AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just one?”
“A few more than one,” he said lightly, stroking the inside of her palm while her lips trembled for a whole different reason.
She pressed them together. “I walked away from Marco when I witnessed his men beating a man who’d cheated them in the casino under his orders. At the end, Marco joined in. For sport.” She averted her gaze. “I didn’t do enough to stop them. I always wondered if they went back later and finished the job. Because I wasn’t woman enough to not run and make sure he was put away for good.”
“You helped make sure of that tonight.”
She nodded, eyes glittering. “I did. I stood up. Finally. It took a damn long time.”
“Not all that long. You saved my ass in that alley.” He caressed her damp cheek. “You made sure I was okay. Like a fucking bad-ass who doesn’t need anyone else to save her, because she’s more than capable of doing it hersel
f. She’s also capable of saving me.”
Her laughter made him smile. “Not entirely true, but you know what? I’m taking it. We saved each other, and now we get to the happily ever after portion of our lives.” She chewed on her lower lip. “Though I suppose you have questions about Marco. You probably don’t understand why I fell for a guy like that. I wish I could tell you, because I don’t know. I was young and dumb.”
“And horny,” he said gently.
To his relief, she smiled. “Never hornier than when I’ve been with you, pal.”
“As it should be. And ditto.”
“I loved him. It was messed up in every way, but I can’t lie to myself anymore and say I didn’t. It fucks you up, you know? If you can love someone you find out later is so fundamentally…wrong, what does that say about you?”
“It says that you look for the good and you can find in anyone. Even a bastard like him.” Ryan tucked her hair behind her ear. “If you’re waiting for me to criticize you for your choices, it’s not going to happen.”
She ducked her head, smiling faintly. “Well, I do make some good ones now and then. I picked you, didn’t I?”
“That’s debatable. Pretty sure I picked you first, but I’ll let you take the point.”
Her throat rippled as she met his gaze. “You know, you still haven’t actually asked me. Sitting a box on a cushion is rather weak in the romance department, dude.”
He had to grin. “You know, you still haven’t actually said you love me back. Nodding during romantic declarations is a total cop-out.”
“You go first.”
“No dice. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Sally in a baby carriage. Even I remember that rhyme from preschool.”
“You totally bungled it,” she said. “Kissing came first.”
Still watching him, she rose up on her knees, inching forward to frame his face between her hands. Her lips slid over his, as gently as the golden morning light filtered into the bus.
“I love you. I’d say I loved you from the first moment we met, but that would be a lie. You kind of annoyed me. Plus, I thought you chewed too loudly.”
He moved back and cocked his head. “Yeah, well, I hate those stupid green zit masks you put on when we watch TV.”
“They’re for face rejuvenation,” she said, indignant. “Not for zits. My skin is dewy. You can see it for your damn self.”
“And another thing. I absolutely can’t stand that you insist on wearing my old T-shirts to bed.”
She frowned, her eyebrows drawing tight. “Well, excuse me.”
“You know why?” He swept his finger over her puckered mouth. “Because I want your sexy, curvy body naked against me every goddamn minute, and I get mad at the cotton when I can’t touch you as soon as I want.”
“Oh. Hmm. That’s too bad.”
“It is. This is an issue we’ll have to work on.”
“Yeah, there’s another one.” She shifted her focus to the windows on the opposite side of the bus, squinting a little in the growing sunlight. “I won’t keep any secrets from you again. No matter what.” She took a steadying breath and returned her focus to him. “I’ll probably slip. I can’t promise I’ll never fail you, or myself,” she said, echoing his earlier statement. “But I can promise I’m going to try like hell to be a man—err, woman—who is worthy of you,” she said, letting her hair fall forward to hide part of her face.
