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“Then, what is it, sweetheart? Tell me so I can do my best to get rid of it. I want you to have a good time tonight.”
“You’re being very calm about all of this, Ryder,” I murmur. We’re standing by the double locked door to my parents’ home. Their side is never locked, although I do lock mine lately—mostly because Ryder is here. It leads to the staircase that comes out into my parent’s sunroom. I can’t make myself unlock the door and I can’t really explain why.
“Would you rather I be worried like you?”
“I’m not worried, I’mnervous.There’s a difference.”
“Buttons,” he scolds.
“Okay, I’m a little worried,” I concede.
His hands slide under the blue wraparound dress that I have on. He grabs my thighs and I barely have time to adjust to that before he hefts me up. His touch burns against my skin as he carefully braces my back against the door. I’m forced to wrap my legs around him as we settle. I hold onto his shoulders, trying to steady myself and letting out a whoosh of air, giving away my surprise.
“What are you doing?”
“If we’re going to talk, I’m going to do that holding my woman. Since we don’t have a chair nearby, this is my compromise. Now talk.”
“We’ve only started this two weeks ago and barely that. My parents are going to say it’s too soon—and they won’t exactly be wrong.”
“My grandparents got married after talking for four days,” he explains. “They were married for fifty-seven years. My grandfather had a heart attack and my grandmother grieved him for three months before her broken heart claimed her too. Time is relative, Buttons. It’s not too soon for us. If anything, we waited way too long.”
“I don’t see that. You didn’t know I was alive. You were with—”
His lips press against mine to stop my words. As his tongue pushes into my mouth and he claims it, I find I don’t care. I just want more of his kiss. When he finally pulls away, I look up at him. I know I’m starry-eyed. I can’t help it. I lick my lips and ask, “What was that for?”
“You haven’t told me the story, but I’ve done some guessing and I’d just as soon never hear Emily’s name mentioned around us again. I wasted years of my life on a girl who wasn’t even real, chasing what I thought would lead me to what my parents share, what my coach and his wife Kage have and lately, what my buddy Slater has found with his girl, Mary.”
“Ryder,” I sigh, not wanting to hear how he loved Emily. If I’m going to move forward at all, I need to forget the past—not relive it.
“Hush, Tillie. I’m telling you that what I’ve found with you is exactly what I want.”
“But we—”
“I was attracted to you from the beginning but ignored that pull so that I could be loyal to a woman who didn’t deserve my loyalty. We fit, Tillie. You knew that all along, it just took me longer to catch up. You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you go now,” he says, his fingers biting into my hips. It feels as if he’s branding me, and I love every second of it. “I’m not doing it, baby.”
“You’re not,” I whisper, my voice hoarse as emotion floods me.
“Say it again like you believe it, Tillie.”
“You’re not letting go of me.” My voice is so quiet that he probably has to strain to hear the words, despite the fact we’re so close. I know he does though, because his eyes deepen in color and his lips spread into a sweet smile. His hand moves along my neck, his fingertips pressing into my hair as his thumb brushes against my earlobe. Shivers of pleasure run through me.
“That’s my girl. Give me your lips.”
I bring my hands down to his chest, flattening them out against his solid chest. “Ryder?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I just ask one favor?”
“Anything. Ask me anything and it’s yours, Buttons.”
“Don’t make me fall in love with you again if you’re going to hurt me.”
“Fall, Buttons. I’m right here to catch you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I knew you were going to be trouble the first time I saw you, Ryder Monroe.”
“And I knew you were special. It hurt to say your name, because I knew the way things were, you could never be mine.”
