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“Hmm?” Blinking a few times, he finally focused his eyes on me, and whatever he was thinking was shoved into a box, locked away from me. I didn’t want anything between us, but I would let him keep those deep thoughts to himself until he was ready to talk to me about it. I knew he didn’t like to talk about the accident that had cost him his leg, and I wouldn’t force him to relive it if he didn’t want to.
“Fuck,” he muttered, pushing my hair back from my face. “You are so beautiful, Nevaeh. Inside and out. Waiting for you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but worth every second now that I get to hold you like this.”
“The hardest? Really? Even more so than your accident?”
He nodded. “Losing my leg was bad, baby. But the last two years, sitting beside you without getting to touch you the way I wanted, seeing your smiling face without being able to kiss these perfect lips, that was the worst kind of torture. In my heart, we have been together from the moment I saw you. We just had to wait before telling the world.”
Smiling happily, I dropped my head back onto his chest. “You keep calling me perfect, but I’m not. No one is.”
“You are,” he argued stubbornly. “And you’ll never convince me otherwise.”
Laughing, I snuggled against him more, wanting to burrow into him completely so that we were always connected. “Okay, I’m not going to try to change your mind anymore. I like that I’m perfect in your eyes.”
We stayed like that for several more minutes until I heard his stomach growl. Looking up at him, I grinned. “You’re probably all out of luck with the cookies. We left them unsupervised hours ago. Barrick no doubt finished them off long before Mia even had to go to work.” I stood up unashamedly, loving the way his breath hitched when he watched me walk to the closet to find something to wear. “Do you want me to make dinner or go out for something?”
“All I want is standing right in front of me,” he said, and I glanced at him over my shoulder. His dark eyes were on my ass, and I gave it a little shake, causing him to groan like he was in pure agony. “Kitten, come back to bed.”
Laughing happily, I pulled on a bra and then one of his shirts that was hanging beside mine. “No way. I’m starving. But after we eat, you can have all the dessert you want,” I promised with a wink.
“Compromise,” he said, sitting up. “I order pizza and whatever else you want. And you come back to bed until it gets here. Then, we eat in bed, and after, I get to enjoy as much of my dessert as I want all night long.”
My body turned hot with renewed desire at his suggestion. Glancing down at the T-shirt I’d pulled on, I shrugged and pulled it back over my head. Tossing the bra on the floor of the closet, I walked back to him and crawled up the end of the bed toward him.
His hungry gaze devoured me as I took my time until I was straddling his hips. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Collins. One I simply cannot refuse.”
Chapter 17
Nevaeh
I walked out of my last final of the semester with a throbbing headache and an intense need for coffee and something decadent. Tests were normally nothing for me, but with all that was going on with Daddy, it took everything I had to focus on the exams.
My fingers felt chilled when I touched them to my temples as I stepped out into the snowy late afternoon. Braxton wasn’t waiting on me since he had his own finals to finish, so I headed straight for the campus café without glancing around for him. As I walked, I turned on my phone and thought about everything I still needed to pack for the trip home the following day.
PopPop was supposed to meet me at the airport since Mia wasn’t flying home until closer to Christmas. Luckily, she’d gotten an appointment with a reputable local OB/GYN the week before, and after a few days of following his advice, her morning sickness was starting to become manageable. I’d been worried about her, because for a few days, she hadn’t even been able to keep down liquids for long. Barrick took her to the emergency room at one point the day before she saw her doctor just for IV fluids.
After stopping at the café for a large cup of my favorite coffee, I walked home. It felt strange being without Braxton, lonely. I missed him even though I’d just seen him a little over two hours before, and I knew I would see him again by dinner. Thankfully, he was going to fly with me to California the next day, but he would be at Mia’s parents’ house instead of mine.
Mom knew I was with Braxton now, but neither of us had mentioned it to Daddy yet. I didn’t want to know his reaction to our new relationship, and I figured he would freak the hell out if I asked him if my boyfriend could stay with us—or actually sleep in my room.
By the time I got to the house, I already had my keys out. I was freezing despite the thick winter coat I was wearing and the hot coffee I was still sipping. Putting the key in the lock, I started to open the door when a car I didn’t recognize pulled up in the driveway.
Frowning, I watched as a blonde got out of the driver’s side. Her eyes skimmed dispassionately over the house before landing on me. Dressed in a black designer jumpsuit that showcased her willowy body and an open wool trench coat, she walked with grace in her gold heels despite the ice that was forming on the concrete walkway. I knew exactly who she was from the picture of Braxton and his parents taken the week before.
Darcy Hamilton.
Something darkened in her eyes as she came up the walkway toward me. “Hi, is Brax home, by any chance? I was supposed to meet him for coffee earlier, but he was a no-show.”
Pushing the door open, I dropped my backpack inside the house and turned to face her. “No, he’s taking his Communications final. Would you like me to give him a message?”
She stopped only a few feet from me, thrusting her hands into her coat and glancing over my shoulder like she expected Braxton to pop up behind me at any moment. “Yeah, you can tell him to call me. We have a lot to sort out before the wedding next month.”
“You’re delusional,” I told her, my anger spiking rapidly. “There is no way in hell he is going to marry you. He’s with me.” My phone started ringing, and I pulled it out of my pocket. Seeing it was my mom, I answered it. “Hey, Mom—”
“Did you finish your final?” she asked, her voice sounding strained.
“Yes. About thirty minutes ago.” Darcy shifted, distracting me. “You should leave,” I told her, pulling my mouth away from the phone. “Before I call the cops. Although having your crazy ass committed sounds appealing as hell right now.”
“Nevaeh, I need to tell you something,” Mom was saying in my ear while Darcy pulled an elegant envelope out of her pocket and thrust it toward me.
