“Have you had to compromise a lot in other relationships?”
She twitched a smile. “I thought you didn’t want to know about that?”
He grimaced and rubbed his chin. “You can tell me this one thing.”
“Like any relationship, you compromise. I wasn’t in an awful marriage.”
“Okay, I’ve heard enough.” He clipped and, hearing that sulky sound from him, usually the most self-assured man, made Lisa’s smile widen.
“It wasn’t a bad marriage; it was just a wrong marriage between two lonely people who wanted a companion. We were more like roommates. It was never a grand love affair, not even from the beginning. So, you don’t have to sulk.”
“I ain’t sulking.” He said coolly.Sexily. She shivered, basking in the jealous reaction.
Was it any different from how she felt knowing the number of women he’d been with?
A zing rushed through her core when he switched his gaze and gave Lisa a heated stare.
“I don’t wanna know about your marriage, even if he was Prince Charming to you. I don’t wanna know you had years with someone else that wasn’t me. He was inmyplace, even if you don’t wanna acknowledge it right now. I paved the fucking way for him to have an in with you, and I fucking hate that guy.”
And now her heart was fluttering madly.
“No one could ever match you, Ryan. I promise. Any date I ever went on, you were the blueprint, and no one ever came close to how you made me feel.”
“Fuck. Baby.Fuck.” His head dropped, and she worried she’d said too much, but when Ryan lifted his head, his eyes were fathoms deep, and she would swear on the Holy Grail that she saw love looking back at her. Raw, open love.
A love she’d run away from.
And now her stomach was tight again with guilt.
He suddenly announced, cupping the side of her face. “I can take it as slow as you want, sweetheart. But let’s not hold back too much. My feelings are genuine, and they’re strong. So, don’t be afraid to overdo it, yeah? You want to get possessive as fuck over me? Go right ahead; I’m here for it. You wanna fawn and fuss and be so greedy over me? I’m gonna be on cloud fucking nine about that. You can’t go too far, you understand? I want it all from you. And only you, because, as you said, you’ve been the blueprint all along, and no one was ever you, so I couldn’t do with them what I wanna do with you. And that’s commit myself for a lifetime.”
Lisa’s air was stolen from her lungs as if Ryan had reached into her chest and scooped it out with a spoon.
She was stunned by his honesty. And swooning in her underwear.
“I’ve got the time and the determination to pursue you for that long. So, you wanna start slow by dating? I got you. But know that’s my endgame. Keep it in mind that my every action will be to work us to a place where you’re so fucking in love and obsessed with me.” Something dark and luscious crossed his face, and once more, Lisa held her breath, eager to hear the words from his tongue. “And Lisa? I’m gonna make that happen. I won’t give you up this time, yeah? If you get spooked by my intensity now, you’ve given me the green light. I’m gonna dog your every step. Does that scare you to hear?”
All that dazed Lisa could do was shake her head and croak through her thick emotions. “No. No, I’m not scared. I... I like the way you are, Ryan. It’s overwhelming in a good, peaceful way. To know you’re this certain about us? Yeah, it’s a nice feeling that I won’t have to second-guess what you’re thinking about our relationship.”
“I’m an open book for you,” he declared earnestly, his eyes sincere and his voice steady without a hint of deceit. “I saw you again, and it wasn’t even a mindful decision. I felt it all fucking over, Lisa, that you had to be mine. That I was always waiting to be yours.”
This man could not be real.
But she knew more than most he was.
As Ryan had stated a moment ago, she didn’t want to hear details of any other woman he might have treated in the same way. It didn’t matter. What mattered was the here and now. Being together finally.
She didn’t speak for a moment, letting all the feelings settle in and become familiar with the new status quo. But there was still a lot of conversation to have. This had been the easier part. If he learned the truth and deemed her a coward, no longer worthy of being his partner, that would be terrible.
It was Ryan who broke their comfortable silence, planting a gentle kiss on her temple.
“Why do your eyes look sad when you just landed yourself the best man that ever boyfriended?” He grinned, and Lisa, losing some of the swirling dread in her belly, laughed.
“God save me from a cocky Gen Z. I might have to rethink dating you.”
“Too late. I heard it with my own ears. You can’t back out now. I can revisit the basement plan.”
“You and basements.” She shook her head, amused. “Is this a secret kink?”
