Page 131 of The Locksmith's Promise

“Maggie,” I murmured. “I don’t want any other woman. I’ve never wanted any other woman. It has always been you.”

She turned her face to the side.

I grasped her chin to bring her back to me. “Your body, Maggie, is the only one I want. You could parade one hundred women of all shapes and sizes in front of me and I promise you I don’t want to stick my dick into any of them.”

Her eyes blew wide, and then she laughed. “Oh my God, Baxter.”

I grinned down at her. “Just wanted to make myself clear.”

Lifting up, I pulled the sheet from between us and covered the peak of her breast with my mouth before admitting, “I loved you even back then, Maggie.” I met her disbelieving eyes. “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know how you felt. I would have hurt you, Mags. I wasn’t ready for you in high school.”

“You loved me, too?” She narrowed her gaze and tilted her head. “I always felt like she was your first choice.”

I trailed my tongue down the valley between her breasts to her other nipple.

“Bax,” she protested, gripping my hair. “I don’t want you touching me and thinking about her.”

“No, Maggie. You have to know. She’s not a threat to you. Not in any way, shape, or form.” I sucked her nipple into my mouth, hard, reveling in her gasp as her back arched off the bed.

Lifting my head, I held her gaze and continued. “She was my friend. She understood what my homelife was like. And most of the time, we just smoked up.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t even a relationship, not in the sense you may be thinking.”

She shuddered, but after a moment, offered me a nod.

I rested my forehead on hers. “Can you take more?”

“Oh, God,” she gasped. “I’m not sure. What is it?”

“I had to put on a happy face and sugarcoat everything as best I could because my situation stressed everyone out. With her, I didn’t have to pretend. My shit didn’t freak her out because she had her own.”

She inhaled deeply, her eyes searching mine.

“I was always jealous,” she whispered, her cheeks heating. “Later, when we got together, I felt I wasn’t pretty enough or thin enough because she’s so beautiful.”

And there it was. The root that lay in wait to trip us up.

“She is,” I agreed readily, absorbing the flinch that rocked her. “And she does nothing for me. Never truly did. Not like you always have.” I paused to make sure she heard me. “Not like you do.”

I grasped her head between my hands and gave a tiny squeeze. “I know this is hard to hear, and there hasn’t been anyone but you in a decade, but it was always you even when it wasn’t. And that includes in high school.”

Eyes glossy, voice small, she asked, “Are you sure?”

“Baby,” I whispered, stricken by the naked vulnerability in her gaze.

If she could only step inside my skin, she’d never doubt me again. I’d move mountains for this woman. I’d do anything to wipe this insecurity from her heart.

“It’s the one thing that never changes. Some days you’re the only thing I’m sure about.”

She sniffed and rolled her lips between her teeth. Finally, she met my eyes. “I’m glad you had her to lean on.”

Her eyes, fractured with the pain of rejection, landed softly on my face.

Offering grace.

Offering comfort.

Putting me first.

Surrendering her right to hold the past against me.

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