Page 28 of Stay

Her chin trembles. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shhh.” I cup her face and press my forehead to hers. “You didn’t do anything to be sorry for.” She did the only thing she thought she could do. The only thing she knew how to do. “No more running, okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she says, hiccupping through her quiet sobs. “I promise.” Haley grips my shirt and clings to me. “I’ve done so much work to get myself back to you.”

I loved her when she was a mess. I’ve loved her all the years we’ve been apart. I love her now.

I can’t help it. She’s endgame for me.

“We’re going to start with a clean slate.” Resentment isn’t a feeling I enjoy, and I don’t hold grudges. I can’t change the past, but I can protect our future. “You did what you thought you had to do back then. For better or worse, it’s put us right here, right now. We just have to decide what we’re going to do from this moment forward.”

Haley stares at me, as if waiting for me to decide what that plan should be.

“We need to take things slow.”

“Okay,” she whispers.

“I’m not the same guy I used to be.” She will not get her way just by batting her lashes or wiggling her ass.

“Neither am I.”

“Take that fucking ring off your finger.”

She slips it off and tosses it in the trash like a three-pointer. “Anything else?”

“Yeah.” I lick my lips while staring at her for a heartbeat longer. “Kiss me.”

She presses her mouth to mine, but it’s nothing like what we shared yesterday in her office. This is painful. Slow. Tempered and cautious.

I can’t stand it. Taking control, I show her how it’s done.

When love gives you a second chance, you go all in.

Go big or get off the motherfucking porch.

Threading my fingers in her hair, I deepen our kiss and hold her flush against me. She makes a little moaning noise that sends blood straight to my cock. By the time I’m through kissing her, she can barely stand, which means I hold her up while she catches her breath. “You good?”

“Not hardly,” she pants. “Jesus, where’d you learn to kiss like that?”

“I just told you.” I back up so she can move. “I’m not the same man I was before. Take that as a warning.” The playfulness in my voice still has an edge to it, so I hope she understands what I’m saying.

I could never fuck this woman out of my system, and lord knows I’ve tried. The upside is, I’m damned good at a lot of things now and she’s about to experience all of it. The downside is, she might not be able to handle me anymore.

“Get back out to the booth. Our dinner’s getting cold.”

She nods, biting her lip and I slap her ass hard when she turns around to leave first.

“Get ready, Angel,” I say against the shell of her ear. “Because by the time I’m through with you, you’re not going to sit for a fucking week, let alone walk away from me ever again.”

She looks over her shoulder and arches her brow at me. “Promise?”

Chapter 9

Haley

It’s been a week since that dinner with Cole. We haven’t seen each other since, but we’ve texted back and forth every day. He’s been busy with work. I’ve been up to my nostrils making contacts around town.

“Welcome to the Metal Petal.”

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