Chapter 28
Creed
I’m staring at the bags sitting on a bed that’s had the sheets and blankets pulled off and my brain is trying to tell me what it means, but I still find myself asking if she’s leaving because I can’t quite believe it.
“You kept your promise,” she says. “You protected me. You found Layla. You stopped Meridian and got rid of Uncle Marty. Your… obligation is fulfilled.”
I’m torn between being pissed at what she’s saying and being relieved at the way her voice wavers on the last couple words, telling me she isn’t as cool and composed as her words seem to say she is. I look away from the bags and meet her gaze, holding it as I take a few steps toward her.
“Is that what you think this is? An obligation?” I let my disgust at the word fill my voice.
I half expect her to lie, but she doesn’t.
“No,” she admits softly. “That’s the problem.”
The silence stretches out between us. We’ve spent a lot of quiet time together, but until now, it’s been comfortable. This is awkward, and I know why. What I don’t know is how to handle it. I’m not a young man, but for the first time in all of this, I’m in over my head. I’ve never done this before.
I sigh and run my hand over my face. I’ve never backed down from anything and I’m sure as hell not going to start now, not when I have so much on the line. The best way to do this, I decide, is the same way I’ve done everything with Nova. Straightforward and honest.
“I’ve never asked a woman to stay before.”
Her breath catches and, for a moment, I wonder if I did the right thing, saying it out loud, but then I see the hope in her eyes and keep going.
“I don’t know how to do this shit right.” I pause, then add, “But I do know I don’t want you to leave.”
She looks down at her bag and then back at me, but she keeps her gaze fixed somewhere around my collarbone. “You never said this was permanent.”
She’s right, and she has every right to know why.
If she hears what I have to say and decides to leave anyway, I guess that’s the way it’s going to be, but she deserves to know it all.
I should probably keep my distance while I tell her, but I’ve been drawn to her from the first time I saw her, getting out of her car and walking toward me, determined and strong as hell.
I close the distance between us until she has to tip her head back to look at me.
“I’m not ready to say it’s forever,” I admit.
“Not because I don’t feel anything for you.
And not because I don’t want it.” I reach out and wrap my hand around her wrist, needing to touch her.
“But I’m not gonna say it until I’m sure, because when it happens, that’s it for me.
I won’t make a promise I can’t keep, and I’m only making that promise once. ”
Nova doesn’t run and she doesn’t get mad, she just watches me, waiting to see if there’s anything else.
There is.
“But I will say that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone, and the thought of losing you tears me up inside.”
There’s another beat of silence, and then she says, “That’s enough for me.”
She smiles, lighting up everything, and it’s like I can finally breathe again. I haven’t lost her.
I pull her against me and bend my head to cover her mouth with mine.
I pour everything I can’t say into this kiss, pushing my tongue between her lips to thoroughly claim her mouth.
She moans and eagerly presses her body even closer, wrapping her arms around my neck.
I slide one hand under the back of her shirt, her skin soft and warm as I run my palm up her spine and then back down again.
When I finally break the kiss, I keep my hand on her back and rest my forehead against hers.
We stand there, just breathing each other in, the silence peaceful between us again.
I don’t know exactly how long we’re like that, only that when we go downstairs, we do it hand-in-hand because it’s what we want, not because it’s part of some plan or arrangement.
And when I sit down in one of the chairs, it’s just natural to pull her down onto my lap.
If anyone thinks it’s strange, they don’t say anything, and honestly, I wouldn’t give a damn if they did.
I might not be ready to say forever, but I sure as hell will say that, right now, she’s mine.