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“Oh, Drake, I do trust you,” she said, cupping his cheek with her hand. “Please believe that, if you don’t believe anything else. I’ve already forgiven you. Let’s not dwell on the past, and focus on the future.”
He looked overcome, dropping his forehead to hers, his breaths coming hard. He closed his eyes and pressed sweet kisses to her lips.
“I don’t deserve you,” he said bleakly, repeating his earlier statement. “But I’ll be damned if I let you go.”
“I won’t let you let me go,” she said. “I need you, Drake. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to live without you.”
He crushed her to him, his body shaking with emotion. His eyes were closed and he simply held her. “Thank God,” he whispered. “Thank God.”
They lay there a moment longer and then Drake reluctantly lifted his weight from her and rolled them to their sides so they faced one another.
“I’m spending the day with you,” he announced, to her surprise.
Though he was admittedly late for work, she’d fully expected him to go in at some point and she couldn’t contain her look of surprise.
“I’m taking you to lunch and then I thought we’d go for a carriage ride in Central Park. After, I thought we could go by the market to pick up some groceries. I’d like for you to cook for me tonight and spend the evening in.”
Her cheeks warmed with pleasure. “Any special request?”
He kissed her. “Surprise me.”
Her mind immediately began to race, thinking of some of her specialties that she hadn’t prepared for him yet.
“Tomorrow I have to go back in to work, but I’ll arrange for a security detail to take you anywhere you’d like to go.”
Her heart immediately sank. She was in no way prepared to face Drake’s men yet. Humiliation crawled over her body at the mere idea.
“Maybe another time,” she murmured. “I don’t have anything in mind for tomorrow. I’d rather stay in the apartment and relax.”
He kissed her one last time before moving to the edge of the bed to get up.
“Whatever you want, baby. You only have to ask and it’s yours.”
Butterflies scuttled around her stomach and into her chest at the tenderness and affection in his voice. And he wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass. Drake simply wasn’t that kind of man. He was blunt to a fault and didn’t spare any feelings when speaking his mind. And every single declaration he’d given her since tracking her down had been utterly sincere.
Drake didn’t need to offer platitudes or stroke anyone’s ego in order to persuade them to do his bidding. He was a take-it-or-leave-it kind of guy. She admired his honesty even if at times it was painful. But at least she never had to wonder where she stood with him. There was no guessing and no doubting whether he really wanted her to be a part of his life.
She still had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that out of all the beautiful, sophisticated and far more worldly women in the city, he’d homed in on her. And he’d done so immediately with no subtlety, no playing games, flirting and dancing around the issue. He took what he wanted and refused to accept no for an answer.
Perhaps she wouldn’t be named feminist of the year, but she reveled in his dominance, his authority, the fact that he called all the shots and expected her to stand back and allow him to take care of her in every conceivable manner.
If she had a choice between being a cherished, pampered princess or being a ball buster and refusing to allow Drake to control her existence, she didn’t even have to agonize over her decision. Drake made her feel like she was the only woman in the world to him, the most beautiful woman he’d ever been involved with; she had no doubt he’d been involved with countless women, and yet they were nowhere in sight and Evangeline belonged heart and soul to him. That had to say something, right?
Even as confidence, something entirely new to her, bolstered her in a way she’d never experienced, she chastised herself for being too confident. Too arrogant. She could very well be a temporary challenge for Drake. An amusement. Other women could have been the same, explaining why they were no longer in the picture: because Drake grew bored and in need of a new challenge, so he tossed them and moved on to his next conquest.
She bit into her lip and nibbled in consternation. Stop, Evangeline! For God’s sake, you’re being a hapless coward. If Drake truly was invested in their relationship, if she kept on with her insecurities and lack of self-confidence, she would be the one to drive him away. Not the other way around.
He chose you. He could have any woman and yet he saw you on a surveillance cam and he chose you. That has to mean something.
