Page 36 of Made for You
And I wasn’t going to leave again until she knew what she meant to me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I’d just settledat my desk after leaving my office at the hotel for the peace and quiet of home when I heard the crunch of gravel in my driveway.
My heart stuttered, then kicked into overdrive. I didn’t know how, but I knew it was him.
Gage had come back.
I pushed my chair back and rushed to the window, pulling the curtain aside in time to see him climbing out of the cab of his truck. Even from up here, I could see the tension in his shoulders, the determined set of his jaw as he strode toward my front door.
He looked like a man on a mission.
My pulse hammered in my throat as I left my office and headed downstairs, rushing to the door, pulling it open in the split second before his knuckles met wood.
“Gage.” His name came out as a breathless plea. A benediction. A prayer.
Gage stopped short when he saw me standing there, his eyes burning with an intensity that made my knees weak. He looked wrecked. His hair was mussed like he’d been running his hands through it all morning, and his flannel was buttoned haphazardly so that the buttons and holes didn’t line up evenly.
“What are you?—”
“I couldn’t stay away,” he said, cutting me off as he closed the distance between us. His hands came up to frame my face, his thumbs brushing along my cheekbones. “I left here this morning, telling myself I’d give you space. That I’d wait for you to tell me what you need. But I can’t, Siena. I can’t pretend anymore.”
My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears. “Pretend what?”
“That this is just sex.” His voice was low and rough. Raw. “That walking away from you is even an option. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing on my mind when my head hits the pillow. And I can’t go another day without you knowing that.”
Oh God.Oh God.
“Gage, I?—”
“Let me finish.” His forehead dropped to mine, his breath warm against my lips. “I know what we said this is. No strings, no expectations. But I can’t keep lying to you, darlin’. Iwantstrings. Iwantexpectations.”
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. All I could do wasfeel—the warmth of his hands on my face, the solid strength of himstanding so close, the hope blooming painfully bright in my chest.
“I’m in love with you, Siena Bellrose.” The words tumbled out of his mouth like he’d been holding them back too long. “And the truth is, I have been since before I even knew your last name. Maybe since that first night, when you looked at me like I was the only man in the world. And I know you might not feel the same way, and I know we’ve got a hell of a lot to figure out, but I needed you to know. I needed to tell you before?—”
I pressed my fingers gently over his lips, silencing him with a touch as tender as it was firm. “I love you too.”
The words burst out of me, cutting through his confession. His eyes went wide, hope and disbelief warring across his handsome face.
“What?”
“I love you,” I repeated, my voice cracking as I said those three words to a man who wasn’t my father for the first time in my life. “I’ve been trying to talk myself out of loving you all morning. Hell, I’ve been trying to talk myself out of it since the moment you walked in here last night. But I can’t, Gage. I don’t want to.”
A sound escaped him—half laugh, half sob—and then his mouth was on mine, desperate and claiming. I melted into him, my hands fisting in his flannel as I kissed him back with everything I had. This kiss was different from all the others we’d shared. It wasn’t about hunger or heat or the overwhelming need to get closer. It was about truth.
About a promise we were making to each other.
When we finally broke apart, both of us breathing hard, he pulled back to stare at me, his large palms circling my biceps. “Say it again,” he whispered.
“I love you.” The words came easier now. “I love you, and I’m terrified, and I have no idea how we’re going to make this work, but?—”
“We’ll figure it out.” His hands slid down to my waist, pulling me flush against him. “Whatever it takes, we’ll figure it out.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. But reality was already creeping in around the edges of this perfect moment.
“Gage.” I pulled back just enough to look up at him. “The hotel opens in five days.”
