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“Thank you, Valerie. Really.”
“I know this isn’t much—”
“It’s perfect. No one’s made me a birthday cake before. Let me go find some forks.”
No one’s ever made him a cake?I mean, I know he doesn’t need to eat, but it’s the principle of it. Even with my upbringing, I don’t think my mother ever did, but Calla had, and so had my friends.
“Now I feel really shitty thatthisis your first experience,” I mutter as I move to the table by the fireplace at the same time he returns and hands me a fork. He’s moving around a lot better now—no more limping, at least.
I brace myself as he takes the seat across from me and digs out a bite. I wait for a wince, a gag, a shudder.
But he swallows and murmurs with his eyes closed, “That is the second best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
“Second best?”
There’s a wicked glint when he opens his eyes, and my face floods with heat.
“You’re terrible,” I mumble, fishing out my own bite.
He presses his lips together, though it does little to hide his smirk, and the way he looks up at me through his lashes has that heat spreading to other parts of my body. I shove the cake in my mouth, hoping the horrible taste will draw my senses back to the present instead of the visual currently playing out in my head, and I pause as it melts on my tongue, the perfect mix of vanilla and chocolate. Well, that’s surprising.
He’s back to that soft smile as he watches me eat, and I cover my mouth as I swallow. The look in his eyes melts me from the inside out. Even now when I shouldn’t let it. My gaze flicks back to the bandages remaining on his abdomen and the shadows of bruises lingering beneath his jaw.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. Really.” He digs out another bite of the cake. “Should be good as new in another night or two.”
“Good. That’s good. I…I should probably get going,” I blurt out and rise to my feet, though it’s the last thing I want to do. But the longer I stay in here with him, the harder it is to hold on to my resolve, to keep this much-needed distance between us.
He doesn’t argue with me and stands to walk me out.
“Happy birthday,” I say again, going in for a hug. His scent envelops me, and despite my better judgment, I give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
But when I start to pull away, his arms tighten around my waist.
I swallow hard. “Reid.”
“Just…a little longer.”
My body relaxes into his embrace like it has a mind of its own, the tension easing like I’ve finally come home after all this time.
But we can’t stay here. The moment I walk out that door, reality will come crashing back. Pulling away feels like losing him all over again, reopening the jagged wound in my chest.
It isn’t until he takes my face in his hands that I realize tears are running down my cheeks.
“Don’t go.”
“Reid…”
The intensity burning behind his eyes threatens to ignite us both. “I will call it off tonight,” he says lowly. “I will do it right now if you stay. And whatever happens, happens.”
“If you did—if you let all of those people die—you wouldn’t be the man I love. And I wouldn’t be the right person for you if I asked you to.”
He brushes the tears away with his thumbs. “Just for once,” he whispers, “I want to do the selfish thing. If it came down to them or you, I would choose you, Valerie. Over everything.”
My breath hitches.“Reid…” Instead of putting more distance between us like I know I should, my fingers find his chest and lightly trace up to his collarbones.
His eyes close at my touch. The contact tingles on my fingertips, just skin barely touching skin, but my breathing is already uneven.
