AllFreeNovel
Share Us
NICK
Iam about ready to kick this punk’s ass. I try to keep my shit together, but the image of his hands on her, grabbing her when she clearly said no, pushes me over the edge. I take a step forward, hands clenched into fists, and Simon immediately releases Savannah.
Fear flashes through his eyes and he backs away, hands up, palms facing out. “I don’t want any trouble,” he says.
Something dark and angry propels me forward and I’m ready to drop this asshole with a punch. Simon must see the bloodlust in my eyes because he skirts around me and takes off. I fake like I’m going to grab him and he gives a little cry.
Guess the pretty boy doesn’t want to get his face messed up.
After Simon disappears, I turn back to Savannah. I feel my heart give a kick and realize just how much I’ve missed her.
I’m going to get you back, sweetheart.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I last saw you,” I say.
“And?”
I suck in a deep breath.Here goes nothing.“And, I miss you so damn much it hurts.” Her face shifts from completely blank to a look that strikes me as hopeful. I think, anyway. “I’ve never been very good at opening myself up, but before you kick me out, I hope you’ll listen to what I came here to say.”
She gives a small nod and I take a step closer.
“I never meant to hurt you, Savannah. I know I should’ve told you about the inheritance sooner than later, but I was scared it would change things.”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“When you married me, you had no idea about the money. Yet, you still said yes.” I study her closely, my gaze fastened to her beautiful aqua eyes. “Why?”
“I already told you, Nick. Because I had a glimpse of the inside.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even though you were a complete jerk to me, I saw your inner beauty when you sat down in the dirt next to a stray dog. I watched when you gave him food and water, talked to him and rubbed his belly. Only a very kind person would do that.”
For a moment, I don’t know what to say. “Anybody would’ve done that.”
“No, everyone else ignored him. But, you didn’t. You paid your assistant to get him cleaned up and back to L.A. where you gave him a home.”
Her words make me feel a little self-conscious and I shift my weight from one foot to the other. “He misses you, you know.”
“Who? You or Paul?”
“Both of us.”
Savannah pulls her robe tighter, watching me closely.
“Savannah, when I dared you to marry me, I tried to convince myself it was because of the money, but that isn’t totally true. It’s because...you brought me back to life.” I let out a sigh and scratch my fingers through my hair. “I don’t ever talk about when my dad left my mom. It broke her and it took a very long time for her to find happiness again. It’s not something that I ever forgot and I always swore to protect myself from that kind of heartbreak. That’s why I never let myself get emotionally-involved with women. But, you changed all that, Sav. You have this enthusiasm and brightness that surrounds you. It drew me to you and made me want to take a chance.”
“Nick-”
I hear the uncertainty in her voice and I can’t bear the idea that she doesn’t want me back. “Wait. There’s more.” I lift the curled-up notebook that I’ve been wringing and twisting since sitting at the airport this morning. “Sorry, I’m not very good at this so I wrote it all down.”
When I offer her the notebook, she looks at it and, for a heartbeat, I’m not sure she’s going to take it. But, then her hand reaches out and her slim fingers wrap around it. “What exactly did you write down?” she asks and uncurls it. She flips through the pages.
“What I’m feeling, I guess. I started with 20 pages and I think I hit about 50 on the plane ride over. Front and back,” I add.
She looks up and I see that bright light surrounding her that made me fall for her on day one. “That’s very sweet. No one ever wrote 100 pages for me about how they feel.”
