Page 54 of Catching My Dreams

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” he argued.

“But I do.” And Ella finally understood that. She’d been happy to see Noah as the villain for years, but she’d also been responsible for their fallout. She’d ignored him even when he’d begged her to speak to him. She’d watched him cry after she’d thrown out that card. “And I am sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.” His forehead dropped to rest against hers. “You don’t know how much I wish I could take back every horrible thing I ever said to you. I thought you didn’t like me, that you believed you were better than me.” He let out a humorless chuckle. “The funny thing is now I realize it’s true. You’re far too good for me.”

Ella frowned. She wasn’t sure if she’d completely forgiven him for some of the things he’d said in the past, but she wasn’t a saint either.

“That’s not true,” she said.

“It is,” he insisted. “I was awful, and I don’t know how I can ever make it up to you.”

She leaned into him, her lips close to grazing his. “You being here today is a good start.”

His hands moved higher, his fingers sinking into her hair, and his nose brushed against her own. “I need you to know that I didn’t sleep with you that first time as some scheme to get you to look for Asher. I did it because I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember.”

Ella remembered how he’d kissed her with desperation, how he’d told her he wanted her, how he’d touched her with equal amounts of fervor and gentleness. Looking back, she wondered how she ever could have thought he’d been pretending.

“I’m sorry I ever thought otherwise,” she said.

“Would you believe me if I said I love you?” he asked, his lips moving over hers in a feather-light touch. “That I’m in love with you, and I have been since I was thirteen years old?”

The words hit her with the force of a punch to the gut—a warm, caressing punch.

A few days ago, she would have said no. A few days ago, she would have wondered what he could possibly gain from telling a lie like that. Now, Ella knew his words for what they were—the truth.

“Yes,” she breathed out, and Noah swallowed the sound.

His mouth moved over hers hungrily, his lips claiming hers with dizzying eagerness and his tongue tangling with her own in a dance that had heat immediately building in Ella’s core. His hands moved down from her hair to her waist, and when he pulled her tighter against him, her body willingly melted into his.

Noah had always been able to reduce her into a mess of mindless desire, and it was no different this time.

He tasted like the strawberry ice cream they’d eaten after dinner. His body felt like the comfort of home, and his lips felt like the thrill of adventure.

Everything about the kiss was familiar, but the heat of his mouth on hers and the warmth dancing through every nerve in her body held the excitement of new experiences and the charge of anticipation.

It would have been perfect if her neck hadn’t started aching because her head was angled up. Ella rose on her toes to try and relieve the pressure, but it did little to ease the pinching pain. She groaned and pulled away.

“My neck,” she explained when Noah lifted his eyebrows in question.

Understanding lit up his sea-blue eyes. He lifted her, and Ella’s legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her through to the kitchen.

“How’s this?” he asked after placing her on the counter.

Their eyes were level now. As were their lips. Ella grinned. “Perfect.”

Noah covered her mouth with his own again, but he was gentler this time. Softer. He put his hands under her thighs and tugged her to the edge of the counter. She could feel him pressing against her through the leggings she’d changed into.

“I love you,” he murmured between mind-altering kisses.

“I love you too,” she replied breathlessly against his lips after minutes had already passed.

His mouth left hers then, and his eyes found her heavy-lidded gaze. “Say it again.”

She smiled. “I love you, Noah.”

“I need you to know this is real. This isn’t a game to me.” He brushed her hair behind her ear and rested his palm on her cheek. “It’s never been a game to me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I doubted you.”

---