Page 56 of A Moment Too Late

“You own me, Drea. Heart and soul. You always have.” Placing my hand against his chest, I can feel the rapid beating of Jay’s heart against my palm as he rests his forehead against mine.

We stay like that for a few minutes, our bodies intertwined as we both come down from our orgasms.

“Now,” he begins as he pulls his clothes back on after we’ve both showered off the sweat and scent of sex from our bodies, “there will be no more talk of going into the park tonight. I have a better plan.”

“Of course you do.”

“I need to put on clean clothes first and get ready. You should stay naked and wait in bed for me to return.”

Tempting. So very tempting.

“I’m already cold,” I retort, reaching into my suitcase for a sweater, the damp towel around my body sending a shiver up my spine when air kicks out of the vent at my feet.

“I promise to warm you up,” he replies, wiggling his eyebrows at me as he slowly backs out of my room, barely opening the door enough to slip his large body through the opening before disappearing.

I’ve managed to slip into a bra and clean underwear, tossing my shredded ones in the garbage, when I hear the door to my room open. I’m standing in the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror, contemplating my recent decisions. It’s only been a few minutes since Jay left me, so when the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, I cower behind the partially closed door and peek into the room.

He’s sitting on my bed. Phone in hand. Tapping the screen without a care in the world.

“How the hell did you get back here so fast?” I ask.

We haven’t talked much about where he’s been staying. I know it’s close, because he’s never gone that long, but he’s been sleeping here so I never really gave it much thought.

“It’s a short walk next door,” he says without looking at me. “Aren’t you supposed to be naked?”

“I am,” I reply flippantly as I pull my sweater over my head with a grunt. “You’re staying next door? I thought this was the only B&B on the street.”

“It is.”

“Who lives next door?”

“Hell if I know.”

“Jay,” I say, a tone of warning in my voice as I draw his name out.

“What?” he asks, finally looking up at me. When he bats his eyes at me, pleading innocence, I rest my hands on my hips and shake my head at him. “Fine. I’m staying in the room next door.”

It all starts to click. It was him outside of my door that first night. He knew when I was awake because he could probably hear my alarm clock. He’s never gone more than a few minutes to change. And he brought me coffee in Hideaway mugs this morning. I guarantee Brandon Royal would have had a fit if he saw someone off the street helping themselves to his coffee station that early in the morning.

“All this time you’ve been right next door?”

“No. I’ve been right here. With you. I’m just renting the room next door. If I’d known you planned to take me captive, I wouldn’t have bothered to let Spencer make a reservation for me.”

“Spencer?”

That little shit. He’s been pulling the strings this entire time. Playing puppet master.

“Speaking of Spencer,” I continue, stepping into a pair of black, skinny jeans and almost toppling over in the process. If the desk hadn’t been within reach, I would have landed in a heap on the floor. “Why are he and Mia both under the impression that we’re in love with each other?”

“Aren’t we? Haven’t we loved each other silently for years, denying our feelings to avoid hurting other people’s feelings?”

I open my mouth to deny his words. To rip them apart and throw them in the garbage with the underwear he tore from my body. However, no words come out as I stare at Jay. His eyes are watching me, waiting for me to confess my deepest, darkest sins and set myself free.

Something I swore I would never do.

“I love you, Andrea. I have since the moment you fell into my arms. Before I knew anything about you, I was drawn to you. Your classic beauty, blonde hair, and deep sapphire eyes. It was your soul that spoke to me that day, though. It wrapped itself around my heart. I knew instantly that I loved you. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, and you know who was waiting for me when I walked in my apartment that afternoon? Spencer.

“He took one look at me and asked who you were. He hadn’t seen us. Didn’t know we’d met. He saw I was a changed man. I didn’t even know your name and I was ready to drop to one knee. He saw love in its rarest form. He also saw the devastation on my face when I brought Sam home that night. And when I told him about you, about who you were, he encouraged me to be honest with Sam. To be honest with you. To break it off with her and follow my heart.”

“But you were a good guy and you didn’t want to hurt her.”

“I didn’t want to hurt either of you, and I knew if I took Spencer’s advice, no one would win. So, yes, Drea, I love you. I have for years. I always will. I can’t explain it any better than that. I never believed in love at first sight before I met you, but I know what I felt in that moment, what I still feel every time I look at you.”

“And what’s that?” I ask, finally forcing my leg into my forgotten jeans and righting myself.

“Home. I feel like I’m home. Like my soul is at peace because it’s found it’s match.”

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