I growl and nip her bottom lip, sharp enough to make her gasp, soft enough to make her arch closer.
“Fuck, Layla,” I mutter against her lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you.”
“Since our hot kiss on the couch?” she whispers, voice trembling but sure.
“Before that,” I whisper, peppering kisses along her jaw and down her throat. “Since the first night you walked into Boots & Bourbon.”
She stills, just a little, enough for me to feel it.
I pull back, looking at her as rays of moonlight catch the sheen of tears in her eyes.
Glancing down at the little flower pattern on her sundress, bunched between us, my gaze travels back up to her face, brushing a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.
“You were laughing, your hair was styled in a high ponytail that I fucking love, wearing that sundress that hugged you just right.” I continue, swallowing hard, as mypalm slides to the small of her back, my thumb tracing slow circles. “I was behind the bar, wiping glasses I didn’t need to, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away from you.”
My forehead drops to hers, my glasses nudging her cheek as I breathe her in, vanilla frosting and cherry sweetness wrapped up in one woman who feels like sunlight in my hands.
“I kept telling myself not to stare,” I mumble, my fingers curling into the fabric at her hips when she shifts closer. “Told myself you were just Catalina’s friend.” I let out a shaky laugh, my nose brushing hers. “But then you smiled at me, baby, and I was gone for you.”
I tilt my head, pressing a slow kiss to the corner of her mouth before pulling back just enough to look at her, as my thumb strokes the soft skin under her lip.
“I think… I’ve been yours since that night,” I whisper, my hand sliding up her back to cradle the nape of her neck, holding her gently. “I just didn’t know how to admit it.”
Her breath comes in quick, shallow beats as her fingers tighten in my hair.
“I watched you all night,” I keep going, my hands resting warm on her thighs. “Every time you laughed. Every time you tucked your hair behind your ear. Every time you licked a drop of tequila from your lip.”
My breath shakes as I lean back against the seat, looking at her like she hung the fucking stars outside my windshield. “I hated every second you weren’t looking at me, and when you finally did, when your eyes found mine across thebar, and you smiled, I felt it here.”
I take her hand gently, guiding it to my chest, pressing her palm flat against my heart, where it’s pounding too hard. “Like a hook, like you’d already caught me, and I didn’t even fight it.”
She’s crying now, her tears cascading slowly down her cheeks, catching the moonlight spilling through the truck window, and my chest caves in at the sight.
“Then I found out you were engaged,” I say quietly, lifting my hand to her face as my thumb brushes beneath her eye, wiping the tear before it falls, my knuckles grazing her cheek as I cup her jaw.
She inhales sharply, her lips trembling, and I keep my touch there.
“I saw the ring,” I continue, my jaw tightening as my thumb traces the faint imprint it left on her skin. My fingers hover for a second, drifting down to lace with hers, squeezing her hand. “Saw the way you twisted it when you were nervous.”
My free hand drops to hers instinctively as my fingers close around her knuckles, pulling them to my mouth so I can press a quiet kiss there, needing the contact more than air.
“It fucking killed me, Layla.” My voice roughens, the words dragged from my chest while my other hand slides up her back, spreading warmth.
“Every single day since then has felt like breathing around a knife, knowing you were promised to someone else, knowing I had no right to want you like this, knowing I should stay away.” I shake my head once, pressing my forehead to her collarbone, my glasses nudging her skin as I let out a broken breath. “And failing at that every time I looked at you.”
I pull back, leaning in again to brush my lips along the tear track on her cheek as my hand cradles the back of her neck to keep her close.
“But I couldn’t,” I whisper against her skin, my nose grazing hers when she tilts toward me. “I still can’t. You’rein my head every time I close my eyes. You’re the first thing I think of when I wake up.”
My thumb strokes her jaw gently. “You’re my light, baby. The only bright thing in all this gray. And yeah, it fucking tears me apart that you’re wearing his ring, that you go home to him, that he gets to wake up next to you.”
My hand tightens in the fabric at her waist, holding her like she’s already slipping away. “But I’ll wait. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
I pull back just enough to look at her, brushing her tears away with both thumbs, my voice softer now, steadier, even though my heart’s breaking open in my chest.
“Because even if it’s just stolen nights, stolen kisses in my truck, stolen days when you’re mine”—my forehead drops to hers as my breath mixes with hers—“I’ll take them. I’ll take whatever you can give me. Because you’re worth every second of the ache.”
Her sob is soft, muffled against my shoulder as she buries her face there. Her arms wrap tightly around my neck.
