Page 76 of Every Broken Piece
“IknowI’m a bother. I know I’m keeping you from work.”
He closes his eyes and inhales through his nose, his chest expanding until it’s brushing against mine. And it feels good, so good, being this close to him. I put my hands behind my back and press my palms to the wall to keep from hugging him. I miss hugs. I miss having someone to hug.
He reaches behind me and pulls my hands between us, sandwiching them in his. “Woman, I’m here because I want to be. I know you don’t believe me. I know life’s taught you that you can’t rely on anyone. I know I’m going to have to work for your trust. I knowmetellingyouall of this isn’t going to convince you and the only way to convince you is for me to show up every minute of every day. I fully intend to do that.” He rubs his nose alongside mine and whispers, “I’m not going anywhere.”
I blink, then blink again. I want to believe him. I want more than anything in this whole world to believe him. That I can’t says nothing about him and everything about how broken I am. He can’t fix a person who’s unfixable.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper because it’s the only thing I can think to say.
He growls.Growls. “Stop apologizing. None of this is your fault. Do you at least understand that?”
I nod because I do know that. I know what broke me. I can point my finger at the person who took a little girl and continually shattered every dream.
“Good.” He presses his lips to mine in a quick kiss that leaves me wanting more. But that’s my life, isn’t it? Always wanting more?
“Why’d you leave?” He studies me closely, his eyes bouncing between mine and I suddenly understand that he thought I wasleavingleaving.
“I stepped outside for a minute to feel the sun.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “That’s it?”
I press a hand to his chest, right above his heart. “I promise I wasn’t running away. I truly just wanted to feel the sun.”
“I would have gone with you if you’d asked.”
“You were busy. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
He’s staring at my lips. His head inches closer as if he wants to kiss me again before he reconsiders and jerks back. “You can always disturb me. No matter what I’m doing or where I am I will always come to you when you need me.”
My poor battered heart lurches with the need to believe him. To believeinhim. “Why?”
He drops his head to stare at the floor.
When he lifts it, there’s a resolve that I haven’t seen in him before. “Because you mean something to me, Tess. You’re the first woman since Cara to really, really mean something to me.” He releases my hands to skim the back of his fingers down my cheek. “You, Spitfire, woke me up when I’d been asleep too damn long and I don’t want to lose that.”
“Don’t.” I shake my head. “Don’t put that on me, Gabriel Strong. I’m not...” I swallow. “I’m not the person you think I am.”
What I really mean is that I’m not worthy of his feelings, however badly I want to be.
“No, Tess,” he says sadly. “You’re everything I think you are. The problem is, you’re not the personyouthink you are.”
Chapter thirty-nine
Gabe
Idon’t know how to get her to see the strong, too independent, beautiful soul standing before me. She stubbornly refuses to understand that I’m not abandoning her. I get that everyone in her life deserted her, but I won’t be one of them.
The distrust in her eyes tells me that this uphill battle is more a marathon than a sprint. I’m all in. Marathon. Sprint. Whatever it takes, I’m here for it. Consistency and patience wear the jagged rock into a softly rounded stone. I will consistent and patient the hell out of her.
I desperately want to kiss her again but sense that even in that I need to go slow despite my insane need to imprint myself on her; to let the world know she’s mine and I’ll protect her until my dying breath.
Yeah, that’s way too intense for her right now. It’s almost too intense for me, too.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, breaking the thick emotions swirling between us.
“You should answer that,” she says.
I should, but I don’t want to. I lean just a little closer, my vow not to kiss her crushed by a consuming need to claim her. My phone buzzes again. With a curse I pull back and dig the phone out of my pocket, answering without breaking eye contact with her. She turns her head away, hiding the confusion and wariness I see inside her.
