Page 94 of No Regrets

OK, now he was confused. “Babe, it’s me. Nothing is awkward. You can talk to me about anything, you know that.”

She turned to face him. “I’m really happy about how things have been between us.”

“So am I.”

“I think I want more.” It was barely a whisper, but he heard it.

“More what?” He hoped she meant what he thought she did.

“More than just friends.”

He couldn’t help it, a big smile spread across his face. He’d dreamed of this, but hell, he thought it would be months.

“Babe, you know I want that.”

“I do, but slow down, commander.” She smiled nervously. “I still need to take things slow. Whatever I think I might want in my head, actually doing it is something completely different. And it scares the hell out of me.”

He moved closer, taking her hand in his.

“Babe, you set the pace. Tell me what you want. I am at your mercy.”

She laughed and, damn, that sound was the most beautiful thing.

“Seriously. However you want to do this, I’m in. And if you need to stop, you change your mind, that’s OK too. I want you to know that. It won’t change anything between us, I promise.”

Squeezing her hand, he lifted it to his lips and brushed a gentle kiss on her knuckles before letting it go. His gaze strayed over the people walking along the quay while they sat quietly.

“I want you to know something,” he said.

“What?”

“The past six years. I’ve never looked at anyone else. Never even thought about anyone else. It’s always been you. I’ve always loved you, ever since we were kids. But somewhere over the past six years I fell in love with you. I’m not sure when it happened. You said before we didn’t have a normal relationship, and you’re right. But we don’t exactly have normal careers either, so we were making it work the best way we could. Every time I saw you, it got harder to leave. I thought about you all the time when I was gone. I just wanted you to know that. What we had wasn't casual to me. It was the real deal. It still is.” He turned to face her, saw the tears on her cheeks. “Hey, don’t cry.” He grabbed her hand again.

“I fell in love with you a long time ago. Cuba made me realize just how much. Something shifted there.” She looked down at their joined hands.

“Yeah, I felt it there too. But if I’m honest, it wasn’t until Daram that it really hit me. I was so damn mad at myself for not telling you sooner. I took what we had for granted and I’m sorry for that. I should have told you a long time ago how much you meant to me.”

“The same goes for me.”

“Why didn’t you?” he asked softly.

She stiffened, but he waited.

“I was afraid you didn’t feel the same. You loved your job, which I understand, but I was worried you didn’t want anything else from me because it would be too complicated. Your career comes first.”

Dex swallowed hard. “I hate that you felt that way.” Her hand was soft and warm in his. He squeezed it gently. “You should have told me. No. Correction. We both should have said something. Six years and we didn’t once discuss what we had, where it was going. I’m really sorry for that, Kelly.” He tugged her hand until their eyes met. “I mean it.”

“I’m not sure how we should do this.” She bit her lip, something she did when she was nervous or worried. He didn’t want her to be either.

“I say we go back to the beginning and do it properly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Kelly Kimber, will you have dinner with me tonight?”

She smiled shyly. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am, I am. We never dated. We went from friends to...”

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