I’m not going to let her hide from me, not her light, not her warmth, not her beauty. My arms tighten around her, one of my hands sliding up her spine to grip the nape of her neck. She melts against me, and I give into the need I have for her. I have no doubt she can feel the ridge of my cock against her, but I need her taste on my lips.
I slam my lips down against hers, taking from her, needing her. When my tongue glides along her bottom lip and I nip at it, she opens for me. As I slip my tongue into her mouth, her answering moan has my cock throbbing.
I’ve wanted to take it slow. I’ve wanted to prove to her I can be soft and compromising, at least for her, and, more importantly, I can get Boomer on my side. When he barks, I groan and pull back from my Sunshine, even though I hate it.
“He’s missed you today.” A soft smile spreads across Reese’s face before I blurt the next words, “He’s not the only one.”
She blinks up at me, her voice filled with something like awe, “You missed me?”
“Oh yeah, Sunshine.” I kiss her forehead and then lead her to the couch, pulling her purse off her shoulder and putting it down. She seems stunned, dazed really, and I don’t want her to ever come out of the fog. If she does, she’ll realize I’m not a man who is worth her time. I don’t think anyone is. She’s pure light and warmth. She sits down, her eyes big and round as she looks up at me. “Do you want a glass of wine?”
“Um,” she looks over at Boomer, who has barely moved even though he’s looking at us, “I should probably get Boomer home.” She looks at me, curiosity mixed with wariness in her gaze and tone, “How has he really been? I know you said it was fine, but I want you to be honest with me.”
I arch an eyebrow at her and then go about grabbing us both a glass of wine, not answering her right away. She fidgets slightly on the couch, but she doesn’t insist on leaving again. I don’t want her to. If it was up to me, she’d be here all the time.
Guilt and regret war inside me because everything I thought I knew about this precious woman was so wrong right from the start. Now that I’m looking at her and really seeing her, I can see the depth of how wrong I was. So fucking wrong
Never again.
The soft smile she gets on her face as she looks at her dog in the bed I bought him, and the small cache of toys spread throughout the room makes my heart pound in my chest. I want her. I need her. I knew before either of those things could happen that I would have to prove myself to her.
I hope it’s been enough because I can’t hold back any longer.
When I hand her the glass of wine and sit next to her, our legs are pressed together. Her eyes are full of surprise, and I can’t help but smirk. She’s going to have to get used to it. I don’t want anything between us, not anymore.
“It’s been great, Reese.” She looks doubtful, but I press on. “I promise. He hasn’t been barking or if he does it’s short and then he settles down again. I think,” I look over at him, taking up as much of the large bed as he can even though it’s way too big for him, “he needed the company.” I add on in a whisper, “I did too.”
“You did?” Her voice is a gentle prod.
I look into her brown eyes, deep pools with so much emotion and layered with a past I want to know desperately so I can walk her path next to her without any secrets between us. I’ve never had these kinds of thoughts or feelings about a woman before. I know it’s all her. It was always supposed to be her.
I reach over and settle my hand on her knee, giving her a squeeze. Her cheeks heat when she looks down at my hand in wonder. I nod slowly. It’s hard to get the words out, but I know I need to, but I’m not sure I can do it and look into her eyes, so I take the coward’s way out and look out into nothing, seeing the past when all I want to do is look toward the future.
“My ex did a number on me. She was selfish and manipulative. She made me feel like I wasn’t good enough, that nothing I did was good enough. I didn’t even realize how angry I was about it and how much it affected my outlook on the world and myself.” I force myself to look at her. Fuck, she’s beautiful. “I’m sorry I took it out on you and Boomer.”
“No, Anderson, you don’t need to apologize,” there’s a ferocity in her voice which surprises me. She lets out a humorless chuckle. When she sighs and shakes her head, I see behind the sunshine, beyond the light, and into the depths of a woman with a past I wish I could erase and a future I want to protect with every fiber of my being. “People come into our lives, they do what they do, and we can’t change it. We can try and protect ourselves, but it doesn’t always work. Then, sometimes, they leave, and it can be the people we don’t need in our lives. It can also be the people we need and desperately wish didn’t have to go.”
I squeeze her knee. “You sound like you’re talking from experience.” She nods and I swallow hard. I hate her pain; I want to take it from her so she can only shine. “Even so, that doesn’t excuse the way I treated you.”
“You were under a lot of stress. I get it.” She cocks her head to the side and gives me a soft smile. “Have you been able to write?”
I perk up and feel my chest swell with pride. “I have. I have you to thank for that.”
Her eyebrows pull together, “Me?”
I lean over and kiss her forehead, needing the connection, the closeness, “Yeah, Sunshine. All you. You’ve given me inspiration when I was afraid the words simply wouldn’t come my way again.” I pull back and find myself smiling. “I’m going to meet my deadline and I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written.”
Her smile is fucking luminous. “I’m proud of you, Anderson.”
Her words hit me right in the center of my chest. “You are?” Why the fuck do I sound like a small boy looking for praise, willing to pick up every crumb and cherish it?
“Of course,” she chirps. She finishes her glass of wine and sets it down. I follow right behind her, wanting my hands free. She looks at me shyly. “I don’t think it has anything to do with me, though. I think you would have found the words. I’m just glad Boomer isn’t distracting you.”
“He was just an excuse I used so I didn’t have to admit I was freaking out about being blocked. I can see it now. All my complaints were just excuses.”
She sasses me, “So my music isn’t really so loud then, huh?”
I bark out a laugh and pull her against my side. “Oh no, Sunshine, your music was definitely loud, but you work hard, you should be able to come home and relax without me being an ass about it.”