Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Delaney
The Perfect Petal greenhouse sits at the edge of the property, half-tucked behind a row of oak trees. The glass panes fog with humidity from the late afternoon heat.
I’ve always loved greenhouses. The smell, the humidity, all the growth tucked inside.
Bennett is two rows over, swearing at a broken drip line.
His forearms are tanned from our hours spent on the golf course.
His muscles flex as he tightens the valve, and I keep peeking at him, smiling to myself.
We’ve been tugging at the invisible string between us lately, and I need to tell him the truth about Leia before it goes too far.
As much as I love this flirtatious game we’re playing, it will end the moment he knows the truth.
“It’s nice to see things get to you,” I call, leaning my hip along the table.
He glances over his shoulder, the start of a smile tipping his lips. “You should be familiar with that version of me.”
I ditch the plants and walk the two rows to him. “Oh?”
Again, another glance, but then he concentrates on the hose. “Let’s not pretend, shall we?”
Memories flood of how just one look would have me pressed against a wall or strewn across the kitchen table. I still feel the weight of him pressing me into the mattress. My core clenches when I remember the feel of his intensity. I never questioned how much he wanted me. It always lined his face.
I sit on the stool nearby. “They were good times.”
“Yeah,” he mumbles, and this time, his eyes don’t lift in my direction.
I watch him work for a second, the truth I know I need to reveal to him pressing down on me.
I open my mouth to tell him we need to talk, to ask him to meet me away from work, maybe go on a walk.
Somewhere I won’t be stranded since I’m sure I’ll be the last person he wants to be around after I confess.
“I’m sorry,” he says before I can speak. “I made the wrong choice.”
I hop off the stool. “It’s ancient history.”
The hose hits the floor, and his hand wraps around my wrist, brushing the infinity symbol over the inside of my wrist with this thumb. But there’s no infinity in our world anymore, he just doesn’t know it.
“Please… I need to apologize.”
Still not facing him, I shake my head. “It’s so long ago. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. Please… just look at me.”
I slowly circle around, and he turns my palm up, continuing to run figure eights around my inner wrist.
“I knew I made a mistake the minute we got to Willowbrook. Our marriage was broken after she slept with Jon, and a baby wasn’t going to repair that. I’d fallen in love with you all over again, and Kristie knew it, although she never asked me.”
I open my mouth, but he steps closer.
“I’m not sure where I can fit into your life right now, but I’ve spent the last seven years pretending to mourn a marriage that wasn’t real anymore. God, I was so scared when I saw you in Lottie’s yard that night. You coming back blew it all up, reminded me of the lie I was living. And—”
“Don’t. You don’t have to tell me any of this. I moved on. It’s over.” I move to turn, and he steps forward.
“I’m trying to tell you how much I regret my decision. That it should’ve been you I picked. I would’ve made it work with Wren, and you wouldn’t be where you are right now.”
I draw back, pulling my arm away from his and crossing my arms. “Is that what this apology is about? You feeling like you’re to blame for the life’s mess?”
Anger stirs to life inside me, like a rattlesnake ready to lash out. I don’t need him to take the blame, as if I didn’t choose Sean myself.
“Had I stayed—”
“You didn’t though.” Tears threaten to break through, but I suck them back. I will not show him how much that affected me.
“Exactly, and I’m telling you I regret it.”
“So, what? You want my forgiveness?” I bow. “Granted.” I turn around to leave.
“Fuck, Delaney, I’m trying here.”
I whip around, the last of my patience long gone.
“You’re trying to make yourself feel better.
Well, you’re off the hook. You’re not to blame.
I made the decision to marry Sean. I’m the one who was too clueless to see who he really was and what he was doing.
Not you, Bennett, me.” I point at my chest. “I made those mistakes. Me. And I am the one who lives with them every day.”
“I’m just saying—”
“You can’t fix this!” I shout. “Or me.”
The desperation in his eyes guts me. “So what do you want me to do? How do we move forward?”
I close my eyes, and he breaks the distance, slowly, one footstep at a time, gauging my reaction with each one.
“We don’t.”
“If I could pick any day to do over, it would be that one. I hate what you’re going through right now, and yes, I do want to bulldoze my way back into your life and take control.
I hate that man for what he did, but at the same time, I want to thank him because had he not, I wouldn’t have this third chance with you.
And I realize I probably don’t deserve it, but that’s what I want, to get to a place where we can be us again. At least try to be.”
I shake my head, panic choking off the air, not wanting him to say these things when he doesn’t know the entire story.
Doesn’t know that I’m not the person he thinks I am.
I’m a monster who’s kept him from his daughter.
A horrible person who allowed another man to raise her for seven years.
To love her and tuck her in at night and be her daddy.
“You know we’re perfect together. You know we’re meant for one another.” He brushes his knuckles over my cheek.
“We can’t.” My fight wanes. The nearer he gets, the more my body leans toward his.
“Delaney?”
“Yes?”
“If I kissed you right now, would you stop me?”
I don’t blink. Don’t breathe.
And I don’t answer.
Because I don’t want to stop him. I’m so tired. So sick of fighting to get out of bed every day and put up the front that everything is okay. I just want to forget what a mess my life is for one second and allow myself to get lost in him.
Bennett leans in slowly, his gaze flicking to my lips, the space between us charged. His breath warms my skin when he dips his head and runs his nose along my neck. My hands fist at my sides.
“Bennett… there’s something—”
“Later.”
I open my mouth, and for a moment, the truth teeters there, on the edge, ready to be set free.
But his lips meet mine, and he seals the secret with a kiss. His hands coast up my sides until one is buried in my hair and the other one is pressed against my back, making it so there’s no space between us. His tongue licks along the seam of my lips, and I don’t hesitate to open for him.
My nails dig into my palms, my mind screaming to stop this, but then he groans, and my conscience is silent.
He backs up and our eyes lock, but that string tightens, the energy taut and electrifying.
I fist his shirt and pull him closer, needing to feel the solid weight of his chest against mine. His mouth crashes into mine again, tilting my face to deepen the kiss.
God, I remember every kiss before this one.
All the memories of us take control of my body.
It’s as if all the years we lost don’t matter.
All that does is right here and right now.
His tongue brushes mine, and I moan into his mouth, aching from missing him so much.
I’ve yearned for him with a deep hunger I didn’t even know I was carrying.
He controls us, pressing me against the frame of the greenhouse and caging me in with his body. His hands are in my hair now, his mouth trailing down to my neck. He nips and bites my collarbone, then soothes it with a swipe of his tongue.
“You feel amazing,” I shamelessly confess.
His hardened length presses into my stomach, and all I want to do is wrap my legs around his waist and climb him like a tree, grinding my core along that bulge. His hand slips beneath the hem of my shirt.
“I’m sorry. We should’ve had this all these years,” he murmurs, taking me out of the moment.
The reality of what we’re doing and what he doesn’t know is a bucket of cold water over my head. I press a hand to his chest. “Wait.”
He stills, resting his forehead against mine and gasping for breath. “What?”
“I can’t…” My voice breaks. My whole body is begging me not to let go of him. But Levi’s words float back to me. I can’t move forward until he knows the truth. “I have to tell you something.”
He pulls back, confusion clouding his eyes. “Now?”
I swallow hard, fingers shaking as I lower my hand from his chest, smoothing out his T-shirt. “Something I should’ve told you a long time ago.”
He stiffens and tilts his head, patiently waiting, having no idea I’m about to blow up his life.
“Leia…” Her name trembles out of my mouth. “She’s yours.”