Chapter Fifteen #3
Hank had always assured her Mr. Right would cherish her gift, and so she could never squander it. She had to be sure since the gift could be given only once, and Rhett had never said those precious three words she so longed to hear.
“You’re a virgin,” he said almost reverently, enunciating each word.
“Yes,” she whispered.
One second, she was staring into his awe-stricken green eyes and the next she was crushed tight to his chest, his arms around her and his face buried in her hair.
“Oh Lily, my precious Lily,” he repeated over and over.
Tears welled up and overflowed. She could feel them streaking down her cheeks and onto his shirt, and she didn’t care. He wouldn’t dump her as the other guys had. She just knew it. There was no mistaking the tenderness in his eyes when he drew away to stare into hers.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly.
She couldn’t tell him about the other guys, but he seemed to sense her reasons without an explanation.
He tugged her back into his arms, more gently this time. “There’s no more precious gift a woman can give a man, a gift to be treasured,” he said, and just held her until her tears subsided.
They showered, separately, and Rhett brought her a feminine nightgown—not too risqué, thank goodness—and a bathrobe to wrap in after her shower.
Amazingly, both garments fit perfectly. Did he keep them in every size for his bevy of supermodels, or did this lingerie belong to one dark-haired woman in particular?
He didn’t offer an explanation, and she didn’t ask or want one.
As far as she was concerned, their future started tonight.
But the first item on her shopping list tomorrow was lingerie.
After her shower, she grabbed up her clothes and padded back down the hall, hesitating a moment at the doorway to the master suite.
She took a deep breath and vowed she wouldn’t be nervous tonight.
She would take this relationship one minute at a time until she felt comfortable, then one hour at a time, one day at a time.
He heard her at the door. “Lily?”
She stepped in and inhaled sharply. He stood at the desk across the room holding a document.
Fresh from his shower, his hair lay in damp curls along his neck.
He wore a pair of well-worn jeans that molded to his perfect behind and his feet were bare.
That was it. No tee shirt, just sexy tanned bare skin that covered his beautifully muscled chest and wide shoulders and washboard abs.
A light dusting of hair spread across his chest and narrowed to a sexy line that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.
Lily’s mouth went dry. Just looking at him sent shock waves vibrating through her already sensitized system.
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head to knock some sense back into it and hopefully stop ogling Rhett like a Krispy Kreme donut. “I’m just a little nervous.”
He took a step toward her. “Lily, you have—”
“—nothing to fear. I know.”
“Come on.”
He laid the document on the desk, gathered up their smoky clothes, and led her downstairs to a laundry room the size of her living room at the cottage, or at least the size her living room had been. She refused to think of that now.
While their clothes washed, he led her to the kitchen and made them sandwiches.
Pulling two beers out of the refrigerator, he held them up.
She grinned, and he handed one over. They finished their sandwiches and beer in companionable silence, and Rhett swapped the clean clothes from the washer into the dryer.
“How about a walk on the beach?” he said, taking her hand.
“Like this?” she squeaked.
“Why not? You’re wearing more than most folks wear at the beach, and there’s no one out there anyway. The park closed at sunset.”
“We snuck out there after sunset,” she reminded him.
He looked chagrined. “Yeah, but we snuck through this property. I’m sorry about that, Lily. I kept secrets too.”
She held two fingers to his lips. “Let’s go for a walk.”
The storm had finally passed, and the air had acquired a comfortable chill.
Breaking waves provided a melodic backdrop for the romantic moonlit scene.
Neither of them said a word as they strolled down to the secluded beach at Sea Turtle Park.
Her small hand gripped tightly to Rhett’s larger one, and she had never felt so safe in all her life.
They walked alone beneath a star-filled sky, the moonlight glistening on the ocean surface like so many sparkling diamonds.
Rhett tugged her gently into his arms, and her breath caught in her throat. “I should have put you to bed and made you rest,” he said softly against her hair. “Instead, I dragged you out to the beach.”
She leaned back and smiled up at him. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on earth.”
“Lily.” His voice went hoarse. “We stood right here that first night.”
She nodded unable to speak or breathe.
“I brought you back here tonight to start over. I know I don’t deserve it, but I want a fresh start. Everything new between us. Always truth, no holding back. What do you say?”
“I say . . . perfect.”
He took her cheeks in his big hands and lightly brushed his lips across hers.
The tenderness made her tingle all the way to her toes.
The tip of his tongue stroked lightly along her lower lip, and she swore every hair on her head tingled too.
He ended the kiss too soon, and she released the breath she had been holding.
She reached for him, but his eyes looked so serious, she stilled.
“I don’t have much experience with innocence.” He ran a nervous hand through his still damp hair. “Hell, I don’t have any actually.”
A jolt of panic struck her. Their conversation had started to sound eerily familiar.
“I’m sure guys have tried to tell you it’s too hard for them to wait until you’re ready, or that it’s uncomfortable or even painful for them to hold back.”
Her skin goose-bumped with a sudden chill. He stared and waited for her response.
“Yes,” she said finally and hated how tiny her voice sounded. She tried to pull free of his arms, but they tightened around her. She couldn’t meet his gaze.
“Lily, I lost you once already. I don’t want to do anything to screw this up. I’ve got hang-ups, and I’ll work through them. Be patient with me, please. I’m sorry for not believing in you, and I swear I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
“Your trust and understanding is all I want,” she said softly. “All I need.”
“We’ve both spent a lifetime protecting ourselves against others taking advantage of us,” he said, his eyes trained on hers.
She felt a flood of warmth sweep over her. He did understand. He truly did.
“But I know now you would never take advantage of me. I trust you, Lily. And I’ll never take advantage of you. You have to trust me.”
He had put so much emphasis on the never, she filled with hope.
“Other men may not have been willing to wait but not me,” he said. “I’ll wait. As long as I have to. Count on it.”
Her eyes locked on his.
“You call the shots here, Lily. No pressure. When we make love, you’ll have to come to me. I’m not taking any more chances.”
He had said when, not if. She couldn’t swallow past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. His gaze burned into hers as though willing her to believe in him, to trust in him.
“You’ll be safe with me,” he said softly. “Always.”
She touched his cheek, needing the connection to be sure this was real. He rubbed his cheek in her palm like a puppy. She smiled.
“Take as long as you want. I’ll be waiting. I won’t change my mind,” he said, his voice so low and husky her toes curled in the sand.
She couldn’t stop the tears that tracked down her cheeks.
He looked stricken. “Please don’t cry. It kills me to see your tears.”
One stubborn sob squeaked out before she could capture it. “They’re happy tears.” She pressed a tender kiss to his lips.
“You’re sure?” he asked against her lips.
She nodded.
“We still get to kiss and hug all we want, right?”
She smiled. “Yes, of course.”
“And make out sessions on the couch?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Yes.” The smile widened to a grin.
“Starting now?” He grabbed her and swung her in a circle and then kissed her dizzy. “You’ve always made me feel like a high school boy, and now I get to act like one too.”
They retrieved their clothes from the dryer and went upstairs to cuddle in that enormous bed. And Rhett remained true to his word.
They talked until the wee hours of the morning along with some kissing and hugging—okay, a lot of make-up kissing and hugging—and Lily knew Hank had been right all along.
The right man would treasure her gift, and she believed she’d finally found the right man.
She had fallen in love with Rhett Buchanan all over again tonight out on the beach, but one niggling thought kept her from easing forward past that point of no return.
Tonight had been beautiful, wonderful, but Rhett hadn’t said anything close to those three precious words, and Lily just couldn’t share her treasure without them.