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My heart comes back to life, and I release a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. “I do.”
He releases his own big breath as his expression relaxes.
“Cara left, by the way,” he says. “She said if she has to come back to get you, she’ll create a character based on me that will be more hated than Joffrey and Ramsay combined fromGame of Thrones.”
I snort a laugh at that. Gotta love Cara and her romantic heart
Jackson takes a step further into the room, his expression sobering. “I’m sorry, Autumn. You were right. I should have been your boyfriend.” He pauses, taking another breath. “It was easier to be your bodyguard than face whatever happened to produce those pictures. Even though I knew deep down that Ben was messing with you again, I was too afraid to trust myself so easily. Because if the news was true, I don’t know how I would have survived it.”
Tears prick my eyes as he closes the distance between us and takes my hands into his.
“I hate that I let my insecurities blind me to what I knew was true. Because if I could have just let myself see, I would have seen that you never needed a bodyguard. You already had everything you needed to save yourself.” He reaches up and swipes a finger across my tear-stained cheek. “What you did was fucking awesome, wildcat. Not only did you take your life back, but I think you’re going to inspire lots of women to take theirs back too.”
“You think?”
“I know.” He leans in and presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll never not be there for you again, wildcat. I promise. Being the man that is more than halfway in love with you will always come first.”
I lean back, meeting his gorgeous green gaze. “More than, huh?”
He takes my hands in his and presses them to his chest where his heart lies. “Way more than.”
The raw honesty I see in his eyes fills my heart with such joy I think it might burst. But I can also tell he’s scared that I won’t forgive him. So, I ease his fears.
I lift onto my toes and brush my lips over his, once, twice, and that’s all it takes for him to seize my lips in a bone melting kiss. He grips me tightly around the waist, pulling me close as our kiss becomes hungrier.
He rips his mouth from mine, breathing hard. “God, Autumn.”
“I know.”
He presses his forehead to mine again and we stay like that, simply breathing in one another for several moments.
“Autumn –”
“Shh,” I press my finger to his lips. “It’s my turn to talk.”
He nods and I take a breath and lean back enough to see him fully.
“It’s hard to look back at the time in my life when I was with Ben. After all my sister went through, I never thought I’d land in an abusive relationship. But suddenly I was famous, and everything was coming at me at once. Our relationship went from fun to toxic and I didn’t even notice. When I finally did, I’d created this huge distrust in myself, and I’ve been playing it safe ever since. Trying to truly be that good girl. With my career. With my relationships.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “Then I met you. When you first looked at me, it felt like you saw right to the heart of me. I knew you would tear down all the facades I created. And I wanted you to. I wanted to be set free.”
He runs a finger down my cheek. “We set each other free.”
I nod. “We did.” I kiss him. “Jackson, I’m absolutely way more than halfway in love with you too.”
His smile is so bright that it reaches all the way to his gorgeous green eyes. “Really?”
“Really. And I don’t want to stop until we’re all the way.”
“I’ll always want to go all the way with you, wildcat.”
I laugh and finger the hem of his shirt and start pulling up until it’s off and on the floor.
“Perfect. Let’s start now.”
EPILOGUE
Autumn
