Coop stretched. “Okay, so that’s my cue.”
Frowning, Dallas asked, “Where are you going?”
“Up north. I’ll catch you on our way home.” He kissed her cheek, gave me dap, and walked out.
Once we were alone, I gestured for her to take a seat, but she said, “I’ll stand.” I stood up and inched toward her. I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep myself from touching her. But as soon as I was close enough, I brushed my thumb over her chin. “You’re touching me,” she murmured.
I smirked. “So?”
She averted her gaze. “I missed you.”
Her admission made my heart clench in my chest. Despite what I’d told Coop, the week apart had done nothing to strengthen my resolve to let her go. My house was a constant reminder of what we’d shared, because she was everywhere—on my pillow, in my dreams, in the shadows. I felt her in my bones. The verdict was in…I love her. The feeling was so raw, so intense, I couldn’t imagine another day without her.
Dallas stepped closer. “Picture this— I’m on the Mediterranean, on a luxury yacht, with a staff at my disposal and everyone I love right there. I got everything I wanted before I left. Kimball was exposed for the trash he is, and Color of Law accepted me into the fold. I was supposed to be living my best life. But it wasn’t really my best life, because you weren’t there.”
I traced her bottom lip with my thumb. “What are we going to do about it?”
She grinned. “Well, I came up with a plan.”
Frowning, I said, “Plan?”
“Exactly. Remember when we were pretending to be in love?” I nodded, and she rushed on. “I think I could pretend a little longer.”
A smile pulled at my lips. “A little?”
“A lot,” she conceded.
“Let me get this straight. You want topretendyou love me?”
“Shit. Okay. Let’s take the pretend out of this, because that does sound fucked up and I’m not really that romantic girl,” she babbled. “Oh, and I definitely messed up my whole speech, which was supposed to end with us naked on your desk and not me stammering over my words. And I meant to ask you about your mom too, but I didn’t. So, yeah…I’m not actually pretending to love you. Idolove you.”
There was something about Dallas being at a loss for words that endeared her to me even more, because I knew she didn’t let many people see this side of her. I pulled her into a kiss, effectively stopping her babble. “You can stop talking now,” I told her. “Mom is fine. And I love you too.”
She wrapped her arms around me. “In that case, take my clothes off. Yours too.”
I cracked up, remembering the first time she’d ever said that to me. I lifted her dress up. “I think I want you like this.”
“Whatever you want. I just want you.”
I kissed her again, this time pouring all of my love for her into that kiss.
“Oh, damn,” she whispered, unbuckling my belt and sliding it off. She tossed it behind me. “Maybe you should take the rest of the day off?”
“As in spend the day with you?”
Her expression softened. “As in forever. Spend forever with me.”
“I love you,” I murmured against her lips.
“I love you too.”
* * *
Dallas
Sometime later, right around Halloween
“I don’t giveone loose misguided damn about how she feels. At all.”
