Page 240 of Money Reigns
“You never close your curtains,”I say, voice dropping, disapproving. “Not once. I should spank you for that alone.”
Her cheeks flush, and I let my thumb graze the heat blooming there.
“Did you watch me change clothes you voyeur?” she asks with a little laugh, her voice almost shy.
“Maybe. Maybe I hoped you’d notice.” I smirk pressing a kiss to her lips.
I pull back slightly, my voice low.
“I saw you go into Murphy’s that first day. Watched you scan the diner, looking for me.”
I pause. “I walked in, grabbed my order, and left. Couldn’t stand to see your face when you realized I wasn’t coming to sit down. It was so hard not to look at you.”
Her mouth parts in a soft gasp.
“I watched from the rearview mirror,” I add, quieter now. “Saw you standing there, bags in hand, still looking after me even when I drove away.”
She closes her eyes, her body curling tighter into mine. I hold her through it.
“I also saw you watching me from the window when I was playing in the snow with those kids in the street. Pretending like you weren’t. Pretending you were fine.”
I feel her fingers grip my chest, her breath shaky against my neck.
“And I almost saw red,” I growl softly, “when I watched you walk up to that stranger at the movie theater.”
Her eyes fly open. “Wait—youwereat the theater?”
I chuckle, the sound rough with disbelief. “You think I wouldn’t know where you were?”
She blinks, stunned.
“And I heard you were worried about the swing set. I have the rotted piece of initialed wood in my suitcase, we’re taking it home.”
She smiles, her breath hitching.
My heart thrums.
“When Ella called, I went to Murphy’s to pick youbothup, I thoughtyou’dbe there.”
Her silence is deafening, her smile drops.
“You weren’t,” I finish. “So I drove Ella back here instead. And spent the rest of the night watching your window like a fucking addict.”
“Her eyes shine, glassy with disbelief. “Why not justspeakto me, War?”
“I needed it to be your choice, my sweet girl. And now it is.”
She nods. “You never really let me go then.”
“Never,” I say simply. “I couldnever.”
She kisses me soft and deep and full of everything I have ever needed.
I hold her tighter; for the first time in months, my lungs don’t ache. She’shere.
She’s mine.
Step Six: Complete.
