’t have a college degree either. Nor do I care. Why the hell would that matter to me? When have I ever once insinuated I thought I was better than you?”
Jason stopped pacing when he realized he wasn’t speaking to Veronica. He was speaking to Libby. Somehow during the last twelve hours, he’d converged the two of them into one person. He ran a hand through his hair and came back to sit facing her, several inches separating them. Silence reigned for several moments before he finally took a deep breath and let it out. “I had a girlfriend three years ago. Her name was Veronica.”
Libby froze, not saying a word.
Jason braced himself to share this story, a tale he’d kept buried deep inside most of the time, not wanting to bring it out or confront it. “I met her at a bar when I was on leave during the holidays. She seemed sweet and kind and fun, so we started dating.”
Libby reached out as if to touch Jason’s thigh but then pulled her hand back and gripped her knees.
“She was rich. Her family owned a department store. Weeks went by and she never once suggested introducing me to her parents or her siblings. Every time I mentioned it, she put me off, saying she didn’t want to waste our time together sharing me with other people.”
Libby sucked in a sharp breath but didn’t interrupt him.
He continued, glancing at her fleetingly. “It took me months to realize all I was to her was arm candy. She liked to go out with me because she was attracted to me and she thought we made a cute couple. The sex was good, too.” He at least had the decency to lower his voice as he said that last part.
“What happened?” Libby whispered.
“I woke up one morning and wandered into my kitchen to find her on the phone. Her back was to me, and she didn’t hear me approaching. She was talking to her fiancé. Her real boyfriend. The man she intended to marry in six months. The one who was good enough for her and had her family’s approval.”
Libby pursed her lips. She looked close to tears.
Jason kept talking. He needed to finish. “When she hung up and spun around, finding me leaning against the table with my arms crossed, she stuttered and then gave me this lame pile of excuses about how much more fun I was and how her regular life was not her own. She pleaded with me to not only continue seeing her but to do so even after the wedding. Totally in secret.”
“Jesus, Jason. I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you ever tell me all of this?”
He swiped a palm down his face. “Because it’s humiliating and I try not to think about it.”
“Except you did think about it…all the time. You worried that what we have would end the same way.”
“Yes.” She was right.
“I’m not Veronica, Jason. I don’t have another man I’m secretly seeing on the side. Nothing about you embarrasses me. You’re amazing. You’re smart and hard-working and sexy as hell and you rock my world in the bedroom. I don’t give a single shit about how much education you have. Hell, my degree is downright embarrassing. Nearly everyone I tell gets a laugh at my expense. Who works their ass off to get a liberal arts degree and then goes to flight attendant school?”
Jason shook his head. “Someone who’s driven and dedicated and determined to prove to the world that she may be petite on the outside, but she is not to be fucked with on the inside.” He gave her a wan smile. “You’re totally put-together. You have everything. Strength I envy. You can do anything you set your mind to. And that’s great. It’s attractive. It’s what draws me to you. I used to think I was some dumb kid from Iowa who didn’t have the grades or the money for college, so I joined the Army. They taught me I was worth something, even without coming from money or earning a fancy degree. They taught me to have pride in myself. So I won’t be some dirty little secret for a woman ever again. If you can’t scream from the roof that I’m your man, I’m done.”
Libby lurched forward and grabbed his hands, squeezing them against his thighs. “You’re absolutely right. I’ve fucked this up. I should have had the balls to tell my parents about you from the moment we met. I’ve been a coward. Hell, I should have stood up to my mother years ago even before I met you. I never should have let her dictate who I date.”
He stared at her. After all, this is what he’d been telling her all along.
She drew in a breath. “But back to you. You don’t need a ton of money or a fucking degree to prove anything to anyone. It’s just a piece of paper. You’re intelligent and hard-working. You have an amazing job that’s way the hell over my head. You’re worth ten thousand other men. A stronger woman than me would have dragged you home the night we met and told her parents how important you were, to hell with their reactions.”
He rolled his eyes as he flipped his hands over and grasped hers.
“I’m in love with you, Jason. You’re everything to me. Nothing matters as much as
