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“Not a chance, beautiful.” He pressed one hard kiss to her lips before repeating, “Why does the way I look have any bearing on how you look?”
“It doesn’t. I’ve just—you were dating Bridget Montague for crying out loud! She’s one of the most gorgeous women on the planet.”
Okay, he hadn’t expectedthatshot from left field. “Yes, I was dating Bridget. She’s a lovely woman, and she and I enjoyed each other very much. But then, I met someone I found much more attractive, someone who arouses me, bodyandmind.”
She tensed but just as suddenly melted into him, and when she spoke, awe and disbelief played with the pitch of her voice, making it squeak. “I really do that to you?”
“Sí,” he said quickly and honestly, hoping he left no room for interpretation or doubt.
She closed her eyes, but she didn’t turn away. He took that as a good sign.
“Youarebeautiful, Emma. Every time I look at you, I’m staggered. You do see that, don’t you?”
Her lids rose, and unshed tears made her eyes glisten like seafoam.
“I mean it, Emma. You take my breath away.”
“And you take mine.”
She laid her hand against his cheek. It was the first time she’d touched him with purpose. She’d taken his hand when offered. She’d wrapped her arms around him when he’d kissed her or, now, as they danced, but this was the first timeshe’dtouched him, and he hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
She had black in her past. He had black in his, too, so he knew the power past pain could have over the present. For him, the sins he committed were the culprit, but for her, she was the victim of someone else’s sins. And he wanted desperately to destroy the person who’d made her feel this way, whoever it was, although he was confident he already knew the answer.
“Who convinced you that you weren’t beautiful?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t want him here with us tonight.”
“Except he’s already here. His legacy, whatever it is, is all over your face. It’s in the way your brow furrows and the way your lips scrunch together whenever I say you’re beautiful. By not saying his name, you’re giving him too much power over the here and now. Don’t give him the satisfaction of doing that to you. You’re smart, capable,andbeautiful, regardless of what lies he fed you.”
A single tear spilled free, and she buried her face in his shoulder. “My father,” she finally whispered.
