“Can you forgive me for not loving you the way you deserved? I swear I’ll spend the rest of our lives making sure you never go a day not knowing how much you mean to me.”
I tilted my head back then and stared up into his eyes. They were shiny with unshed tears and I saw the good man inside that would always be Eli Hardy. “There is nothing to forgive, but I won’t fight you on wanting to show me just how much you love me.”
A grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. I licked my lips thinking of how I could kiss that mouth anytime I wanted. “I missed you,” I told him.
He sighed and closed his eyes for a second then gazed down at me. “I can swear to you that I missed you more. Being away from you was hell. The only way I got through the day was telling myself I was doing it for you.”
“Eli Hardy, I love you, but you are a fool.”
He laughed. Loudly. It was real, it was free of darkness, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.