Page 94 of Keep Your Guard Up
“It meant she couldn’t contact me anymore. I knew it would make things worse in the future. Iknewit would come back and bite me in the ass. But how could I care when that wasn’t now? How could I care when this woman, this beautiful,beautifulwoman, had brought the sunshine back into my life by drowning the fucking brick that was a communicator of my nightmare of a fucking life?”
Each word got quicker and quicker until he stopped. A stray tear dripped between my fingers from those eyes, so dark andfull of hurt. My heart, already beating erratically in my chest, ached for the man in front of me.
He turned his head again, this time softly nuzzling my hand.
“You’re here,” he murmured, eyeing me warily. Panic flashed across his face, a sudden awareness as to where he was. His gaze flicked behind me, seeing Al’s tiny Corolla that I planned to let roll back down the hill in neutral when it was time to leave.
Squeezing his face in my hand, a sad smile was all my mouth could muster.
“I’m here,” I reassured him. “I’m here and I believe you.”
Chapter 54
Mari
Chance hadn’t said anything when I’d told him I believed him. He’d just stared at me. In shock? Relief? I’d had no idea what the look on his face was. So, I’d pulled up my big girl pants, reminded myself that this was serious stuff we’d been talking about, and hopped off the tray.
“Come and see me when you’re ready. I’ll wait for you,” I’d told him. A slight nod of his head was all he’d given me before I’d deemed that answer enough and left.
And now, I sat on Nan’s old cream and green couch in the living room. Watching the trashiest of reality TV shows? Yes. Paying more attention to the door and its lack of movement? Also yes.
I’d shed my tears for him on the long drive home, dropped Al’s car off to him, where I’d found him and Nan sharing a dinner together, and walked the six and a half kilometres home. The sun had fully set by the time I’d gotten back to Soggla, but the sky was still as clear as it had been over the lookout. Stars, hundreds and thousands of little lights in the sky, shone brightly alongside a full moon.
The perfect night to sit in and wait.
~
The fateful knock had come at the door at 12 am. Gus’s lack of panic at a visitor at such a strange hour told me all I needed to know.
He is here.
Heart on my sleeve, beating erratically in my chest and deep in my stomach, I opened the door. There he stood, tall and beautiful and loved. So very loved, I itched to say.
But neither of us said anything. Not after he brought his lips down on mine.
The kiss was soft and sensual, our lips fusing together delicately but furiously. I’d missed him.
God, I’ve missed him.
His scent invaded my senses, that sweet citrus cologne blended with the sweat from a warm day. This smell, it was too familiar. It was home. It waseverything.Hewas everything.
My fingers slowly ran and tugged though his hair, and he let out a low rasp, sighing from the sensation. Fingertips tapped just below my ass cheeks, urging me to jump.
I obeyed and pushed myself up into his arms. His hands were waiting, cupping straight under my ass when his feet began moving beneath us.
I didn’t care where he was taking me.
I’ve got you. Always. Those first gentle words came to mind, spreading a warmth through my chest.
The feel of the cool wood of the hallway cupboard gingerly graced the backs of my thighs. Chance pulled away, his lips pink and swollen. When his eyes met mine, I felt it. That pulse.
That energy turnedelectric.
I forced my fingers into motion once again as I reached for the hem of my shirt but found Chance already there. His heated fiery gaze landed on mine and he blinked, then, in a single swift movement, I melted as hetoremy shirt off.
Holy shit.
Those sapphire blue eyes darkened to a stormy ocean blue, full of desire. I can only imagine my own were in a similar state; that ragingneedpulsed through me every second his mouth wasn’t on me.
