Page 71 of An Overdue Match
“The top of your head isn’t used to seeing this much sun, and I don’t want you to get burned.” He wiggled the lotion in his hand. “May I?”
“I can do it.”
“So can I, and I want to.”
She pressed her teeth into her bottom lip. She didn’t appear convinced that anyone would want to touch her bald head.
“Angel, you’re beautiful,” he reassured. “Please, let me.”
Finally, she nodded, though still looking hesitant and unsure. Tai sat behind her and squirted sunblock into the palm of his hand. Evangeline’s shoulders were stiff, her whole body rigid in front of him.
He leaned forward, his mouth by her ear. “Relax,” he whispered. He placed a kiss along the curve of her neck, lingering and breathing in her scent, nuzzling her with his nose until she drifted back toward him. He applied the sunscreenevenly over her skin, then firmed his hands, massaging her head.
“That feels so good,” she nearly moaned.
Tai swallowed the flood of moisture in his mouth at the sound. He almost changed his mind in broaching the question that had been plaguing him but pressed on.
“Angel,” he said as he applied pressure with his thumbs at the base of her skull. “Why have you been so set on this matchmaking thing of yours?”
“What?” she asked dreamily, as if he were waking her from another place.
“Why have you been working so hard and investing so much of yourself in other peoples’ love lives? I understand you’re a romantic and want to see people happy, but then with yourself you...”
How could he say in a gentle way that she’d shut out the possibility of love for herself?
She reached up and gripped his wrist, pulling his hands away. Slowly she turned so they were facing each other.
“I stay on the sidelines. The only place I thought was safely left for me. If I wanted love and romance in my life, I thought I could get it secondhand by helping other people find their happily-ever-afters.” Her lips tipped, but it was a smile painted with sadness and shadowed by acceptance that should never have been allowed.
Tai leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. He reached around her until his hands splayed across her back, then he tugged her closer, nestling her onto his lap. He couldn’t protect her from past hurts, but he could hold her while she hopefully healed from them.
“Why do I feel like there’s a guy whose butt I need to kick?”
More tension seeped from her body as her lashes lifted and she looked into his eyes. Her smile grew warm. “Probably because there was a guy, but you don’t need to kick his butt.”
Tai squeezed her tight. “If he hurt you, Angel, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself.”
She tilted her chin up and pressed her lips against his, comforting him and assuring him the way he was supposed to be doing for her.
Tai angled his head and deepened the kiss, her words that she only belonged on the sidelines ringing in his mind. In the game of love, Evangeline was the most valuable player—she should’ve never been benched, never have been made to feel as if she didn’t belong in the game. He wanted to erase every doubt that had ever entered her mind, every negative voice she’d ever heard. He wanted her to see herself how he saw her. But more importantly...
He gentled the kiss, then eased away, resettling his forehead against hers. He licked his lips, getting one last taste of her before he pressed on.
“Angel, whoever the guy was, whatever he said or did to make you feel no one would love you or want you—it was a lie. You’ve always been loved and wanted, sweetheart.”
Her brow furrowed beneath his.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, adding physical weight to the weight of his words. “God is the lover of your soul, Evangeline. He woos you every single day of your life, wanting you to fall in love with Him over and over again the way He loves you. He calls you beautiful, beloved, and lavishes you with more tenderness and affection than a groom does a bride on their wedding day. And nothing can change that. Not an autoimmune disorder or physical changes in appearance. Certainly not hair loss. He loved you from the beginning, and He’ll love you for all time.”
A tear escaped the corner of her eye. It physically pained Tai to watch it roll over her cheek and collect on her chin before falling to her lap. He pressed a kiss against its track, tasting the salt on his lips.
“If you let me, Angel, I’ll love you too. No more watching from the sideline.” His mouth hovered in front of hers. “Please join the game with me.”
He felt more than saw her head nod once before her lips crashed against his.
32
Evangeline shook out her wrist. “How’s your hand not cramping?” she asked as she pressed a thumb into the heel of her right palm. She and Tai had been sitting at her dining room table for the last hour, filling out party invitations and addressing envelopes.
