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“Yes. Yes. Yes.” She kissed him, putting her heart and soul into the kiss.
“Merry Christmas,” he said.
“It’s beautiful.” Tears flooded her eyes as he placed the ring on her finger. The winter wind lifted her hair, reminding her how nice it was to be back in Texas. “I’m so glad we made it home before Christmas.”
The front door opened. “If that’s settled,” Nan said with a grin, “cobbler’s getting cold.”
I’d love for you to check out the other Noble Pass Affaire titles by members of Chick Swagger, listed in the front of this book—here’s a sneak peek at Flirting with the Devil by Kym Roberts:
Flirting with the Devil
A Noble Pass Affaire Novella
“Do you remember anything about last night?” He pushed again. Praying that she remembered.
Looking down at her feet, she replied, “I remember what you walked in on…did Ty do that to your lip?”
He only gave her half an answer, “No, there was an unruly passenger at the airport.”
She waited for more, but they’d been here, done that with the other part of her question. It was not a memory he wanted to dwell on, and yet at the same time, Wade’s heart nearly broke in half.
She didn’t remember any of it.
“Was it real? Last night?” she asked.
That hope just kept knocking on his heart, dying to get in. “It was more real than the nightmare I’ve been living since the day you left.”
“Did we sleep together?”
With all of his being, he wished they had. It’d been so long. “We slept together, yes.” Her eyes shot up at his face and he smiled. “That’s all we did. We didn’t have sex.”
“Oh.”
Again, that hint of disappointment that gave him so much hope he wasn’t sure what to do with it. Until she asked, “Why are you here?”
He knew why he was there. He loved her. More than anything, and he damn sure didn’t want to lose her ever again. But he didn’t have her. Not yet, anyway. Last night, at her weakest, most vulnerable moment, she’d trusted him.
Today, she wasn’t sure where to turn—to trust in the lie of the past six months, to believe the lessons from her past that told her love was a myth—or to side with the truth and the devotion from the man standing in front of her. The man she loved with all of her being. He now understood, more than ever, the battle she faced.
Half of it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with a dead mother and a father who’d left her, at the age of nine, in a homeless camp made of boxes. Frightened and alone. Shivering from the cold, dressed in clothes five sizes too big that had belonged to her mother.
But could she really trust a member of the human race with her heart? Unconditionally? He’d thought she had learned how—with him. But the past six months had erased everything.
Knowing her childhood, he wasn’t sure he could win. Especially when she was afraid to trust…to feel.
She searched his eyes for the truth, and he prayed she could read it. Feel it in his touch.
“I thought that Ty was the better man for you. He has the training, the skills, everything it takes to keep you safe. I build houses…” He laughed and looked away. He never would have believed he’d be embarrassed by owning one of the premiere building corporations on South Carolina’s seaboard. He and Reese built dream homes. They were featured on television for their vision and design. Yet he couldn’t protect his wife…from the mob.
“That wasn’t your fault…”
“Wasn’t my fault?” He couldn’t believe she was letting him off the hook. “If I had been there with you to celebrate your victory, that scumbag wouldn’t have gotten within two feet of you.”
“He would have killed you first. Put that blade in your back without us ever seeing him. You wouldn’t have stopped the attack on my life. It would have left you dead, and I would have had to go on living knowing that I was the reason for your death.”
“Would you have cared?” He knew the answer. She loved him, but he needed her to admit it to herself.
And she did, with indignation that he would ever doubt her feelings. “Of course I would care!” Her voice grew softer, “You’re the only person I’ve ever loved in my life.”
