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She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.In her eyes, I could see she still wasn’t sure, and my chest throbbed at the realisation my words might be too late.Not enough to make up for placing so much doubt in her mind about how I really felt about her.
“Nova, please,” I said again, feeling a tear drip down my cheek.I moved my hand forward a fraction, my little finger hesitantly brushing hers.She looked down, and I watched as one of her own tears escaped and dropped onto the carpet between us.
I was too late.
I started to pull my hand away, but she linked her fingers through mine.Not with any firmness, but enough for hope to rise in me again.
Her eyes met mine, and inside them, I saw a hint of her usual lightness peeking through.
“You made me think you didn’t care,” she whispered.
Closing my eyes, I breathed, “I know.”
“And I didn’t… I couldn’t understand how I could have been so wrong about the way I thought you felt about me.I thought maybe…” she trailed off, and I tightened my fingers around hers.
“I do,” I told her, my gaze holding hers so she knew how much I meant it.“I love you.”
Chapter21
Nova
My breath stuttered.He said it.
Off to the side of me, my dad and June tried to ease themselves out of the room, but there was no way for them to leave subtly.They shuffled out, closing the door behind them, leaving Donovan and me alone.
I moved my gaze back to him, but he wasn’t looking at me anymore.His eyes were focused above my head, his jaw clenched and his whole body tense.I could feel his hand shaking in mine as he waited for me to say something.
His beautiful blue eyes were shining, and the hope mixed with defeat that this might already be over nearly brought me to my knees.
I let go of his hand and stepped closer to him, winding my arms around his back, my head against his chest.His heart was racing, and I held him tighter until he crushed me against him, one hand on my lower back, the other buried inside my hair.With a light tug, he prompted me to look up at him, and as I did, his gaze blazed with an intensity I’d never seen before, like everything he’d tried to keep locked away was breaking free.
He’d never been afraid to show affection; that came easily to him.He hadn’t even shied away from letting his guard down around me.But what he had tried to hide from me was how much more I was than a bit of Christmas fun.More than once, I’d believed I meant something to him, but when he’d walked away so easily, those beliefs crumbled away to dust because, if I mattered, he would never have made me feel like I didn’t.
But I’d heard him.The things he’d confessed and how he’d found the last couple of days every bit as agonising as I had.
There was no faking the look in his eyes now.No hiding that he was still trembling.Still waiting for me to tell him what he needed to hear.Even though it was happening so fast, everything about it—abouthim—felt right.
“I love you too,” I whispered.
Lowering his head, Donovan kissed me as if we’d been apart for years and not days, and as his tongue pressed against my lips, seeking entry, I clung to him.His hands slid down to my hips, drawing them against his.
This was happening.He was with me, and he wanted this.Us.
I was pretty sure if we weren’t in my parents’ living room, we would have been undressing each other because I couldn’t get close enough to him.I wanted to wrap myself around him, feel his hands all over me to make up for the time we’d lost, and for the time that was so quickly slipping away from us.We only had two more full days until Donovan had to leave, and I was nowhere near ready to say goodbye.
I must have pulled away a little because he seemed to sense my mind had drifted off.“Dolcezza,” he murmured against my cheek.“I’m coming back.I’ll always come back for you.”
I nodded, any lingering doubts slipping away as his lips found mine again.
What we had, it was so new, and we still had so much to figure out, but I wanted it to work more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
“I would never try to make you stay somewhere you don’t want to be,” I told him.“I hope you know that.”
“I know.”Donovan brushed his lips across mine.“But we’re going to need to be really honest with each other from now on.For the next six months or so, my schedule could be all over the place.I’ll come home as often as I can, but if at any point it gets too hard, you need to tell me so I can find a way to make it easier.”
Home.He’d called England home.Maybe he meant Dawlish too now he’d become reacquainted with the town.
“As you once pointed out, honesty is not an issue for me,” I said, and he smiled, probably remembering his comment from what seemed like a lifetime ago now.
