Page 126 of Bound By Words

We both knew there was an expiration to being together like this. Her coming to Boston with me wasn’t going to be something permanent. I knew she’d been scared to return to Chicago with the text messages she’d been getting, and I was afraid to let her go.

If I wasn’t in love with her while we were in Connecticut, I certainly was now. It wasn’t just because we’d physically become closer. The emotional intimacy building between us this quickly wasn’t something I had expected.

She brought something to my life I hadn’t known was possible. My parents’ marriage was the furthest thing from healthy, so I hadn’t known what a true partner looked like, but Kelly was quite possibly it. She seemed to understand what I needed before I did, instinctively. She had me reconsidering my limits and choices and how I interacted with people. I wasn’t the same man that I was even days ago. My sunshine helped me find myself again, even when she was utterly lost.

I had to let her go. As much as it destroyed me, she had to figure out what she wanted to do with her future. She finally got her career back, and I’d never force her to choose.

A long-distance relationship wasn’t something I saw for myself, but I couldn’t stomach the thought of it being over when she returned home. So she’d return to Chicago with my collar around her neck and her hand around my heart, and I’d hope she wouldn’t neglect either of them.

“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered as she played with one of the buttons on my shirt.

“You know you’ve always got a place to stay with me,” I whispered. She didn’t just have a place to stay; she had a home, but I was trying not to make it harder for her to go back to Chicago. Making her feel guilty wasn’t fair. “The first vacation days you can get, I’ll come to you, or you can come here.”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded, still sounding as devastated as I felt.

“I wish you could stay with me here, but I know your job is important to you.”

She sniffled, clinging to my chest, and my heart swelled with emotion. I knew I’d had a terrible habit of keeping women at a distance because of my emotional issues, but this little firecracker—my sunshine—had split my heart wide open.

Taking a page from her book, I traced a finger down her back. I knew what she’d been spelling on my skin after her first scene, but I’d been too afraid to voice it then. It would change things once I said the words or acknowledged to her that I knew all this time.

Her choppy breathing stilled as I very deliberately traced a large V from one shoulder down to the dip at the center of her back and toward her other shoulder.

Without looking up at me, she traced an E with me against my pec, pausing briefly before we both traced Y, O, and U against each other. Her finger may have well been a brand against my skin.

“I love you, sunshine,” I whispered quietly into her hair, closing my eyes and waiting until she responded.

“I love you too, stud.”

And I knew that whatever happened next, we knew exactly where we stood with each other. I had to trust fate would bring us together again. It had twice already.

KELLY

Chicago

“You sure you’ve got everything you need?” Tom asked as he leaned against the doorframe of my office. He wasn’t officially back from paternity leave yet, but he’d come in to babysit me. I told him to stay home, but I was getting the kid gloves treatment. Nathan had been concerned about the last text message I’d received right before Tom had called, which mentioned our attendance at the play party. Since the short notice of my return kept him from accompanying me back to Chicago, he’d enlisted my friends to keep an eye on me.

Sam and Kristine had met me at the airport a few days ago, helping me get back to my apartment and inviting themselves to stay for dinner. I wanted to be insulted that no one thought I could care for myself, but having them around was nice.

They’d escorted me to and from work yesterday, ensuring I got into my apartment safely before they left, promising to return in the morning. Sam had offered to take me to work this morning, but they’d settled for letting me drive since I still needed to buy groceries for my barren refrigerator. They’d hopped on a bus to their office and told me they’d meet me after work to go shopping. I couldn’t even be left alone at the grocery. I doubted the mystery texter would attack me inside a Kroger, but my friends took their protection duties seriously.

I knew I should have unpacked my suitcases the first night, but they were still against my bedroom wall. It hurt too much to acknowledge I was back home permanently. Last night after getting off the phone with Nathan I’d flopped face-first onto my covers, but I’d been too exhausted to sleep right away. I’d eventually passed out after fruitlessly searching my bedroom for my tablet. I was certain I’d stashed it somewhere safe in my hasty packing before I’d left less than a month ago, but hopefully it’d turn up sooner or later.

“I’m fine, Tom.” The look he gave me certainly didn’t look like he believed me, but I didn’t care. No matter how happy I was to be cleared of the false charges against me, I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be in Boston, cuddled up in bed with Nathan. “You don’t need to hang around here all day. I’m sure you have better things to do. Charley will hate me if I monopolize your time.”

“Charley isn’t going to hate you,” he laughed, rubbing his fingers along the scruff covering his jaw. He wasn’t quite lumberjack Nathan’s level of fuzzy, but he obviously hadn’t had much time for personal grooming with a newborn at home. “I think she was getting tired of me being home constantly. She keeps sending me out on bullshit errands so she can nap without me hovering.”

“Seriously, I’m good. Deacon dropped off my files and updated me on the projects he wants me to work on for the next few weeks.”

“Don’t let him overwhelm you. He was thrilled with your productivity while you were gone, and I’m a little afraid for my job with how he was raving about the work you did for his clients.”

“I’m just happy to have an office to return to,” I sighed, even though it still felt foreign. I preferred my slouchy sweaters and leggings—and the company I’d had over the last several weeks.

“Deacon still feels terrible about things, but at least we got him out of the office.“ He pursed his lips, his face suddenly more serious than I was used to seeing him. “Have you gotten any more of those texts?”

“No, just the three before I left Boston. The phone number doesn’t have a name attached to it that we can find. I don’t even know for sure if it was Trent.”

I hadn’t received any more since the morning after the party, but I’d also thought they’d stopped after the second one. Trent enjoyed drawing out this little game he was playing. Some people he’d been friendly with in the office said he’d left town, but the sensation of being watched every time I left the building was too strong.

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