Page 54 of Saving Shepperd

He looked down at me with one brow raised high. “I think I was the one who found you, no?”

“Oh, no way. I saw you first.”

“No way.”

“Seriously. I watched you do squats one day for thirty minutes, and you never even knew I was there.” I rolled my eyes back and fluttered my eyelashes. “It was a glorious show, let me tell you.”

Law pulled me into his arms again as we both laughed.

Undoubtedly, I had laughed more in the past few weeks with this man in my life than I had in multiple previous years combined. It felt so good. Laughing with Law felt like I had sunshine sparkling in my veins. He made me feel like I effervesced from deep inside, and it was a heady feeling. I wanted more and more days like these.

Was I falling in love with him? Was it too soon?

When we were little girls, our mom would tell us stories about meeting a man, falling in love, and one day, getting married. Since it was the highlight of her life, she made it sound like it was all a girl could hope for. Even as a child, I was skeptical. But she painted such a magical picture, we would listen with starry eyes and bated breath.

She insisted she fell in love with our dad in a matter of days, and if asked, he would say the same. So that became exactly what we all wanted. After I was molested, though, I completely lost faith in humanity, and any dream of getting out from under that dark, oppressive experience seemed hopeless. In my bitter world, there was no way in hell the end of the rainbow would be at a man’s feet.

Growing serious, I stared into Law’s deep, rich chocolate eyes. He stilled as the words danced on the tip of my tongue. No way would I say them first and drive him screaming from the room. No way…

“You’ve been the greatest gift the universe has ever given me,” I told him instead. And I meant every word of that statement. It just seemed like the safer of the two overwhelming feelings to share.

“Thank you, darling. That’s a lovely thing to say.”

So I expounded on the thought. He deserved to hear the effect he was having on me. Normally, I wasn’t that brave. If I had strong emotions, especially positive ones, I kept them to myself. If I didn’t put them out into the world, they couldn’t be taken away or destroyed.

“I think I had given up hope that I’d ever be happy. It just didn’t seem like it was in the cards for me, you know? One by one, my sisters have met their forever guys. In the meantime, I’ve been sitting on the sidelines convinced it would never be my turn at love. Or happiness.”

Oh shit.

Maybe I shouldn’t have used the L-word in any context.At least I addedhappinesson there at the end. A quick scan of his reaction showed no signs of discomfort or panic.

He slowly closed the space between us and kissed me. Like every other time, he took my breath away. He had soft but demanding full lips. The kind of lips women look at with envy. The kind of lips you daydream about feeling all over your body.

When we parted, he gave me the slow, sexy smile I loved the most. “And we’re just getting started, baby.”

My brain stalled in the fog of bliss he created. I just stared at him, unable to respond intelligently.

“Now let’s get ready or we’re going to be late. Want to pregame a little bit? I’ll open a bottle of wine or something.”

Damn. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Perfect way to take the edge off the nerves that skyrocketed again the moment he reminded me of our afternoon adventure ahead.

“That sounds perfect.” I smiled over my shoulder as I turned back toward the closet. Law walked off to the kitchen, and I rummaged through my pitiful clothes and tried to put an outfit together.

Ninety minutes and two glasses of wine later, I looked at myself in the mirror and felt pretty good about the results. I ended up going with a denim-on-denim look, some chunky heels that brought me a little closer to Law’s height, and fresh make-up that had my skin all dewy and glowing. I looked and felt fuller of life than I had in years and took a moment to absorb it all.

“Fuck me, woman,” Law groaned low when I entered the kitchen. He was ready long ago and busied himself on his laptop while perched at the island. “Maybe we should stay in,” he said in that husky voice that made goosebumps pop out all over my body.

He pulled me between his spread thighs as he sat on the counter stool, and I clasped my hands behind his neck.

“I don’t think I can take you out in public like this,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to end up in a fistfight.”

Heat crawled up my chest and neck while I burrowed my face into his chest. He had a way of making me feel so good yet so awkward at the same time. I wanted to be fierce and confident like everyone thought I was, even though I knew the truth was so much different.

I had become a master at covering all the fucked-up things inside with a brave, no-nonsense mask on the outside. Whether people were intimidated because they thought I was truly that confident or put off because I seemed that brash, it didn’t matter. It just meant I didn’t have to engage with people I didn’t know well. It was my way of mediating risk. If I didn’t get close to anyone, I couldn’t be hurt.

Law eventually put some space between our bodies. “Ready to go?”

“Mmmm, I was warming up to the idea of staying home,” I said through a smile. A girl could dream, right?

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