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“Yeah.” He licks his lower lip. “Of course. I thought about you from the moment you left town. I never stopped thinking about you.”
“King ...” I reach up, resting my hand on his broad chest, his heart thudding beneath my palm. “Why didn’t you reach out, all this time?”
“I couldn’t.” His eyes flick to the ground, deep lines etched between his brows.
“Yes, you could. I never changed my number.”
Lifting his chin, he locks his eyes on mine. “No. I knew if I called you, wrote you, I wouldn’t be strong enough to stay away.”
“I didn’t want you to stay away.”
Taking my face in his hands, King kisses me with the heat of a thousand suns. As if he’s been waiting for this day—for me—all this time. I melt into him, letting go of a little bit of pain, the hurt. Letting him kiss it away and accepting his apology.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmurs. “So, so sorry. I just wanted you to be happy.”
My fingers curl into his T-shirt, my throat and chest tight with regret. For all the time we’ve lost. Time we should have spent together.
“I wasn’t happy without you,” I whisper, hot tears pricking behind my eyes.
“Neither was I. I was actually a miserable son of a bitch. Rome can attest to that for me.”
He tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear, sending a shiver of pleasure racing down my spine.
“I wish I could undo the past, Jules. But I can’t. All we can do now is try to move forward.”
I blink, trying to push the tears down. Every inch of my body screams at me to say yes, get naked right here, right now. But the pang in my chest has me hesitating.
“I want to, I really do. But I’m scared, King.” A hot tear splashes onto my cheek, and he bends down, lips brushing my skin, kissing the drop away.
“I know, baby. I know. Things will be different this time, though. I promise.”
13
JULIET
I want to believe King so bad it hurts. All the way down to my core, a constant, dull, throbbing ache.
Desire.
Hot, pulsating want.
Still there after all this time.
Fuck it.
The only way I’ll ever know if I can trust him is to put my heart back out on the line.
Fragile, bruised, broken, and taped back together.
Just do it.
My brain’s shouting at me to ask more questions, pull out the exact words needed to earn my trust, get it all in writing, for fuck’s sake.
But the rest of me? The rest of me is in a full-blown hormonal surge, with King’s body pressing up against mine. All muscle and power and sex.
Yeah, not turning that down.
Rising on tiptoe, I press my lips lightly to his, offering up a tentative yes.
