Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, #2)

by Chloe Liese

I gape at him, Ren the Red, vengefully sexy, and command my jaw to snap shut. It’s time to find my inner feminist. To bolster my walls. Ren throwing down on my behalf should not be affecting me like this. Especially given my history. Archaic male demonstrations of protectiveness are not sexy. Archaic male demonstrations of protectiveness are not sexy. Archaic— Dammit, this is sexy, and my body knows it.

“Say, maybe you should make sure Frankie’s not having trouble with her car.” I frown. “Why would she have—” Suspicion dawns. “Mildred Sawyer. You did not tamper with Frankie’s car.” “Who, me?” She grins and wiggles her eyebrows. “‘Love goes by haps; Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.’”

“No.” He stares at me seriously. “I need to know this. What does zenzero mean?” A hot blush floods my cheeks. I clear my throat self-consciously. Amy’s loitering near the door on her phone, and she’s entirely within earshot. The last thing I need is her giving me shit for this. “Well, it’s silly,” I say, lowering my voice. “It’s just Italian nonsense.” “Nonsense.” He frowns. “You call me nonsense?” “Dammit, Bergman. No,” I whisper. “It means ginger, okay? Because you’re…” I wave my hand in the general vicinity of his face. “You’re a ginger. It’s cute.” Ren’s smile is so bright, its voltage could power a city block. He cranes his head toward Amy. “Hear that, Dr. Amy? She thinks I’m cute.” But before I can say a word in my defense, he shuts his eyes on a soft sigh, drifting off, his hand locked tight around mine.

Have you ever started out crying for one thing and found yourself crying for so much more by the time you really get going?

“But then Axel was born, and I held him, those eyes just like mine staring up at me, and something clicked. I realized he loved me. Already, he loved me, just how I was. I’d made him with his mother, and he was my flesh and blood and not having most of my leg didn’t change that. Finally, I understood my life wasn’t over, only my idea of my life was. “That’s when I fully released my old expectations, how I thought my life should be, and instead loved my life for what it was: a gift. A heart beating in my chest. Breath in my lungs.

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.’” “The other one, Daddy,” Ziggy say quietly. He kisses her forehead. “‘The most common form of despair is not being who you are.’” Ziggy smiles. “That’s my favorite.” “And my favorite,” Dr. B says, as he shifts Ziggy on his lap, “is—” A new voice breaks in. I glance over my shoulder to see Ren smiling down at me, hands in his pockets. “‘To cheat oneself out of love,’” he says, “‘is the most terrible deception; it is an eternal loss for which there is no reparation.’”

“You’re perfect,” I tell her. Snorting, she laughs. “I’m far from perfect, but if you mean I’m appropriately dressed, then I’ll take it.” As I turn into the private valet parking entrance, Frankie sets a hand on my thigh again, her voice softer. “But while we’re on the subject, you look pretty perfect yourself, Zenzero.” I glance down. I’m only wearing charcoal gray slacks and a white dress shirt, sleeves cuffed, no tie. “You dressed me.” “I did. I have excellent taste. And my muse is very handsome. Inspiration wasn’t hard to come by.” I smile as I turn off the engine. “Thank you, honey cakes.” “They get worse and worse,” Frankie mutters.

“Relationships aren’t perfect, Frankie. They’re living, breathing things. They have growing pains. They have highs and lows. They take trust and forgiveness. They don’t require perfection or flawlessness. They just require two people who want to love each other and keep learning the best way to do that.”

“That I deserve love for being exactly who I am,” I admit miserably. “That the person worthy of my love will love all of me.”

She sighs. “One day I’ll turn you into an exhibitionist for me.”