“Not if you don’t, but yeah. I’d love at least one kid.”
“You’d be happy with just one?”
“That’s an important question, Sofia. We should figure that out together if you are saying yes to trying again.”
“I’m not saying that.”
“Is it because of that guy?”
“That guy is David, and he’s been my rock since you left. You really need to start being nice to him.”
I suck in air through my teeth. “I’m sorry. I have a lot to apologize for, don’t I?”
“Bren. David really is just a business partner. He has asked me out for a long time, and for a long time I’ve said no.”
I let out a long breath of relief.
“But,” she continues, “before you showed up yesterday, I said yes. We’re having dinner tonight. It will be our first date. I’m just trying to be transparent here.”
“Don’t go,” I beg. Like a fucking dog.
“I have to.”
“Please, Sofia. Don’t go on a date with him. I don’t even want to hear about any men you’ve dated since I left...” I trail off when a small smile spreads on her face. “Is this funny?” I ask.
“A little. Yeah. You broke up with me, Bren. Not the other way around.”
I hang my head with the shame of it. “And that was the biggest fucking mistake of my life.” I look up at her again, and her nose is red like it was the last time I saw her, when I proposed and she was about to cry. “Please don’t go. Not if you still love me. Not if we have a chance.”
I caress the side of her face, and her lips part. When she doesn’t flinch away from my touch, I lean in closer until my lips press flush with hers. Her eyes drift closed, and she leans into the kiss, opening up an invitation to me. She doesn’t say the words; she doesn’t say she loves me back. She could hardly say it then, and she isn’t saying it now. She still has trouble with the concept of love, but she doesn’t have to say it.
I know she loves me by the way she kisses me—by the way she touches me. It is tender and hungry, and all of it is Sofia. The kiss is gentle, sweet, and short. Then I pepper kisses down her jaw and down her neck. My hand drifts down the skirt of her dress, and when I get to the hem, she doesn’t push my hand away, so I trail it up her thigh until it meets with the cloth of her underwear already starting to dampen. I press with my thumb over the cloth, searching, searching, until I find her clit, and she whimpers out my name. “Bren...”
I smile against her neck. “I missed you.” I rub the bundle of nerves in a circle. “Did you miss me?”
She nods. “Yes,” she says with a breathy voice. Her chest rises and falls more rapidly each second. As she opens her legs for me, I maneuver in front of her so I can kneel at her feet. I am not beneath begging for her to take me back, and that is precisely what I am doing—on my knees.
Her head falls on the backrest of the sofa as I pull her underwear to the side, making room for my tongue. I spread her flesh with two fingers, and the sight of her beautiful swollen clit earns a twitch from my cock. Fuck, I forgot how beautiful she is.
I circle the bundle of nerves with my tongue, slowly at first, enjoying Sofia writhing in her seat, then pick up the pace, lapping it like a starving man. Her hands come to my head, and her fingers run through my hair as her legs start to shake. I lick faster until she is a shuddering puddle under my touch. When her spasms fade, I look up at her, damn pleased with myself and what I can still do to her.
“You’re not playing fair,” she breathes out, looking down at me.
“I never have.” With one last gentle flick of her clit, I cover her again with her underwear and set her skirt straight so I can retake a seat next to her. I scoot her into my arms, and she pants there for a long moment while she catches her breath.
“Now, will you please say we can try again?” I ask her.
“Bren, I—I’d like to, but before we go there, there’s something you should—”
“Shhh,” I say. “Just think on it for a couple of days, okay? Don’t give me an answer now.” If she is still on the fence, I don’t want to risk her giving me the wrong answer right now.
She nods in my arms. “I have to explain to David why we can’t date just after I told him we could. Can you trust me?”
“Of course I can trust you.”
“I have to go to dinner tonight. I have to explain what happened.”
“Okay.”