Violet
What am I thinking? I’ve second guessed myself at least a hundred times since I agreed to this nonsense. I should have told him no and refused to go with him... but I couldn’t. There are things I need to tell him. Things I planned to tell him after he signed the papers, but now, well, now I need to figure something else out.
And I can lie to myself all I want, but the fact remains that I want three more nights with him. Three more nights and then I will let him go back to his life, and I’ll stay in mine.
“This is it,” Josh says, interrupting my thoughts. We’ve driven to the edge of town, almost to Jasper when he pulled off on a side road. I didn’t even ask where we were going. I probably should have, but once I agreed it was like I didn’t care. I am ready for this... I need this as much as he does.
“Where is this?” I ask, looking around at all the trees lined down the driveway.
“Our new house,” he says, and I swear there’s a whirling in my ear or something. There’s no way I just heard what I thought I heard.
“Did you say our new house?”
He keeps driving, and we come to an opening in the trees. There’s a beautiful cabin with a wraparound porch that sits right on the lakefront. It’s magnificent. But there’s no way this is ours. I mean, that’s crazy talk.
“I got your papers this morning and worked out everything on the way to Whiskey Run this morning. I had my agent find this, and well, it’s not exactly ours yet, it’s on a rental program and I rented it for the month. But if you love it, we’re buying it. I figure we need something that is close to Whiskey Run and to Jasper since we’ll be traveling back and forth for my games and your restaurant.”
He says it in one big, rushed statement, and my heart starts to race in my chest. He’s setting this up like he truly believes we’re going to work this out, and it’s freaking me out a little. “Josh, I don’t think...”
He reaches across the console. “That’s good. Don’t think. I don’t want you thinking about anything but me and you. That’s it. The rest will fall into place like it should.”
I don’t want to argue with him and tell him again how crazy this is. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Nope, I take that back. The craziest thing I’d ever done was fall in love with a football player.
He reaches over and kisses my forehead before getting out of the SUV. I watch him come around and open the door before he helps me out. He had driven me to my house and walked with me room to room while I packed a bag. Not once since he found me has he let me out of his sight. He acts like if he does I’m going to run away again, and I know I need to put that thought out of his head. “I’m not going to run again. I promise that at the end of the three days, I’ll tell you before I go back into town. I’m not going to disappear again.”
His hand tightens on me, and a part of me can tell that he doesn’t completely trust me. “That’s a nice thought, Vi. But I know you’re not going to disappear again. At the end of the three days you’re going to be convinced that I’m the only man you want.”
My brows furrow. “You have it all wrong, Josh. I know you’re the man I want. I knew it two months ago. But it’s not meant to be with us... I’m too...”
He rolls his eyes and pulls me toward the house. “You’re not too old. What is your hang-up with the age thing? It’s six years... it’s nothing.”
I could argue with him, but he just unlocked the door and led me into the house. “Oh my God!”
As soon as you walk in, you’re in the living room where a wall of windows shows the most beautiful image of the lake. It’s breathtaking. Josh is standing behind me with his arms around my shoulders. We stand just like that for I don’t know how long until he leans down and gives me the biggest surprise of my life. “I love you, Violet Chambers.”
My gasp of surprise is loud, and I turn in his arms as I back away. “What? You can’t love me...”
He doesn’t let me get far. He follows me. No matter which direction I step, he follows me, always keeping me within arm’s length. “Stop,” he commands and puts his hand around the base of my neck.
I finally stop moving and stare up at him. I never dreamed he would say the “L” word.
“I love you, Violet. I’ve loved you since I ran into you outside the gas station and you didn’t have a clue who I was. I loved you when you agreed to cook dinner for a little boy you didn’t even know and still haven’t taken payment for it. I love the way you feel underneath me, on top of me, fuck, I love the way you look at me. Since you walked out of my life, nothing has mattered to me except getting you back. I don’t care about football, I don’t care about anything except proving to you that we belong together. I’ll wait as long as I need to for you to feel the same way. I can’t lose you. Not again.”
He’s holding me so tight I can barely breathe. Speechless, I stare back at him. I could tell him the same thing. I fell in love with him that night in Jasper. The way he talked to Trevor and the way he made that little boy’s dreams come true. The way he held me in his arms and brought me to orgasm over and over again. And even in the drive-thru wedding chapel when he put the big, beautiful ring on my finger, promising to love me forever.... I felt it then. But I couldn’t believe it was real. I just couldn’t.
I still don’t.
But I do know that I need him more than I’ve ever needed anything in my life.
“Fuck me, Josh,” I mutter to him.
His eyes darken, and he shakes his head. “I can’t. I won’t fuck you, baby. But I’ll make love to you.”
He pulls me up into his arms and carries me through the house. He never lets me go. Even when he lays me back on the bed, he follows me down and lies on top of me. I undress quickly, and he kisses every inch of me. His lips burn a path across my flesh, and when I can’t take it anymore, I pull and yank at his clothes until we’re finally lying next to each other, skin to skin.
“What is it?” he asks.
I’ve been quiet as he’s explored my body, and now we’re so close to him taking me, but all I can do is look into his eyes with a question burning inside me.