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“That’s all right. Would you like a piece of cake?” She took his arm, and led him forward. Aunt Jess and Mr. Goldhirsh then took over, and Bailey watched as they poured him tea, and cut him cake. He looked bemused, and yes, a little lost. Leonard Southby liked control and suddenly he was losing it.
“Small steps,” Joe said, coming to her side. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll just unleash Mr. Goldhirsh on him again.”
“I feel different, Joe.”
“Different, good?”
“Yes, as if suddenly my life is about to begin again.”
“Definitely good then, especially as I’m going to be in the rebuild.”
Chapter 35
“I have to go now, baby. I’m due at the bar. We need to do stock take this morning.”
Bailey stretched in Joe’s big bed as he got out and walked naked to the bathroom. She’d stayed the night with him, as she had for the two since her birthday.
Reaching for her cell phone that Clark had spent two painful hours yesterday teaching her how to use, she knocked Joe’s ring off the nightstand, the thick silver band he always wore on his middle finger. Swinging her legs out of bed, she picked it up. Her fingers encountered a ridge on the inside. She turned it, and the breath lodged inside her throat.
“You can stay in my bed as long as you like,” Joe said, returning after his shower minutes later. “In fact, if you’re there when I.... Bailey, what’s wrong?” He was at her side in seconds, dropping to his knees before her.
“Y-you kept it.” She held out the ring so they could both see the small round silver disc attached to the inside.
His eyes were level with hers, the green dark with emotion as he looked at her.
“I felt close to you when it was near; this was the only way I could think to keep it that way.”
“Hold out your hands,” Bailey said reaching for her locket. Opening it, she let the matching silver disc fall into them.
“I wondered if you still had it.” He ran his thumb over the surface. “I remember the day I made them at school. I just wanted us to have something that held both our names. Wanted something to remind me of you in case we were separated.” His voice was thick with emotion.
“I felt close to you when I had it near too, Joe. I took it out and just stared at it so many times when I missed you.”
His face was inches from hers now, so close that she just had to lean in to touch her lips to his.
“I love you, Joe.” She let go and bared it all. He was silent for long, agonizing seconds, and then made a sound deep in his throat.
“God, I love you, Bailey. It terrifies me how much you mean to me. It was strong before, when you were young, but now it’s fierce.”
She cupped his face. “It’s no different for me, even though I may not be good at showing it.”
“You do okay.” He smiled.
“I don’t want to leave here, Joe. Don’t want to ever lose you again.”
“You’ll never lose me, sweetheart, we just needed fifteen years to find each other again.”
“If I hadn’t come back—”
“Maybe I would have eventually plucked up the courage to find my way to you. Because while I was a coward that day five years ago, Bailey, you need to know that I never forgot you. You were always there inside my head, making me a better person.”
“Promise me you will always be honest with me, Joe. Promise that from now on we only have the truth between us. No more secrets. If you feel something, I want to know what it is.”
“Promise.” He kissed her then, taking her back with him onto the bed. “I want to be the best man I can be for you, baby.” He used her words again, and the fact he remembered them made her warm all over.
Their kiss was deep and intense and had them both breathing hard in seconds. He stripped the shirt off her body, and she opened his jeans, and then he sheathed himself in a condom and was soon seated deep inside her.
“Every time,” he rasped. “Every time, I feel more when I’m inside you.”
