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And, okay, the way she felt underneath him and the way she looked when she came.
He strode across Ellie’s parking lot to where she was standing next to her car. He watched her shoulders rise and fall as she took a deep breath before turning to face him.
“Yeah?”
“We should probably talk.”
She nodded. “Probably.”
Okay, well, he hadn’t been sure she would agree. This was a good start.
“I have a confession,” he started.
“I need to apologize,” she said at the same time.
They both stopped, waited for the other, then opened their mouths again.
“I should tell you—”
“I overreacted.”
Again, they spoke over one another.
Theo held up his hand. “Let me go.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“I have a confession,” he said again. “I wasn’t actually planning to go to North Carolina for Christmas. But when you looked at me and asked, I just…said yes.”
She was staring at him. And now she crossed her arms. A very defensive posture.
She took a deep breath. “Well, first, I need to apologize.”
He lifted a brow. He hadn’t expected that either. This was turning out to be one surprise after another. He didn’t say anything.
“I overreacted…that morning. I was mad, for sure, and it all felt legitimately bad at the moment, but it wasn’t because you really did anything wrong.” She took a deep breath. “And I should have let you apologize.”
Theo realized he was holding his. He blew it out. “I should have thought about how you’d feel waking up alone.”
She gave a single nod. “Well, some of it was because I was shocked by how close I felt to you so quickly. You made me feel safe and like you really cared and—”
“I—” he started.
She held up a hand, stopping him.
“And then when you were gone, and I was alone, and in a new environment, I started feeling out of control and questioning letting myself be vulnerable like that and my insecurities just got the best of me,” she continued, staring at the center of his chest instead of looking him in the eye. “I don’t like being out of control. Except…” She wet her lips. “I liked it with you.”
Theo couldn’t see her clearly in the dim light, but he’d put very good money on the fact that she was blushing. His body hardened and he took another step closer.
“And then when you weren’t there, I felt very exposed and I felt dumb about it,” she finished. “But none of that was your fault.” She lifted her eyes to his. “You were just being you. I trusted you because you’re a good guy and I believe that you felt bad about the next morning.”
Theo felt his heart squeeze. “Damn,” he said softly. “That was a pretty good apology.”
The corner of her mouth actually tipped up just slightly. “Yeah? Because I don’t do that a lot.”
“I’m even more honored then.”
“So about this trip,” she started.
