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He lifted her hands to his lips. The soft stubble above his full upper lip tickled her skin. “I wish I could go back and do things differently.”
She frowned. “Why, so you can tell me that you never would have slept with me if you’d known, or you would have brought your A Game?”
“I always bring my A Game, no matter what.” He looked so outraged she believed him.
“Get to your point,” she said, ready for this mockery of a waiting game to be over. Ready for him to say that putting up with her, her family and her life wasn’t worth the headache she’d tried to so hard to give him.
“From now on, you have to be completely honest with me. No more playing games, no more shagging me silly so you don’t have to talk to me.” His forehead wrinkled as he grimaced. “I take that one back. You may shag me silly any time you like, but—and it pains me greatly to say this—sex isn’t enough.” He tapped her head. “I want what’s hiding in there. I want your wit. I want your thoughts. I want you to put me in my place when I need it. Deflate my enormous ego when it can’t fit through the front door. I want all of you, not parts and pieces.”
“What if I can’t give you that?” Her fear of being rejected her a third time almost too much to live with each day.
“You can. It’s a matter of choice, and to show you how much I trust and respect you, there’s something you have to know. Two things, actually.”
She braced for the worst, fully expecting to find out that he had been with someone else during their separation. Or that he had a love child hidden away somewhere. Good Lord, she was losing her mind.
“Do you remember those pictures I told you about?”
Clutching the arms of her desk chair tight, she nodded.
“They’ve gone viral, but the media is speculating on whether it’s me or Sebastian.”
Her stomach twisted. For him. For her.
“But I didn’t find out about them until after I’d gotten here. Two days after getting here to be exact. It’s very important to me that you to know with absolute certainty that I didn’t come here looking for you to save my career or my chances with B.T.S.”
She unglued her tongue from the top of her mouth. His statement would be so easy to verify, but if she was going to trust him, she would have to take him at his word. “What was the second?”
“Sasha was the reason, well part of the reason, why we never connected that day. The complete ass**le to a fan—all my doing. I took out my frustrations on you. Not excusing my behavior, but Jaylen had shown up and I was anxious to get rid of her before you got there. It didn’t help that you were late.”
“I couldn’t help it.” She pulled away and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“I know, sweetheart. Sasha told me that he paid the hairdresser to take his time and somehow managed to block your calls. Or re-route them.” He rose to his feet and offered her his hand. “I was waiting for you. Only you. I’d been waiting for you to come back to me since, but—”
“You mean Amber, not me.” Hard to believe she could be jealous of herself.
“No, I want the woman sitting in front of me, not the girl from my memories. Come to bed with me.”
She hesitated, but his hand remained in its place, outstretched and waiting for hers.
“We’re meant to be together, love. No matter what side of the ocean we’re on or how my father plots to keep us apart. Take a chance on loving me.”
“You had me at ‘Watch it, Miss Wood Sprite’.” She took his hand, letting him lead her to the bedroom.
She kissed him as soon as they entered the room, her lips missing their mark when he held her away. “Why won’t you kiss me?”
“I want to spend some time with you.”
“How does kissing not equal that?” she asked, nibbling at the base of his neck. A low groan escaped his lips and she smiled. “Give in to me.”
He turned from her, grabbing something off of her dresser before facing her again. Holding up her new iPad, he tilted from side to side. “‘Angry Birds’, anyone?”
“Fine.” She jumped on the bed and fell back against the pillows.
“Are you pouting?”
“No.”
“You are,” he laughed.
She glared at him, then sighed. “We need snacks.”
“I’ll be back with sustenance.” He returned in less than five minutes with a tray of goodies and joined her on the bed. “You know, this reminds me of our tenth date.” Christian popped a grape into his mouth.
“My very own personal aloe spreader,” she laughed. “Every woman’s dream.”
“Did you know I always wanted a dog? But my father never let us have one. Said we didn’t have time for it. I suspect he knew animals hated him. He had a stallion named Diablo and the damn thing was mean as hell. Vlad was the only one who could ride him.”
“You tried anyway, right?”
“Broke my arm in two places.” He pointed out two spots on his left arm. “Had to learn to do everything with my right hand. Guess that’s why I’m ambidextrous. Still favor the left though.”
She sucked in air through her teeth. “That had to hurt.”
“It was worth it. All things worth having are,” he said, making her aware of how close he’d scooted to her.
“Jenny Barnes runs the animal shelter out on Highway 64 and she’s always looking for prospective parents. We could go check it out sometime, but I think we should start with a plant,” she said without thinking and his smile became brilliant. “What?”
He tapped her nose. “You said we.”
She looked down at their game. “Are you sure you’re not here because your dad has made me forbidden fruit?” The words slipped out before she could contain them. She cringed, waiting for his answer.
He lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “That’s a fair question given the dynamic of our relationship. But no, I’m not here because of him. I’m here because I want to be with you. Because I love you and if I have to remind you of it a million times a day, I will.”
“Gabriel and I said that to each other all of the time. I thought I meant it, but I’ve come to realize just how precious those words can be. I don’t want you to just say them.”
“My sexy word-woman will forever be all about action, eh?”
She nodded as he followed the curves of her lips with his fingertip.
