Sighing, Regina nodded and brushed her knuckles against his abdomen. "I know," she said softly.

She always tried too hard, was too much, broke things with her needs, and wanting everything to be perfect was just the latest manifestation of it. And anticipating manipulations and deceptions was so much a part of her past that she sometimes forgot she could put away with him.

"I feel like a teenager. Giddy and wild with wanting to impress you, to have your gaze on me, and afraid I'll screw everything up." I'm in love with you, and I always lose what I love.