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The car door opens and I hear her laugh. It’s not something I’m prepared for and for a minute I think I might puke.
Then she’s stepping out of the car. Make thatstumblingout of the car and laughing some more.
That fucker got her drunk?
My feet start to move. He’s dead. And if I don’t get to finish the job before the cops arrive, it’s a safe bet Baxter will do it himself when he hears.
And what the hell? He isn’t even getting out to walk her to her door?
I’m ready to take this guy’s head off—except then I’m not, because Natalie looks up and our eyes meet and suddenly it’s just her and me and this thing between us I can’t explain. Her laughter fades and her smile softens, spreading as she starts walking toward me through the grass. The look in her eyes is the one I see in my dreams and has me forgetting about the guy, the car, about anything beyond her.
She doesn’t stop until we come together. Her fingertips making first contact at my ribs, her palms pressing in a heartbeat later as she slides her hands up my chest and around my neck.
“You’re here,” she whispers, eyes shining bright. “I wanted you to be here… and you are.”
“Allie,” I growl, heart slamming as my arms come around her waist. “Baby, are you okay?”
She nods, her fingers sifting through the hair at the back of my neck. “I think I might be now.” And then she does it, goes to her toes and pulls me down into her kiss.
“Christ, I’ve missed you,” I say against her lips, not willing to break the contact. Not willing to risk this moment.
She nods against my mouth, and I feel the quake in her body before I taste the salt on her lips.
“Tears?” I choke, searching her watery eyes before looking back to the limo.
But instead of finding some douche I need to murder, it’s Baxter’s wife in the open door. And she’s waving at us with a big smile while the other three girls filling the space around her stare, mouths gaping wide.
Girls.That’s who she was out with after hours.
I raise a hand to them in a half wave acknowledging that I’ve got her, and then my focus is back on Natalie. When we get inside, I drop onto the couch and pull her into my lap. “Why are you crying?”
Another tear slips down her cheek and the smile she gives me breaks something inside me I didn’t know I had.
“I did something stupid, Vaughn.” Her words are a whisper and she can’t look at me.
Is she talking about her date?
I can barely breathe through the raw pain in my chest. I never should have let her go. But it’s not too late, because she’s not cuddled up in his bed. She’s here withme. Her fingers are wrapped inmyshirt. AndI’mthe one she kissed.
I cup her cheek in my palm and bring those tragic blue eyes back to mine, so she can see that I mean what I’m about to say. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. If you need to tell me, I’ll listen. But it won’t change anything. Do you understand?”
Her chin starts to quiver, and I can’t take it. “Allie, you’re killing me.”
Eyes locked with mine, she slowly shakes her head. “I didn’t mean to do it. I knew better, but somehow… I fell in love with you anyway.”
The chaos that’s been tearing through my mind comes to a stop. “What?”
I heard her wrong. She said she did something stupid. She was out with some guy. She—
“I’m in love with you,” she whispers again. “I know it’s not what we talked about. I know we aren’t together anymore, and if you don’t feel the same way it’s okay, but I don’t—”
My mouth comes down over hers in a crush and I kiss her like she’s the air I need to breathe. Like I’m never going to let her go. And then she’s shifting in my arms, pressing her sweet curves into me, fisting her hands in my hair.
God, I fucking love that. I love the tug just sharp enough to tell me this isn’t some dream. It’s real. It’s not over. She doesn’t belong to someone else.
I’m devouring her. She tastes like tears and sugary cocktails andAllie, and I can’t get enough.
Except then that particular flavor combination registers and I realize it’s going to have to be enough. Because I don’t know how much she’s had to drink, which means I don’t know how she’s going to feel about this tomorrow.
