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“I never would have done anything with her, Mel. You know that.”
“I do?”
“Yes,” he says firmly, taking a step forward, closing the distance between us. “I showed you who I was. I told you things I’ve never told anyone else. I took you to my beach. I shared that shit with you. I don’t do that, gorgeous,” he says, reaching out to run a finger down my face from my temple to my jaw.
Sighing, I close my eyes at his affection.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he continues. “If you waited just a few seconds longer, you would have seen me let her down gently. But you didn’t give me that chance, Mel. You saw what you saw, and chose to believe the absolute worst of me. Why?”
“Because I never thought you’d want to keep me.” The words spill from me without thinking first. “I always knew you’d end up breaking me. I just didn’t think it’d be like that, and so soon.”
He laughs without humor. “That’s fucked up. You have to know that.”
“I know.”
“She means nothing to me. I didn’t want to be rude and push her away. And I didn’t want to embarrass her either. I knew you’d be back soon, and I was trying to be nice. Well, now I know I should have been a bastard.
“You should have had a little more faith in me, though. Did you really think I’d do that to you after I just kissed you for everyone to see? I was telling everyone in there you were mine.Mine. She apparently wasn’t there for that little show, but even still, you couldn’t give me the chance to show you that I’m in this? Do you see me as everyone else does? I need the truth.”
“Alex,” I breathe, my head spinning with how close he is. “I always saw you as the man you showed me. But I… I guess in that moment, I did,” I admit solemnly, not wanting to hurt him.
Cupping my face, his thumb caresses my cheek, and I lean into his touch, my eyes on his.
“I have been completely faithful to you, baby. The second those lips touched mine”–he smirks–“I was gone. Done. You’re it for me.”
“You touched her back, though, Alex. That’s what twisted the knife in my chest. You didn’t push her away, and you put your hands on her. I need to know the truth. After we got together…” I start, taking a breath. “While I was home wishing you were with me, did you–”
“No, Mel. No,” he says firmly, his hand sliding down to cup the side of my neck possessively. “Fuck no,” he growls. “I spent my shifts wishing you were there so I could sneak away and fuck you out against the back wall, or lick your sweet pussy so I could have your taste on my tongue the rest of the night.”
A moan catches in my throat, and I sway into him, needing his support.
“And I promise you,” he continues. “If you give me another chance, I’ll never let another woman touch me, and I’ll never touch another woman. Unless it’s to keep her a safe distance away, of course.” He smiles, blinding me with his sexiness.
Reaching up, I trace his smile with the tips of my fingers, loving the sight. “I’ve missed your smile,” I tell him softly, and he kisses the pads of my fingers.
“Just my smile?”
“No. I’ve missed everything.” Sliding my hand up his rough, stubbled cheek, I thread my fingers through his hair at the same time he closes the distance between us, his lips capturing mine in a searing kiss that rushes through me like a damn breaking.
Every held in emotion, feeling, and memory – it all flows through me in a single wave, barreling its way through every inch of me, leaving no part untouched.
He’s owning me in every way.
Alex slides his tongue across the seam of my lips, and I open for him without hesitation, and we moan together – missing the other’s taste.
Smoke and nicotine coat my tongue, and my head spins with his toxic drug. Whether it’s bad for me or not, I’m always going to want it, need it, and crave it. Crave him.
Kissing Alex feels like coming home. Like sunshine bursting through the clouds after a rain storm. Like finding money in a pocket of a pair of jeans I haven’t worn in years.
Comfort, happiness, excitement.
Pushing up on my toes, I grip the back of his neck with both hands and tug on the ends of his silken hair, eliciting a deep groan from him – feeling it reverberate through my bones.
His hands move down my back and settle on my hips, pulling me flush against him, his rock-solid frame a shield against the world around us. The bar could be burning down, but we wouldn’t even know, or care.
His hands move around to anywhere he can reach, re-memorizing my body and my shape.
Pulling back, he rests his forehead against mine, and we remain still, just breathing each other in, our clouded breaths mixing between us like a veil.
