Page 120 of Second Chance

“I didn’t know we were fighting or there was something to win.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice softens.

“I didn’t want to say anything to anyone until I knew something concrete. I didn’t purposely keep it. I just…” I shrug, uncertain I can explain my reasons.

“Do you not trust me?” He reaches for my hips and tugs me between his legs.

“I do. I just wanted this for me. And I didn’t want to bring it between us.”

“Nothing’s coming between us,” he whispers, taking my lips with his. My libido heats. Having a taste of him makes me want other things from him, but he draws back too quickly.

“We can’t keep any more secrets, Mati. Everything needs to be open for this to work.”

I nod, but I’m worried. Will we work if I follow my dream? His forehead lowers to meet mine.

“Look, I’m sorry. I overreacted. I’ll go wherever you go. You’re where I want to be.”

I pull back, glancing up at him. Can he mean what he said? He just moved home.

“You’re just saying that because I gave you a blow job,” I tease, covering the nerves racing through me.

His palm flattens over my heart and then slips up to my throat. “I’m saying it because I love you and I’m not missing out on any more time with you.”

I swallow the lump in my throat at his honesty.

“They’re setting me up with an apartment near the university, but I could still come home some nights. It’s only forty minutes away.”

“Home is wherever you’ll be, sweetheart. Maybe you could make a little room for me in your new place, and there’s always space for you at Magnolia’s.”

He’s made hints before tonight that he’d like us to live together. What’s unspoken is how he doesn’t want to move into my place. Rehabbing Magnolia’s will be a messy job, but one he wants to be in the midst of while it happens. He says he’d like me to help him make decisions about colors, paint, tiles, and more. He wants us to make her place a home again.

With a more solid plan in place for my future, I’m ready for another step. “I’m selling the house.”

Denton’s surprise is hardly contained. His face softens as his eyes beam with delight. Then his smile falters. “How will your boys feel about that?”

“I understand it’s where they grew up, but they don’t live there anymore. It’s gonna be hard, on all of us, but I’m ready. More than ready. This is my second chance.”

His smile returns. “Mine too, sweetheart.”

With his good mood restored, I rub my hands up and down his arms, looking left and right in the empty room. “So…think you could make love to me quick to celebrate my victory.”

His eyes widen. “Here?” he teases, lowering his mouth to mine. “What if people see us?”

I giggle as I shrug.

“God, I love your dirty mind,” he says, working at my pants and pushing them down my hips.

“I love you,” I say, and the rest of the night becomes another victory.