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She tried not to let another needy sigh escape as he caressed her cheek again. “Why do you always dodge my questions?” He dropped his hand to his lap, a deep frown tarnishing his handsome face. “I realized I forgot my phone.”
He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and stood up. He shoved the phone in his pocket as he started walking toward the door.
What was she doing?
Here was her chance. She couldn’t ruin another chance when it was in her reach to fix things.
“Don’t leave. Please.” She sat up, wiping at her cheeks, trying to clear all the ugly tears away. Oh, she had to look ugly. Red, bloodshot eyes. Snotty nose. Rosy cheeks from the tearstains. Her head still pounded from all the ache she had shed. She grabbed a tissue from her nightstand to erase part of her embarrassment.
“I was crying because of how bad I screwed up. I know you would never lie to me. It’s not easy answering the question you want the answer to.” She watched the rigidness in his body start to relax as he turned around in the doorway. “I say things sometimes that slip out. You should know this by now. Call it a nervous tic. I know you didn’t lie. I know you forgave me. Please, Dane. I’m sorry. Please, forgive me…again.”
That sounded lame when she processed everything she said. How pathetic she needed him to forgive her once again.
He walked back to the bed and sat on the edge—close enough where she could reach out if she wanted to wrap her arms around him and beg him to stay. By the fierce frown on his face, she was afraid he was seconds away from leaving.
Then his expression loosened, yet the pain still lingered in his eyes. “Stop crying, Gabriella.” He wiped another tear from her cheek that she hadn’t realized escaped.
“I can’t help it. I’ve never met a man who made me want to cry like this. In fact, I don’t cry. It’s…it’s for the birds.”
A low masculine chuckle trickled from his lips. “That’s not a saying I’ve heard before.”
She shrugged. What could she say? Nonsense came out of her mouth, especially when she was agitated, upset, or nervous. “I don’t want you to leave. I want this,” she waved her hand at the bed, “to be more than just a romp between the sheets.”
His eyes followed her hand gesture. “I…” He hesitated.
No. She needed him to finish his sentence, but she was afraid to interrupt as the emotions flitting across his face looked intense.
He looked from the bed, then to her. “I want that, too. But not if we can’t trust each other. I would’ve never slept with you if I hadn’t forgiven you.”
“I know. I know that.”
She hiccupped, hating that she couldn’t stop the water leaking from her eyes.
“Stop crying. Are you waiting for me to say please? I hate seeing this.” He brushed a few more tears away, the anguish clear in every feature. “Please stop crying, sweetheart.”
Before she could tell him that she didn’t need to hear the word please, he kissed her. So sweet. So soft. So full of tenderness, it melted her heart. All the tension slipped away.
Sure, a bit of tension still swirled around them, but the tension hampering her heart diminished. Her tears slowed down and died away. She wrapped her arms around his neck, putting everything into that simple kiss. She needed him to feel how sorry she was. To know how much she cared for him. Not just for a warm body in her bed.
She opened her mouth, savoring the taste and texture that she would always attribute to Dane. He didn’t hold back, something she feared he would do. He tangled his tongue with hers, keeping the steady pace she craved.
She never wanted to end this kiss. If it ended, she was afraid of what would happen next. Would he still walk out? Was he still mad? He didn’t give her much reassurance that he forgave her. Or maybe he did. She was on the verge of creating a new fiasco when it wasn’t necessary. Why did she always do this to herself?
She felt him pull away, making her tug on his bottom lip before he extracted himself from her lips.
“You know what happens when I kiss you. If I don’t stop now, I’ll never leave this bed.” He leaned his head farther back but didn’t move his body away from hers.
“I don’t understand.”
He sighed heavily and gestured toward the door. “I threw the condoms away. I was about two seconds away from whipping all our clothes off and diving deep inside you without a condom. That’s what you do to me. You distract me. You have since the moment I met you. Here I am again, not mad anymore. Just one tear had my anger crumbling to pieces. I would’ve never walked out if I would’ve seen one tear. You didn’t even yell at me. What kind of way is that to fight? You should either yell or cry. Don’t do this blank expression business. I don’t like it.”
She couldn’t help it. A tiny laugh escaped. She laughed a little bit more when she saw the corner of his mouth tip up into a devilish grin. “Maybe you should dig in that trash can.”
“Do I look like the diving dumpster type?” he asked with a mock grimace.
She playfully slapped his shoulder. “Does it look like a dumpster?”
He stood up, grabbed the condoms from the trash, and set them on the nightstand next to her. He resumed his seat and grabbed her hand. “Gabriella…”
