She bit her lip, and he reached out and pulled the flesh out from under her straight white teeth. “But I am also realistic.” She didn’t allow him time to respond. “You have a past that haunts you still, torments you. As much as I want to help you, I don’t know if I can be everything you need and want, even if I desperately want you, Ace.”
He hated she felt like that. “You’re the only woman, the only person, who has ever made me feel whole, Lauren. Without you in my life, I’d lose it.”
“I want to be with you, Ace. I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember.” She smiled and lifted her hand to cup his cheek. “We can take it one day at a time.”
He closed his eyes, nodded, and knew this woman owned him, every part of him. She stepped away, and the few seconds of silence that filled the air had a plethora of emotions covering her face. He heard her swallow, but when she stepped away another inch he didn’t try to keep her close. He noticed she was searching the ground, and he didn’t want her away from him. Damn, he already felt like a needy bitch, but where Lauren was concerned she really did mean everything to him.
“One day at a time, Lauren,” he said and pulled her closer by grabbing her hand.
She rested her head on his chest, and he placed a hand on the back of her head.
“One day at a time, Ace.”
Yeah, because that’s all they could do, but damn would he savor every fucking minute of it.
9
Ace looked up at the metal and glass building right in front of him, stared at the sign right above the front doors that said it was the Cooper Morris Professional Building, and felt himself start to get all twitchy. He was really going to do this, really going to go in and see a psychologist after all these years.
He clenched his hands at his sides, breathed out slowly through his mouth, and grabbed the door handle. After pulling it open and making his way inside, he located which floor the therapist’s office was on and headed up there. He could do this, not because he thought he needed it, but because he wanted to better himself for Lauren.
Stepping into the elevator he leaned back against the mirrored wall, grabbed onto the railing, and just as the doors were about to close a man in a suit stepped in. He saw Ace, his eyes widening for a second, and then he moved all the way to the opposite end of the confined box. The doors slid shut, and Ace saw the way the guy glanced at him again.
That had Ace smirking, not because he was particularly pleased the guy was clearly afraid of him, but because he wasn’t that scrawny kid anymore that got picked on at grade school because of his size and shitty home life, or the same kid that got daily beatings from his father. He could handle himself, didn’t let anyone ever lay their hands on him unless he wanted it, and that was the only therapy he ever needed.
The doors slid open, and the guy stepped out. Ace should just leave and go work out, because that’s what cleared his head. But just as he was about to push the button to take him to the lobby he thought twice. If he wanted to make a relationship work with Lauren then he had to try to talk to a professional and see if it helped at all.
He got off the elevator, checked in, then sat in the too small chair across from the receptionist’s desk. The girl behind the counter watched him, smiled a little, but he wasn’t interested in anyone aside from his Lauren. Hell, it had been years since he’d had sex with a random chick.
After she found him passed out on his bed and he’d broken down, he’d promised himself he’d never go down that road again. He couldn’t. He loved Lauren too much, and she deserved better than that from him. He couldn’t even get hard for anyone else aside from Lauren, and so for the last several years he’d just focused on fighting and her. Despite his need for sex as an outlet for his emotions, he was never tempted to fuck a random chick, not even interested in going down that route.
The side door opened, and an older woman stepped out. “Mr. Renaldo?”
He stood, clenched his hands at his sides again, and followed her through the door. Once in the office he looked around. It was decorated pretty modernly, with metal vases filled with white pieces of branches, pictures of abstract designs hanging on the wall, and a view of the city across from him.