Stronger By Your Side (Great Love Book 2) Read Free

and his voice raw. “You kissed me too, Meg.”
    My eyes shot up to his. At first I was going to protest, but I didn’t feel like lying. I sighed. “Yes, I guess I did, but that’s not what I’m mad about . . . ” I looked over at a very distracted Charlotte and then back to him as I whispered, “Ass hat.”
    He threw his head back. “Ugh. That word again, Meg? What are you mad at me about, then?”
    I laughed. “Um, let’s see . . . you never leave me alone, Trav. It’s like I’m your prisoner, and you know what? If I thought you kissed me because you liked me, I wouldn’t care, and maybe . . . maybe I would have liked it.” I looked down at the counter because I couldn’t bear to look at him after I just admitted that. My voice grew quiet. “But I know you didn’t kiss me because you have feelings for me. It’s like you kissed me because you felt like you were supposed to. I could feel it.” I slowly looked up.
    His face looked hurt, and then he walked around the counter and stopped in front of me. “First of all, you’re mad about the kiss.”
    I shrugged my shoulders and threw the dish rag on the counter. “Okay, fine. Yes, maybe a little.”
    He tilted his head. “Secondly, you didn’t enjoy the kiss?”
    I sighed. “It was a nice kiss, Trav. But you didn’t mean it.” He ran his hand down his face and blew out a breath. I tried not to sound hurt, but my voice came out a little raspier than I wanted. “You don’t have feelings for me, do you?” I didn’t have feelings for him either, so I don’t know why I was nervous for his response or why I sounded so desperate when I asked.
    Travis’s voice was low and rough. “Megan, I like you. You’re a great girl. It’s just that there is no . . . ”
    I nodded my head in agreement. “Zing,” I said, and he laughed lightly.
    “Yeah . . . It’s not like you and Charlie. How am I ever supposed to compete with that kind of love, Meg?” He looked right into my soul as his hands lightly grabbed mine. I braced myself for what I hoped would come—nope, no zing, no tingle. “I don’t think I will ever love someone as much as he loved you.”
    And that was my problem right there: Charles. He was the love of my life . . . but then again, I knew that I had loved one man—more like a boy—before him, so is it possible to have two loves?
    I looked up from our hands, back to his eyes. “Is it me, do you think?”
    Laughter rolled through Travis as he tucked me into his chest and under his chin. Charlotte came running into the kitchen, screaming God knows what, and then ran back into the front room. Travis rubbed my back up and down and then, with a serious tone said, “You are definitely not the problem, sweetheart. There is nothing wrong with you.”
    I looked up at him and nodded my head. He cupped my cheek with his hand, his soft lips brushed my forehead, and I closed my eyes at the warm feeling it sent through me. Not a zing or a tingle, but there was a warm sensation that pulsed calmly through my body. Maybe we weren’t in love, but there was definitely love between us. Maybe not the kind lovers shared, but more like the kind family shared.
    Part of the reason I wished so badly that I felt some kind of excitement with Travis was because he was our best bet at having a family. He was the safe bet. He grew up with Charles and knew him better than anyone in the world. If I had to choose the perfect daddy for Charlotte, it would be him. Not to mention the fact that he had taken me to all my doctor’s appointments when I was pregnant, or that he was the only one in the room when she was born. Travis loved Charlotte and she loved him. It made sense. I think I realized this about the same time he did. Over the past six months, we had shared a few touches, snuggles, and long hugs, and then after I got scared and decided I wasn’t ready, he kissed me.
    I really didn’t understand how I didn’t feel anything more than a family bond with Travis. He