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Bastian grabbed me into a tight, urgent hug. I didn't hesitate to wrap myself around him as I buried my face in his chest.
“You are the victim, Lark. Stop trying to make yourself the guilty party. You are nothing like your mom.”
“I don't disgust you?”
“That fucking animal hurt you, attacked you, made you a victim and I wasn't there.” He lifted my chin to bring my gaze to him. “If anyone disgusts me, it's me, not you.”
“Please don't think that.”
“I won't if you won't.”
I wiped at my eyes as I tried for a smile.“Deal. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that it was Brad. I didn't see that kind of darkness in him.”
He pulled me closer but I felt the tension in him.“I didn't either.”And I was sure that was part of what fueled his anger. He had been deceived by Brad too.“I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry he put his hands on you. Jesus, Lark, the thought of him hurting you makes me insane with rage, especially knowing how scared you must have been. I want to fucking kill him.”
My hold tightened on him.“He isn't worth it. What did you tell the folks in Massachusetts?”
“The truth. They know who you are and what you mean to me.”
I brushed my lips over his. “I think you like me.”
A small grin touched his lips at the memory.“There's no think about it.”
“So it's everything you hoped, the restoration work?”
“You're trying to change the subject.”
“I am. I've spent the past 24-hours worried sick that you would feel differently about me. It was that, more than the attack, that had me unable to function.”
“Well, that's just fucking stupid.”
It felt so good to laugh.“Agreed, so now I just want to forget,” I said. “You are here and I've missed you like hell. I want to talk about you.”
His hold on me tightened, some of the tension draining from him. He exhaled and said,“Yes, I love the work. I want, well, I have so many ideas.”
I really stared at him at that moment, because it looked as if he was blushing.“Ideas about what?” I asked.
He threaded his fingers through my hair,“In a few years I see you and me, an old house on the Hudson in need of restoration, an easel by the water, kids running around the yard, maybe a tire swing.”
“Really?”
“Does that surprise you?”
“No, it sounds perfect.”
“That's my dream, a loving family of my own, a home, but I've only come to realize I want that because of you, only want that with you.”
“That's what I want too.”
When he kissed me, it held a promise.
A mischievous light glinted in his eyes when his mouth lifted from mine,“We should probably get some sleep, since we have school tomorrow.”
“We have school? You mean me.”
“Yeah.”
And then I noticed his bag.
