AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just before falling asleep, I whispered to him, “I’ll understand if you get tired of me.”
CHAPTER 28
ALEX
It took what seemed like forever to fall asleep. After she said she understood if I left her, the words kept pinging around in my brain, keeping me from relaxing. I couldn’t even shut the thought out of my mind while curled up with her, listening to her breathe softly or coo happily in my arms. Just the thought that she would have, that I would get tired of her, it was more than I could bear.
How could a man ever get tired of her? She was perfect. Gorgeous and smart and genuinely nice, she was everything any man would be lucky to have in his life. And yet, she had some terrible luck in her life with men before me. I had to be aware of that, to let that sit in my mind as I tried to make sense of what would cause her to say that.
We had talked about our pasts rather candidly. There was no reason to hide anything. She had been with men who were absolutely terrible, and in some cases, they were memories she could laugh at. In the case of Doug, on the other hand, it was terrifying. But I had also come clean with my history as well. She knew that I had never really bothered to have relationships, focusing instead on having company for an evening and then moving on. Perhaps she thought that she was just too much trouble and that I would be getting over our relationship the same way I had gotten over every woman before her.
Too bad that wasn’t the case. She was stuck with me. I was way, way into her, and there was no getting out of it.
I decided that in the morning, I would put that question to rest once and for all. I would tell her how I felt and make sure she understood that I wasn’t going anywhere. That she had me until she didn’t want me.
When the next morning came, I kissed the back of her neck, and she stirred. Her eyes blinked open, but they were still heavy and looked like they were about to close any second. A tiny smile told me she was at least happy to see me.
“I’m going to make some toast,” I said. “You sleep however long you like.”
“No,” she said, yawning, “I need to get up. I should get back to work.”
“Are you sure? Mr. Proctor said he would cover for you as long as you need.”
“I’m sure. I can’t let Doug keep me from doing the things I love. Things I’m responsible for. I need to go back to work.”
“Okay,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll get the toast ready and some tea boiling. You might want to call in and tell them you’ll be late though. That way I can run you a nice, relaxing bath.”
“That’s very sweet, thank you,” she said.
I nodded and got out of the bed, kissing her nose before heading into the kitchen to make her some toast and see if I had any of my prepped breakfast meals left. I often did a whole week’s worth of prepping meals just so I could save time in the mornings, but this time all I had was single-cup avocados and sliced chicken breast. Figuring I could make myself a sandwich for breakfast, I pulled them out as I switched out the toast for new bread.
Going for the protein jolt of peanut butter and butter on the toast, I plated it and when the tea was ready, poured her a cup. She came shuffling out of the bedroom just then and sat at my kitchen table.
“Thank you,” she said. “This is exactly what I wanted.”
“Good,” I said. “I hope it helps.”
As she started eating, I sat down across from her with my sandwich and coffee. As soon as I had enough in me, I was going to tell her. When she had eaten both pieces of toast and I had wolfed down my sandwich, I figured that was as good a time as any.
We walked into the living room and curled up on the couch. I pulled the blanket around her as we lay there, the early morning sun lazily sending streams of gold into the room.
“I wanted you to know, there is nothing you could do to make me not want you,” I said. “Whatever you are afraid of, don’t be. I will be with you as long as you want me.”
She snuggled up tight into my chest, and I kissed her head.
“Promise?” she asked.
“Promise,” I said. “Now, let’s call the school and tell them you will be in at lunchtime. I’ll get the tub going.”
She nodded and took out her phone, dialing the school number. I got the tub going and threw in some lilac-scented bubbles for good measure. I set out some towels and a few candles to burn and turned the water off when it was full. When I walked back into the room, she was curled up on the end of the couch, looking pensive. I sat down beside her and pulled her into my lap again.
