Page 82 of Time Out

“You have me. Baby or not, Maggie, I’m yours.”

A wet shine filled her eyes, and she swallowed thickly. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” I went to her, closed the space between us, and cupped her cheek with my palm. My thumb brushed at her jaw, down her throat, and I reveled in the way she trembled beneath my touch. This woman owned me. Every single part of me.

“I would give you the world and all you have to do is ask for it. It’s not taking advantage, it’s giving me the pleasure and honor of being able to make a part of your dreams come true like I’ve always had family doing for me. Just tell me you’ll think about it. You want to keep working, do it. You want to take time off to work on your singing, go for it. You’re not taking advantage of me or my money, I’m investing in our future, and I want to make sure, way down the road when our child is growing, they will see both parents finding happiness in their passions.”

Her eyes flared in panic. “I can’t just quit my job, Davis.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” She trailed off, and I watched her argue, and counter-argue every thought she had before she pressed her lips together and scrunched her nose. “Because it doesn’t feel right. We’re not together. Or married. Aren’t I supposed to work?”

“We absolutely are together.”

I kissed her. If she was having doubts again, I’d kiss her until I kissed them all away. We’d talked enough. She knew what I felt and where I stood.

She was the mother of my child and the woman quickly claiming my heart.

The rest would come with time.

Chapter 25

Maggie

Davis’s kiss stole my worries and my doubts, and my fears. His lips, so full and warm and tender against mine, warmed me straight down to my toes, making them curl in my shoes I hadn’t yet removed and brace myself for the onslaught of the passion he’d ignite as soon as he took it further.

Everything he said made sense, and yet there’d always been something holding me back from taking Belle’s help.

Maybe because I want to prove to my parents that when they kicked me out, they didn’t ruin me. Maybe because when it became known about my past, I didn’t want anyone saying I’d gotten a handout due to the television show I rarely starred in.

I didn’t want to hear, “She only made it because….”

I want to hear. “She’s incredible. Where has she been?”

Still, with Davis’s mouth on mine, his tongue sweeping the seam of my lips and seeking entrance, the last thing I wanted to be thinking about was my past….

Not when my future was standing in front of me, moving me backward until my hips hit the counter and my back bowed to keep our connection.

A sigh slipped from my throat, and my hands went to his hips. His arms. I ran my hands up and down every part of his covered body I could reach while he kept his hands at my cheek. My jaw. Cupping my throat and holding me still.

Kissing Davis was a gift I would open and treasure for as long as it lasted.

We are together. His words echoed through me. Telling me I was his. That he had me. That he was there. No one in my life had ever made their need for me so completely, openly known, and I was a fool for doubting him. For worrying about him.

If his family had a problem with us, he’d take care of it.

If my family discovered anything about us, he’d be there and help me.

Davis would always be the kind of man who would give his life for those he cared about, and I was a fool for thinking otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, as that truth settled inside of me, knit together broken, mistrusting pieces deep in my soul.

“What?” He pulled back, lips so close to mine and too far away at the same time. “Sorry for what?”

“For struggling to believe you’re as good of a man as you really are.”

Lips kicked up at the corners, and his blue eyes sparkled. “There’s nothing to apologize for, honey. I have the rest of forever to get you to believe it.”

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