Chapter 28 #2
I exhale at the touch, my body going slack with relief. With my free hand, I bunch her rumpled shirt and tug her flush against me. The hitch of her breath lands softly on my chest and triggers a wave of shivers all the way to my toes. “I just want to know if you’re okay.”
“I’m better now that you’re here.” She worries her lip, her eyes big and full of warmth. Then, she places her hand above my heart like she knows exactly who it belongs to. “I didn’t know how much I needed to see you.”
“The past week has been rough,” I say, still stroking her hair.
“I hated not being with you, being kept in the dark, not being able to help when I knew you were struggling. You have no idea what I’d do for you.
No idea how much I love you.” I whisper the words, our mouths only inches apart.
“No idea. And that’s my fault. I failed to make it clear to you before, so let me try now. ”
I lean in, brushing my lips against hers with all the reverence she deserves.
“You made me love you so much that the life I had before you now feels so depressing. You’ve ruined me in the most exquisite way.”
Tears well in her eyes again. I swear, if she starts to sob, I’ll forget how to stand. I cradle her face like she’s the most fragile, sacred thing I’ve ever held.
“You made me love you so much,” I murmur, my voice breaking under the torrent of my emotions, “that nothing matters if you’re not by my side.
I don’t want to exist in a world where you’re not mine.
I don’t want space. I want you snug against me all the time.
Come back to me. We’ll figure this all out together.
You and me. Let me love you every damn day until we’re old and gray, swearing at kids who run through our yard and mess up the flowers I just planted. ”
A teary laugh escapes her, her hands balling into fists over my chest, clutching my shirt. “Can we fast forward to that part?”
I respond with a kiss to the tip of her nose before I bury my face in her neck, inhaling her scent that I missed so much.
“When I left that night,” she adds, more serious now.
“I told myself that I needed to do this alone, that it was all on me to fix because it was my mess. It would have gutted me if the rest of the town thought badly of you because you were involved with me. Better they blame the outsider, you know.”
I lace my fingers with hers, squeezing some strength into her.
“But taking space from you might have been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” she continues.
“Do you know how many times I picked up the phone to call you? How many times I almost drove to your place and banged on your door?” She sniffles back more tears.
“I kept myself busy, but everything reminded me of you. Flowers I saw when I took a walk to get some fresh air. The slice of pizza I microwaved in the hotel lobby downstairs one evening. Even freaking chickens in a field yesterday made me a sobbing mess.”
“It’s roosters,” I whisper.
Why the hell are you even correcting her?
“Whatever,” she laughs. “You’ve been haunting me for seven days.
Even the silence was a constant reminder that you weren’t here.
” Her fingers slide through my hair. “I love you, Matt Becker. I love you so much, I don’t even remember who I was before you.
And I don’t want to, because that person wasn’t me.
You peeled away the stubborn layers I’d grown comfortable hiding behind and forced me to discover who I truly was.
And I never want to go back. I want you in every way you’ll let me.
I want to live the kind of love that leaves me breathless.
And honey, I can never catch my breath with you. ”
She draws back, her eyes shining with tears.
“Growing old together sounds like a dream I never thought I could have. We’ll be the couple who always messes up our grandkids’ names and still holds hands in grocery stores.” She rises on her tiptoes. “Let’s never do space again.”
It takes all I have in me not to fall to my knees.
I close the rest of the distance and brush my lips over hers, soft, light, steady.
A promise woven in every caress. A vow that if she needed us to stay in this moment forever, I’d make time stand still.
I wouldn’t move. I’d remain rooted until kissing her became the reason I breathed.
My name escapes her lips in a sigh, her mouth opening, giving me access. I continue my slow exploration. I let go of her hair, my hands drifting to her waist, then her ass, where I squeeze tightly.
She whimpers. “I have one very important disclosure: I’m in a very gross state right now.”
“Now that’s a very tempting offer,” I say, nibbling the lobe of her ear, pressing myself against her.
Sighing, she drops her head against my bicep. “It really is, but I have to kill the mood and tell you something.”
I press a kiss to her crown. “What is it?”
“I’ve had my head buried in legal documents and our archives for the past week, and I’ve been in contact with my team to find a way out of this mess,” she says, her voice bordering on defeat. “Unfortunately, the sale agreement I signed in the name of Imperial Excellence Group is airtight.”
Dread washes over me. I sit on the bed, forearms on my knees, lacing my fingers.
Zoé gathers a small pile of paperwork, then sits next to me.
“ But I think I’m onto something…” She riffles through the pages of legal jargon I don’t know a thing about.
“I was wondering if I could maybe talk to your friends. Charlee, specifically. About what happened in Pine Falls with my dad’s deal. ”
I straighten, sucking in a breath. “What do you mean ‘what happened’? You don’t know?”
She shakes her head. “He’s always been vague about it.
And I can’t find any traces of it in our archives.
Something’s missing. From the beginning, it felt like he didn’t want to tell me.
I brushed it off, assuming it was his massive ego.
Until he took over last week, and my raised flags began flashing red.
Something is not adding up, and your friends might have the information I need. ”
“I thought you knew,” I whisper.
She gasps. “ You know ? You know what went down?”
I scoot closer. “I do. But it’s not my story to tell.
The gang and I usually have dinner on Friday nights, and I actually came from there to get you.
Oliver and Charlee will fill you in and answer all the questions you have.
” I get up and turn in a circle, surveying the room.
“Let’s start by packing your stuff. Time for you to come back home.
Then we’re heading to Oliver’s. If we put our brains together, I’m sure we’ll build a solid case against your dad. ”
Panic flashes in her eyes, and I press my lips in a firm line.
“I’m sorry, beautiful. I know this is not what you wanted.”
“It is what it is. He dug his own grave.” She gets up and stares down at her clothes. “I can’t go to dinner with your friends like this.”
I draw her to me until not an inch of space separates my body from hers.
“They don’t care what you look like, but if you need any reassurance of how hot you are in my sweatpants, I’m sure you can feel the effect you have on me.
” I press myself closer, and the sound that comes out of her mouth makes me even harder.
“Still,” she murmurs. “Let me at least change.”
Smirking, I release her. “Fine. I won’t be able to think straight anyway, with you in those. And we need to focus. So you go change. I’ll gather your stuff and load it in my truck.”
I place a quick kiss on her lips, then spin her around.
“Meet me in the lobby in ten.”