Can't Buy Your Love by Tressie Lockwood Read Free Book Online

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    Jamie tore into each gift with a vengeance and whooped at every truck, dinosaur, and video game. Vanity sighed in relief when his reaction to her gift was no different, but then Owen had advised her on what to buy.
    “This one is from me, Ella,” Owen told her aunt.
    With true dramatic flare, her aunt put a hand to her chest, jingling all the way, “You didn’t have to give me anything, Owen, darling. I have everything I need having you and Jamie, and especially my Vanity here with me.”
    A pang hit Vanity in the chest. “Go ahead and open it, Aunt Ella.”
    Her aunt patted Owen’s hand and ripped the packaging apart with the same gusto Jamie had. She uncovered a huge box of scrapbooking supplies. Aunt Ella squealed. “I’ve been eyeballing this at Michael’s. You remember I told you I got a coupon in the mail, Owen? Oh, you’re such a good man. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
    She stood from where she kneeled next to Jamie, and Owen moved quickly to help her. Aunt Ella reached up onto her toes and hugged him. Vanity looked on in wonder. He listened that much? Even to an older woman who must talk his ear off and drive him nuts always asking for his help? Vanity eyed her gift. She had listened as well about what Aunt Ella had said about her precious jewelry. Yet, she remembered Owen telling her it wasn’t the expensive music box that she wanted.
    Vanity took the package up from beneath the tree. “I think maybe I should take this back, Aunt Ella. I… It’s probably not anything you need.”
    Aunt Ella took the box and touched Vanity’s cheek. “You’re here. That’s the start of my gift. You bought this. That’s the rest of it. Because it’s from you, that’s all I care about.”
    Vanity kept quiet and accepted the excited thanks from her aunt, but she knew Owen was right. She didn’t know Aunt Ella as well as he did or as she should. She had held herself away, fearful of being hurt or disappointed. She had depended on herself because, in her mind, others would let her down.
    Later, when she went with Owen to his place to put Jamie to bed, she took his hand as they left his son’s room. “I think I know what you were going to say earlier.
    In the hallway’s dim lighting, he peered at her in confusion. “When?”
    She sucked in a breath and blew it out then let go of his hand to wring her fingers together. “I said I did it all on my own. I made a life for myself without anyone’s help. In and of itself, that’s fine, but my motives weren’t the best. I was scared to trust even Aunt Ella, who’s always been there for me. I didn’t know what she liked or wanted or needed because that would mean caring too much. And worst of all—”
    Owen pulled her close, resting his hands on her shoulders. “You don’t have to do this to yourself, baby. You’ve come through a lot in your life.”
    “No, I want to. She lowered her head and nuzzled into his shoulder. “I’m so embarrassed and ashamed. I bought you that cologne.”
    “Hey,” he chided, “you know me well enough now to know I do wear cologne.”
    “Yeah, but I bought the one I did to impress you. I had something to prove, and I realized that’s all I’ve ever done—tried to prove my worth with what my money can buy. Even when I did it, I didn’t accept love from others. There comes a time when you have to see yourself for what you are, and then grow past it.”
    “I’m glad you realize that because. Vanity?”
    “Hm?”
    “Look at me.”
    She raised her gaze to his.
    “I have fallen in love with you.”

Chapter Five
     
    “You what?” Her eyes widened, and she moved back from him a pace. Her throat closed, and her hands shook. “I’m not…you can’t possibly…Owen!”
    He guided her to the living room and had her sit down. “Easy, baby. You’re having a panic attack.”
    “I do not have panic attacks, thank you very much.” No man, not any one she slept with had ever said those words to her, and she had