Chapter Twenty-Seven
You
Mitchell
After stuffing the last few things into the bag, I slung it over my shoulder and headed for the door.
After locking the cabin up, I turn and head down the stairs.
I pause when I hear the rumble of tires over gravel.
When that familiar black SUV breaks through the trees, my heart knocks against my chest.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. The SUV stops, and the driver’s door opens.
Out steps Ella, her long summer dress blows in the wind, her hair flies across her face.
She pushes it behind her ears, giving me the perfect view of her face.
I don’t react or say a word. I silently wait as she approaches me.
Her hands are cupped in front of her, and her head is down.
She stops in front of me. I still don’t say a word or make a move. No matter how happy I am to see her or what seeing her could mean, I remain silent. I told her she would have to choose me. I’m sticking to it. The ball is in her court.
“Andrew came to see me today.”
When those brown eyes look up at me, I search them for any sign of what she’s about to say. I look for longing, hurt, happiness, or regret. Anything that will give me a heads-up on how this is about to go.
“And?” I ask once I can’t pick up anything.
She tucks her hair behind her ear once again, even though it hadn’t come out since the last time she did it. My gaze drops to her body. Her nipples are hard behind the thin cotton of her dress. The material clings to her body, showcasing every single one of her deadly curves.
I shake my head, forcing the memories of the things I once did to that body out. This is not the time to think with my cock.
“He asked me to get back with him.”
Everything inside me stops. My thoughts come to a screeching halt; even my breathing seems to stop.
I wait for her to finish, but she says nothing. Hiking the bag back up on my shoulder, I stare at her.
“If you came all the way out here to tell me you’re going back to Drew, you could’ve saved the trip.”
I go to walk around her, needing to put space between us. The quick shuffle of her short legs rushing behind me catches me off guard. Ella steps in front of me, causing me to stop walking.
“Ask me what my answer was?”
This time when I study her eyes, I can read her emotions. There is panic and fear in her gaze. Even her breathing is labored, as if she’s rushing her words for me.
Licking my lips, I take a step back and shift my weight. “What was your answer?”
She lets out a deep breath. “No. I told him no.”
I don’t let it show, but my fucking heart beats overtime and the weight that was once on my shoulders seems to lift.
“For fifteen years, I stayed in that marriage, only receiving partial attention and leftover affection.” She goes on to say. “I was starving in that relationship. I was drowning so deeply in my unhappiness that I was starting to swallow the water and thinking it was saving me.”
I don’t tell her I saw it. How I noticed the unhappiness hidden in the laughter that was never loud enough. The smiles that didn’t reach her eyes, even in the gazes that were never quite right. I noticed her pain, but I too had become immune to it. She wore it so well; I thought it was normal.
“When Andrew divorced me, I was forced to see myself for the first time in fifteen years.
I was broken, lonely, and sad. But you were there.
You stood by me, pulling me out of my brokenness, encouraging me to lift my head out of the water and see the shore of happiness.
You taught me to be strong and independent and to value myself even before you ever made love to me.
“I spent most of my life giving Andrew whatever he wanted. But today, I took that power back from him. And I have you to thank.”
She steps closer, her vanilla scent wrapping around me. She places her hand on my chest. Despite the way my pulse races at her touch, I remove her hand.
Her face falls.
“I’m glad I could give you the courage to stand up for yourself. Congratulations.” Releasing her hand, I go to walk away again.
“Don’t you understand?” Her voice cracks. “I’m telling you we can be together now.”
I spin around and face her so quickly that she takes a step back. “Oh, we can? That’s great to know. I’m glad you made that decision for us.”
She flinches before looking down at her feet. “I thought you’d be happy.”
“Happy?” I chuckle. “I was happy for four months when we were together. I was happy three nights ago when you told me you loved me. I would’ve been happy two days ago if you hadn’t tossed me aside at the first sign of trouble like I meant nothing to you.”
“How can you say that? You mean everything to me.”
“Yeah, now that there is nothing at risk. Now that no one is against us. But what happens when the people at your job start mumbling about you sleeping with your ex’s best friend?
Or the other parents at the school start side-eyeing you because you’re fucking your son’s uncle?
Will you need space and time again then? ”
She shakes her head as tears fall from her eyes. My heart breaks at her pain, but I needed her to understand my hurt.
“I’m not some disposable asset that you can pick up and put back down when things are going your way. I love you, Ella. I wasn’t just saying that shit to make you feel good. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I’d fight the world to protect you.”
“I know that, Mitchell,” she sobs and shouts.
“And yet you still walked out of my house that day.” Shaking my head, I run a hand down my face.
“I understand that I’m a man and I have tough skin.
What others think about me doesn’t bother me, so I never saw an issue with us being together.
I could even understand the boy’s anger being a problem for you.
I was willing to work through that with you.
But you didn’t even try. Now you’re here to tell me that because everything is fine, you’ll take me back?
” I shake my head. “I may look like a big, burly, tough guy, but I've got feelings too.”
This time when I turn and walk away, I make it all the way to my truck before she speaks again.
“What do I have to do?”
Turning back to face her, I don’t see the whimpering woman from before. Her eyes are bloodshot, and there are tear tracks on her cheeks, but the look in her gaze is different from before. Staring back at me is a woman ready to fight. A woman who is sure of herself and her decisions.
She runs a hand over her cheek roughly to wipe the tears away, her chin lifted slightly.
“I love you,” she says it as if she’s angry. “I’m here with you and I’m not going anywhere. So, what do I have to do?” She holds her hands out at her sides briefly.
I stare at her, taking in her posture and the strength in her eyes. Tugging at my beard, I walk over to her slowly, shoving the bag back up onto my shoulder.
“You’re willing to do anything?”
She licked her lips but didn’t back down. “Yes.”
“You answered that quickly. Are you sure you’re willing to do whatever I ask?”
She stands unshakably in front of me. I stop right in front of her.
“Whatever you ask.” She once again answers boldly.
Taking in the situation, I run through my mind all the shit I could ask of this woman.
Look, there wasn’t a real chance in hell I wasn’t taking her back.
This entire argument was just because I needed her to understand my pain.
But now, my head is filling up rapidly with suggestions for her to win me back. And at the moment, only one stands out.
“Marry me.”
She blinks a few times, clearly stunned by my suggestion. Until this point, I’m not sure if I meant it or not, but it’s out there now.
Her mouth opens and closes before it opens again. With her gaze locked on mine, she finally replied.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face. Shit, I wasn’t expecting that, but I damn sure won’t take it back.
She nods. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
The bag on my shoulder is forgotten as it slides down my arm and hits the ground. I grab Ella and lift her up.
“Are you serious?”
Her laughter is loud and full of happiness.
“Yes, I’m serious.”
I spin her around as she squeals. When I stop, I put her back on her feet and place my lips to hers.
Her mouth opened immediately, granting me access to her tongue.
My fingers dug into her hips hungrily. I’ve gone two days without being with this woman.
I’m not sure I can go another second. Pulling back from the kiss, I lift her into my arms like a bride.
Her laughter has me floating.
“Wait, your bag,” she says, turning to look at the bag I dropped on the ground. The contents have spilled onto the gravel.
When she turns back to me, her brow is furrowed. “Mitchell, why do you have a bag with handcuffs and duct tape?”
My grin damn near reaches my ears. “That was just my Plan B. Don’t worry about it,” I say teasingly as I carry her toward the cabin door.
I was going to get my happily ever after, either by force or by choice. Thankfully, it worked out this way.
For the next two days, I made love to my fiancée. We only came up for air to shower, piss and eat. On the third day, I took her to the jewelry store to put a ring on her finger to make it official. Finally, Ella was mine.