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His whole future hung on the end of that suspended sentence, while Lenny let go his shirt and reached around his neck.
“Everything I want.”
That was it for his legs. His knees gave, and he staggered, pulling Lenny with him till he could sit on the edge of the table.
There was nothing of a bluff about the kiss they shared. A soft blush of relief that warmed and blossomed into the deepest lust. Present longing and future heat, today’s new beginning and tomorrow’s vision. He didn’t know if the trembling or the water on his cheeks was him or her, or both of them. It felt momentous. An earthquake to shake the foundations of their lives, to clear the ground so they could build afresh around each other.
He pulled Lenny close and gave himself over to the idea that they could be the right kind of outlaws together. Steal love from an unusual connection. Make good from bad. Be fire and water, caution and spark, order and serendipity. He didn’t know exactly how that would work. It could be as simple as Lenny accepting his Robin Hood ways or as complex as doing fieldwork together, if that’s what she wanted. He was confidently prepared to wing it.
She pushed her hand through his hair to break their kiss. “This is not just because you miss the sex, is it?”
“I miss the sex, but it’s because I can’t imagine how unexceptional and second best my life would be without you. You got a tattoo. Do you regret it? We have to work things out so you never regret me.”
“I love my tattoo. I hadn’t given you up when I imagined your lips on it. I don’t ever regret what I love.”
He groaned at those words. “How soon are you going to let me see it?”
“Pick a cup, any cup. They’re all going to give you what you want, because with you I can be the best parts of me. I can do work that matters and stop worrying about what people think. Did you bid on that emerald with me in mind?”
“From the moment you started throwing things, I started doing everything with you in mind.”
“Oh my God.” She rubbed her nose against his. “You make criminal freaking sexy, Halsey Sherwood. I can’t wait to be in love and disreputable with you.”
He had one last prop. He brushed her hair behind her ear and produced it magically in his hand making her laugh.
“Another key?”
To his heart, to his happiness and his future, multiplied a billion times over because it was added to hers. “In case you’re looking for a roommate, it so happens I have room.”
She put her fingertips to his damp cheek. “I’m kind of notorious. Are you sure you want to get mixed up with a Bradshaw?”
Lenny had shown him what he was missing. Her strength and courage awed him, and being in love with her had infused him with a new kind of certainty.
“Trust me,” he said, his smile getting in the way of his laugh at those cliched words. He’d make sure she always could. “I’ll be a fool for you forever.”
