Page 65 of Keep Your Guard Up
I moved aside, holding the heavy door open for her. She toed off what once were white sneakers but were now covered in grass.
Jesus, had she run here?
“God, Sunny. You must be freezing,” I said, turning to start towards the kitchen. Her footsteps padded along behind me. “You could have called? I’ve got JJ’s car today—I could have come to you.”
“I’m fine.” Her head lay back against the nearby wall she’d stopped to lean on, another one of those smiles gracing her lips. “It’s nice being out in the rain sometimes. All of the grass is already looking greener.”
“Coffee?” The kettle squealed gently as it began to heat up.
“If this goes well, I’m hoping I won’t need it.” She cleared her throat, pushing off the wall.
“Oh?” I stepped away from the kettle, leaning on the kitchen bench and folding my arms over.
“I, uh … I was talking to JJ this morning—”
“Uh-oh. Not off to a good start.”
“No, no.” She laughed, the sound full of sunshine. Full ofSunny. “He actually had his wisdom on cap this time.”
She took a step, slow and casual. Then another. Closer and closer towards me.
“And?”
She chewed on her bottom lip, the fingers on her right hand fidgeting. A habit, I’d learned, when she was nervous. Hard to pick, considering she wasn’t the easiest to rattle.
“And … I believe you.”
“About what?”
“That you’re not like the others.” She stood in front of me, those beautiful,beautifulbrown eyes meeting mine. “You’ve shown me time and time again that you’re not like them—”
“Them?”
“The stupid little stereotype of people I’ve made up in my head to protect me from getting hurt again. You’re not them. You never were.” Her hands reached up to my folded forearms. She was soaking from top to bottom, dripping water all over the kitchen floor, but the warmth I felt from her skin on mine was that of the toasty morning sunshine. “I see you. I believe you. I get it now.”
“Aside from telling me that I’m not the asshole you thought I was, what’re you trying to say here?”
“I don’t want to say no. Not to you. Not to this. Not to any of it,” she replied, those honey eyes so full of clarity, of certainty.
She pulled my wrists down to my sides, pushing her fingers through mine. That warmth, that fire returned and spread up my arms.
“What do you want, Sunny?” I rasped out, shock and warmth and tenderness pumping through me in a rush.
“You, Chance. I want you.”
Chapter 35
Mari
The pounding in my chest was so loud, I was sure he could hear it. Hell, I was sure anyone in a five-kilometre radius could hear it. “I just … I need you to help me through this. Ride slow with me.”
Using our intertwined hands, he tugged me closer to him. With my chest flush against his, now I knew he could hear my thundering heartbeat.
I didn’t care.
I had nothing to hide anymore, not from him.
A small, disbelieving smile fell onto his lips. One that soon morphed into his signature smirk.
