Whatever It Takes by JM Stewart Page A

Back then, ignoring each other had become the lesser of two evils. It was far better than the constant anger.
    She couldn’t deny him one thing right then, though. He was right. The way she left him was selfish at best. She was so hurt back then she hadn’t bothered to stop and think about her actions. She’d simply run.
    “We need to talk, Jack.” She slid her hands onto the railing, using its solidity for support. The cool wind blew past her bare ankles, at odds with the warmth of his body beside her. The sensation made her remember the solid press of his lean, muscular frame against her as they danced, his hands on her body, gentle and steady. With the sensations came the yearning to be there again, to lean into him. It used to be so simple between them once. She’d go to him and he’d wrap his arms around her, and she’d allow the intimacy to make her believe he loved her, needed her.
    She’d lain in bed for hours now, going over every word they’d said to each other earlier. They’d rehashed the same old argument and had arrived at the same place. Her heart ached all over again.
    “Mmm.” Jackson turned back to the yard. “You look cold. You should go back in the house.”
    “So do you. Your arms are covered in goose bumps.” His comment had doubt twisting through her stomach. She gripped the rail tighter in her hands. “Is that a hint? Would you rather I go back inside?”
    She shouldn’t have asked him that. Barely a week she’d been in this house with him and already she’d softened, moving back to where she’d been before she left. The insecure place where she questioned everything she did, becoming someone she didn’t like, all in the desperate name of trying to win his love.
    He sighed. “No. Just worried about you getting sick is all.”
    She released the breath she’d been holding. It was one thing to know she ought to leave. It was another entirely to know she wasn’t welcome. The sad part was, she wasn’t sure which one she currently was. Did he even want her here? “I’ve been thinking. This isn’t working out. Maybe I should take Kyle up on his offer and go stay with him and Ceci.”
    “I’d like you to stay.” His tone held a quiet honesty. “Not that I have the right to ask you to.”
    Well, that answered that question, but only brought more. She bit her bottom lip in indecision but finally decided she needed to know. “Why do you even want me here?”
    It wasn’t until that moment, as the words left her mouth, that she realized this was the reason she’d followed him out here. She needed to know, to settle things once and for all. Their conversation had opened the floodgates, left her drowning in the truth. She wasn’t moving forward with her life. She merely went through the motions. Rather, she was stuck in limbo, haunted by all the unanswered questions he’d left her with. Questions only he held the answers to. Like why he hadn’t come after her. Why, if he missed her as much as he’d said, he’d even signed those damn divorce papers. Or why he’d married her in the first place.
    He remained silent, apparently lost in thought. Would he even answer? Or would he simply disregard her question? Skirt around the issue, the way he always did. Maybe he’d just shut her out and not answer at all. Finally, he drew a deep breath and blew it out. The tension in his body eased a bit, but he didn’t look over at her or relax entirely.
    “The desire not to be like my parents has driven everything I’ve ever done in my life. They’re unemotional, selfish creatures. It’s why I don’t talk about them, why I don’t share the details of my childhood. It’s painful and, frankly, embarrassing. I don’t want to see the looks on people’s faces when I have to tell them I was just another possession to my parents. That I don’t have good memories to share. I was little more than another new car or a new house. Something to be owned.” His voice lowered, filling with an air