Page 55 of Forever Fickle

“You could have anyone…” she said tearfully, finally feeling everything bubble over inside of her. “You are the best person I’ve ever met and if anyone gave you a half-a-chance, you would be so over me that it would make my head spin…”

“How?” he retorted. “How can you even think that when this week you’ve been my entire focus? I sleep, breathe, and can’t eat without thinking about your smile or the way you look at me.”

“And when you’re gone?”

“I’ll still be thinking about you!” he hollered in frustration. “Don’t you realize that I’m so stupidly falling for you that it scares the stuffing out of me? I know this is…”

“What?” Karen said weakly, collapsing in a nearby dining room chair as his words echoed in the room.

She looked up at Jace, seeing the painful recognition in his eyes as he sank to the carpet in front of her on his knees, taking both of her hands in his.

“Is it so hard to believe that I could be falling for you?” he whispered softly. “There’s something in you that pulls me like a moth to a flame and I can’t stay away from you, my beautiful little Tinkerbell.”

Karen stared at his eyes, seeing the truth in them and the yearning in his face as he looked at her. He pulled her hands to his lips, kissing each one tenderly as he waited there, silent.

“Two steps forward…” she whispered shakily, meeting his gaze. “One step back?”

“Then we are still technically moving forward, Tink,” he acknowledged softly. “I’m okay with that, so long as we are both fighting to take that next step together.”

“And when you get tired of fighting?”

“Then we can be there to hold the other, so we can rest for the next go around,” he smiled tenderly. “I like your sass, woman… but I adore this soft side of you that you keep hidden away from the world. This sweet sensitive girl makes me weak at the knees and turns my brain to mush.”

“Can we come up with some other nickname than Tinkerbell?” she chuckled tearfully, pulling her hands from his to touch his cheeks, cupping his beloved face.

“Call signs – just like pet names - are earned,” he smiled tenderly.

“Hot Cakes…” she whispered, reminding him of his own dorky call sign.

“That’s me,” he grinned, pointing at himself like he had that first day she’d met him at the airport when he was standing in front of her car.

That charming smile, those beautiful eyes crinkled at the sides and so full of life and joy, she studied his face… seeing his soul, for the first time.

Karen leaned forward to kiss him.

She knew the exact moment he realized it.

His eyes dropped to her lips, and she felt him tense under her hands where she cradled his jaw, stroking and feeling the slight bit of stubble along with the warmth that was classically him.

It was as if her hands needed to memorize him, and she always caught herself taking a deep breath when he was near in order to commit the scent of his cologne to her soul… but now?

Now she wanted to know him, to feel his lips and what it was like to share a kiss.

She felt like such a naïve fool in that moment, but couldn’t pull away. She’d never kissed a guy and had no idea where to begin. As she leaned forward, she hesitated, feeling his breath mingle with hers as she waited.

“Karen…” he said achingly, his voice making her heart clench wildly as it thumped in her chest in awareness.

She leaned closer, closed her eyes, and felt their noses brush almost in a caress that caused her to smile as she heard his intake of breath.

“Oh Tink, you are killing me slowly like this… and I love it,” he whispered, his breath tickling her lips. “Take your time.”

“This changes everything, doesn’t it?” she breathed, feeling herself melt.

“This affirms what I already know deep in my soul,” he countered tenderly, his hands coming up to lay over hers where she cradled his face. “This is our first kiss that starts our forever… and I will wait as long as you need to take.”

“I’m not sure what to do,” she whispered, embarrassed, and felt his hands tense on hers just before they softened.

“Whatever feels right, my love,” he urged in a voice hotter than liquid metal.

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