Page 75 of Quarter Miles (Runaway 3)

“I forgive you.”

He pulled away and his eyebrows came together. “You do?”

“I’m hurt, but I forgive you. Your heart was in the right place.” And in his boots, I might have done the same. I wouldn’t have wanted him to be hurt by a woman who’d take my money without even asking about her child.

“Doesn’t matter.” He shook his head and set me down. “I should have told you.”

My shoulders sagged and I nodded. “It’s done.”

What was the point of staying mad at him? It wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t undo the past and it wouldn’t change the relationship I’d had with my mother.

I glanced past him to the SUV. “How’d you know where I was going?”

“Lucky guess.”

I looked up and met those hazel eyes. “Why’d you come?”

“Because I love you.”

My heart dropped. My mouth went dry. “What?”

Cash stepped closer, taking my face in his hands. “I love you, Katherine Gates.”

This wasn’t actually happening. How long had I dreamed of hearing those words? How long had I hoped for them? Too long. It was impossible to believe they were real. “As a friend.”

He shook his head. “Not as a friend.”

“As a little sister.”

That earned me another head shake. “Definitely not as a little sister.”

“You love me?”

“I am in love with you.”

Cash was in love with me. My head spun as it tried to flip the switch from fantasy to reality. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but there were no words.

Actually, there were three.

“I love you.”

Cash’s entire body radiated relief. He flashed me that sexy grin, giving me a split second to enjoy it, before he slammed his mouth down on mine. His kiss was so consuming, so powerful and adoring, it felt like he was claiming me forever, branding me as his and his alone.

He loved me.

The fears, doubts and insecurities I’d clutched for years were swept away with his hot tongue. The internal box that had guarded my secrets, and my heart, was wide open.

The blare of the Cadillac’s horn filled the air. “Get a room!”

I giggled at Aria as Cash broke away, holding me tight.

“I love you, Kat,” he whispered.

“I love you, Cash.”

“Don’t go,” he pleaded. “Stay with me. Lean on me. I swear, I won’t let you fall.”

I dropped my head to his chest. The only man in the world who could make me that promise, make me believe it, was Cash. “Okay.”