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“Is there anything you do regret?” I asked her after I stored the leftovers in the fridge.
She leaned against my kitchen island, and I made sure I kept my distance against the counter across from her. “About the stipulations from my father?” she asked, and I nodded. “Not really. Therapy is hard sometimes, even though I know it’s one of the main elements keeping me out of a rehabilitation facility. And as much as I love Dr. Casson, it’s hard to crack open about how you’ve failed your family more times than you can even remember.”
“You’re not a failure,” I said, and she laughed.
“My long line of mistakes begs to differ.”
I pushed off the counter, needing to be just a little closer to her when I said what I wanted to say. “Your mistakes don’t define you,” I said, looking down at her.
We were so close I could feel the heat coming off her body. God, I wanted to drag her into my arms and feel her against me.
“You’re brilliant,” I continued, and gently tipped her chin when she tried to look away from me. “You have the best sense of humor. You don’t take shit from anyone regardless if they’re ten times your size or not. You have an attitude big enough to fill all of Sweet Water but your compassion for those youdolet in is just as fierce. You’re an incredible woman, Anne. And no amount of things in your past could change that.”
Her lips parted, emotion shifting her features from awed to doubtful to confused. “How do you see me like that?”
“I’ve always seen you.”
A shaken breath rushed past her lips, and I swear there was a buzz of electricity crackling between us. I couldn’t deny the tension coiling inside me, couldn’t ignore the overwhelming sensation I had to hold her, kiss her, be with her. Chemistry like this came along once in a lifetime, I knew that since the day we broke up. And even though I knew there wasn’t a world where we worked out, I wanted totry.
“James,” she breathed my name, and I had to brace my hands on either side of her, gripping the kitchen island like it would help me maintain control. “Tell me what you’re thinking, please.”
I licked my lips, my eyes scanning every inch her face from her pink lips to her fluttering blue eyes. “I’m thinking working with you every single day is absolute torture.”
Shock flared in her eyes, so I hurried to continue.
“Standing there every day, pretending like I can’t stop thinking about you is driving me crazy. You’re in my head all the time, in all the ways I want to touch you, kiss you, make you come so many times I’ll be the comparison for everyone who comes after me. Because I know this can’t work, but it doesn’t stop me from needing you on a level that terrifies me.”
Her hands flew to my chest, fisting the material of my shirt to draw me closer. “I’m still a mess,” she admitted, reaching up on her tiptoes to bring her mouth closer to mine.
I gripped her hips and hefted her onto the island, separating her thighs to step between them.
“I’m still healing,” she continued, sliding her hands over my shoulders, her eyes fluttering from my eyes to my lips and back again.
“I know,” I said, fully understanding she was working on herself in ways that would take up all the energy she had. I knew she didn’t need me to help her heal, but I damn sure would be there for her while she did it. “And I want to be here for you. Support you in whatever way you need.” She bit her bottom lip, hesitance and need churning in her eyes. “I know I’m not what your family wants and that you’re trying to mend things with them. I get that. It doesn’t change how I feel about you. And this doesn’t have to be the end-all. We can justbe.”
“So just this once?” she asked, and my heart fucking rebelled at the idea. Once would never be enough with her. But if that’s all she wanted, then that’s what I’d give her.
“One night?” I asked, wanting absolute clarity between us.
“Whatever you want,” she said, echoing my thoughts.
“I just want you,” I admitted, inching my way toward her mouth.
“You have me.”
I slanted my mouth over hers, sweeping my tongue between her lips until she let me in. Her grip on me tightened, and she wrapped her legs around my waist, locking me in place against her. My dick strained at the move, hard and desperate to sink into her. I tangled my fingers in the silken strands of her hair, kissing her deeper—
“Wait,” she said, pulling back just enough to catch my eyes.
I froze, telling my dick to stand the fuck down. I would never have her doing anything she wasn’t comfortable with. If she wanted to just make-out like we were teenagers again, then that’s what we’d do. If she wanted to sit there and talk until the sun came up, I was fine with that too.
“I’m…” She worried her lip between her teeth again.
“What is it, baby?”
“I’m nervous,” she admitted, and my eyes flared wide. My wild, ferocious girl was nervous?
“Why?”
