Chapter 37
thirty-seven
. . .
Archer
I landed in New York after flying through the night so I could make it to Winnie’s hotel this morning. Her next stop was in New Jersey, so she’d be staying here another night.
I owed her a face-to-face conversation.
I’d been an idiot, and I was here because she deserved better than what I’d given her.
I could tell that she was upset last night, but I wanted to see her in person.
Bridger had flown me here on his plane, and he even had a car waiting for me when I landed.
“Do you mind pulling over at this flower stand on the corner?” I asked the driver.
“Absolutely, Mr. Chadwick.” He pulled to the side of the road, and I jumped out and bought her the biggest bouquet of pink roses they had.
Thankfully she’d told me her room number. She did that every time she checked into a hotel, because she said if anything happened at the hotel or there was a fire, she wanted me to know her room number in case I needed to send help.
I laughed every time I thought about it.
But it would absolutely make surprising her easier.
Once I was back in the car, we made our way to the hotel. I glanced at my watch, and it was still early here, so she’d probably just be waking up.
“Thanks again for the ride,” I said. I slipped him a generous tip before pushing out of the car.
I couldn’t wait to get there.
Couldn’t wait to see her.
Hold her.
Kiss her.
Tell her everything I’d been holding in.
I glanced around, grateful when a man who looked like he was coming from the gym stepped onto the elevator, and I followed him in. He swiped his key, and I asked him to hit floor seventeen for me. It was one of those hotels that required a key to get to your floor.
He gave me a nod and stepped off on floor five.
I sent Winnie a text as the elevator continued to move.
Hey. Are you up? Do you have time to chat?
Winnie
Yes.
She was being short. She was annoyed with me, and she had every reason to be.
Hell, I was annoyed with myself.
I’d thought I was doing the right thing, and it turned out I was doing everything wrong.
I stepped off the elevator, walked to the end of the long hallway, and stopped in front of her door.
I knocked twice, holding the flowers in front of my face so if she looked through the peephole, she’d see the flowers and not me.
The door opened just a crack, with the chain still engaged.
Atta girl.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
I pulled the flowers away from my face and smiled. “Is now a good time to talk?”
“Archie? Archie!” she gasped, and she pulled on the door several times before realizing she needed to close it to take the chain off.
Once the door opened, I expected her to give me the cold shoulder, but she didn’t. She lunged into my arms, and I lifted her off the ground, her legs coming around my waist as she buried her face in my neck.
Little sobs escaped her throat, and I dropped the flowers on the dresser as the door slammed shut behind us. I walked us to the bed to sit, then settled her onto my lap and wrapped my arms even tighter around her.
“Hey, hey,” I whispered. “I’ve got you, beautiful.”
She just stayed right there, crying and hugging me for probably two or three minutes before she finally pulled back to look at me.
Her hair was in a loose braid falling over her shoulder with a thin white bow tied around the bottom.
I glanced down to see that she was wearing her white sleep shorts and matching top.
My hand glided up her thigh, beneath the loose-fitting bottoms, and grasped her ass cheek.
Her head fell back as she laughed. “What are you doing here?”
“I owed you a conversation. I thought you were mad at me.” My other hand moved to the side of her neck and face.
“I am mad at you. But I’m also happy to see you.”
I swiped the tears from beneath her eyes with my thumb. “I’m happy to see you, too. I was on my way out last night to catch my flight here, and I wanted to surprise you. Leave it to Melody to answer the phone.”
Her lips turned up in the corners. “So, you weren’t going out looking all clean and handsome?”
I laughed. “Haven’t been out once since you left. Everyone’s given me shit for it. Apparently, I’ve been very withdrawn.”
She nodded before moving off my lap to sit beside me on the bed.
“No touching me until we finish the conversation. You know I’m weak for you. So, tell me why you’ve been so weird.”
“Honestly, I didn’t realize it was that noticeable. But, after talking to Dr. Debbie, I can now understand how I gave you a lot of mixed signals.”
“Who’s Dr. Debbie?”
“Bridger’s therapist. He made me go see her a couple times this week. He’d already psychoanalyzed me, and she was much kinder about it.” I chuckled.
“Tell me.”
“I truly thought giving you your space while you were on this adventure was the right thing to do, Winnie. Your father and I spoke a lot about how Jaden hindered your growth, and I would never want to do that. So I wanted you to go spread your wings, and see what opportunities were out there. But apparently, it was fear-driven, and pretty selfish of me.”
She snorted. “‘Fear-driven,’ huh? You don’t say?”
I blew out a breath. “Yep. It’s taken me a long time to want to have a relationship again.
I never held Scarlet’s choices against her, but at the end of the day, she chose to leave.
I’ve been fairly guarded ever since Melody was born, and you’re the first person I’ve opened up to outside of my family.
And I was hesitant to tell you how I felt, because—” I shook my head, trying to find the words.
“Because you were afraid that I’d leave you,” she said as her hand found mine. “And you were afraid to talk to me about it because you thought that you’d be pressuring me to stay.”
“Wow. You’re good at reading me, huh?”
“I’m a woman with abandonment issues of my own.
So that’s why it’s important to have the hard conversations.
But I’m open to having them, Archie. Because this isn’t casual for me.
This”—she motioned between us—“what’s happening here between us?
It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before.
It’s so much stronger, and it’s so worth the risk. ”
“I love you, Winnie. I love you so fucking much that it’s actually painful. I haven’t been sleeping, because I missed your body in my bed. I missed your laugh and your smile, and I missed your cooking. Definitely missed your cooking.” My gaze locked with hers, and I chuckled.
“My cooking, huh?”
“Well, among other things.” I sighed. “I missed you. Our home doesn’t feel right anymore when you’re not in it.
And I don’t want to scare you off, but I came here because I need to tell you these things.
I need to tell you that I want forever with you.
I want to build a life and a family with you.
I know that you’ve been married before, and I won’t pressure you in any way to do that again if that’s not something you want, but I want everything you’re willing to give me, Winnie. ”
“First of all, I’m not against marriage. I’m against being married to an asshole.” She shrugged. “I actually love marriage, and I see that with you. I see all of it. A love that goes the distance. A family that we continue building together. A life. One that feels right with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, Archie. So next time you go quiet on me, we’re going to talk about it, okay?
Because I am thrilled that my career is taking off, but that doesn’t change the things that I want with you.
I can write romance sitting on our front porch growing old together, because you’ve given me the inspiration to do it.
You’ve shown me what it feels like to love a man deeply and to be loved back the same way.
Even if you hadn’t said the words, I felt it.
I felt it right here.” She lifted my hand and settled it over her heart.
“I promise to say it to you every day moving forward. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out my shit.”
“You were worth the wait, Archer Chadwick. Even if you made me say it first.”
“You didn’t say it first. You said ‘love ya,’ and it was all muffled and during a very stressful time. I was freaking out that you were leaving, and then you dropped a casual ‘love ya’?”
Her head fell back in a fit of giggles, and I swear it was fucking music to my ears. “I do love ya, Archie.”
“I love you.” I stared at her, and she smiled back at me.
“Love you, too.”
I slipped her spaghetti strap down her shoulder, letting her top fall just below her breast as my finger grazed over her hard peak. “Damn, I missed these tits.”
“What else did you miss?” She pushed the other strap down her shoulder and fell back on the bed, taking me with her. “Because I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed everything about you, beautiful.” I leaned down and kissed her. I kissed my way down her neck and over both of her breasts.
She was perfection.
Soft and sweet and everything that had been missing from my life.
I dragged her pajama shirt down her body, along with her bottoms. She was lying there bare on the bed, and I tugged my sweater over my head as I took her in.
“I could stare at you forever, Winnie. You’re so beautiful. I want to memorize every inch of you.”
She smiled up at me as she reached for the button of my jeans, then pulled down the zipper.
I stood up, kicked off my shoes, and shoved my jeans and briefs down my legs before kicking them off to the side.
I crawled onto the bed, settling between her thighs as my fingers dipped in, swiping across her heat to find her soaked.
I hissed out a breath as I gripped my cock, and I teased her entrance as she nearly arched off the bed.
“Please,” she groaned. “I need you right now, Archer.”
Her words were a plea. Desperate and needy.
I thrust into her, and her arms wrapped around me, nails digging into my back as I pulled out and then drove into her again.
Over and over.
She met me thrust for thrust as she begged for more.
And I couldn’t get enough.
I’d never get enough of this woman.
We found our rhythm as her hips bucked up against me, and I gathered her hands and pinned them above her head. I held them there as she arched her back and groaned, and my lips came over her nipples.
Sucking and licking and flicking them with the tip of my tongue as her breaths came hard and fast.
We were both covered in a layer of sweat, but we kept at it.
I reached down between us and put the slightest bit of pressure on her clit as the sexiest moan left her lips.
“Archer,” she cried as her entire body trembled beneath me. I slammed into her one more time before I followed her into oblivion.
The sounds leaving my throat weren’t even human. We rocked back and forth against one another, riding out every inch of pleasure as I released her hands.
Her breathing slowed, and she tangled her fingers into my hair.
My forehead fell against hers.
“I love you, Winnie.”
“I love you, too.” She smiled up at me.
“Do you have any obligations today before the signing tonight?” I asked as I stroked the hair away from her gorgeous face.
“Nope. Today is a catch-up day.” She shook her head. “Do you have to head home this afternoon?”
“No, beautiful. I’m here with you until you come home. We’ve got the next few days together.”
Her eyes widened as a big smile spread across her face. “Really? You’re staying? What about Melody?”
“She’s with my mom and dad, and she was thrilled that I was coming to be with you.
I didn’t tell her until I dropped her at my parents’ house, because she definitely would have spilled the beans.
” I laughed. “But we’ll be home soon enough.
Right now, I want to be here to support you these last few days.
I’ll be the dude in the back whistling and cheering you on, if you’re okay with that. ”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m definitely okay with that. Thank you. I’m so happy you’re here.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tighter.
“Me too, baby. And I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right beside you whenever you need me.”
And I meant it.
This woman completed me.
And I was ready to start forever right now.