Page 32 of Not Quite Perfect

“You wouldn’t have,” I said, even as I wondered if that was the truth. I liked to believe I wouldn’t have judged David for having been married once before, but a little part of me wondered if I would have been less excited about the prospect of being in a relationship with him.

Almost as if he could read my mind, he said, “Despite your mom’s many marriages, you still believe there’s a happily-ever-after out there waiting for you. I was scared you’d think I couldn’t give you that, when I’d already failed at marriage once before.”

My stomach lurched. Despite my earlier misgivings, sitting there with David’s thumb gently stroking my skin—with his voice and his words digging deep into my heart—I couldn’t deny what my heart was telling me. No matter how shocked I’d been earlier, Ididwant to build a future with him.

“Idowant a happily-ever-after,” I confirmed.

David’s shoulders drooped. “I see.”

From the dejected look on his face, I knew he didn’t. “I don’t think you do.”

His brows folded down into a deep vee. “I don’t?”

“I don’t care about your past, David. I only care about your future … and whether I’m in it.”

He leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. “You aren’tinmy future, Victoria. Youaremy future.”

Fourteen

David

I walkedVictoria to her car, feeling the weight of four sets of Witherspoon eyeballs on my back. When I opened the door, she quietly slid inside the dark interior.

With her head tilted back to look up at me, she searched my expression with calm eyes. “No more secrets, okay?”

I braced my hands on the roof and dropped forward. “No more secrets.”

She leaned forward to glance out the windshield and the curtain at the front of the house twitched closed. “No secrets between us, at least,” she said, dragging her eyes back to mine. “I don’t think I’m ready to deal with our parents yet.”

I understood her reticence. I’d seen the way her mother had glowered at me when she’d thought I was up to no good with Victoria. And then again when she’d found out I’d been married before. To put it mildly, Roni was not my biggest fan.

And as long as that remained true, I worried how that might color her daughter’s feelings toward me … what she might say to try and turn Victoria against me.

I knew I’d fucked up by not being honest about my past, and I’d do everything in my power to make up for my failings. But I couldn’t handle it if after everything Victoria and I had been through she called things off because her mom didn’t like me.

In a fit of panic, I leaned into the car and pressed my mouth to Victoria’s, tugging on her bottom lip as I came away. I’d meant for the kiss to be a quick reminder of how good it was between us, but my heart tripped when her eyes flared in the faint glow of the dash, and I dove back in for more.

She leaned into me, and my hand found her cheek, turning her face so I could take the kiss deeper. I licked a path over the seam of her lips and they parted, like a parched flower seeking the soft flutter of rain against its petals. Our tongues met and twined in a slow, sensual dance.

I lost myself in the feel of her, in the taste of her, in the way she made me feel.

A door slammed, and I pulled back like a guilty schoolboy who’d just been caught making out with his girlfriend in front of her house after curfew. Which, as Alex glared at me as he made his way to his SUV, I realized I very nearly was.

He did that thing again where his fingers formed a vee and he swung them between his eyes and me.

I bit back a snide comment. Nodding instead. Message received.

Victoria chuckled lightly and dropped her visor down, taming her hair back into place. When she was set to rights, she flipped it back up and snapped her seatbelt into place. “Call me later?”

I felt my annoyance at her brother’s interruption slip away as I nodded and took a step back. “Of course.”

She smiled, turned the ignition, and threw the car into reverse. Backing slowly down the drive, she paused when she reached the road. With the glare of her headlights shining directly at me, I couldn’t make out her face, but I liked to think she was smiling as she drove away.

I was still standing there, watching her car roll slowly down the road, when Theo reached my side. “Do you love her?”

With my eyes glued to the empty street, I nodded. “I do.” I turned to find him staring after her too.

He rocked back on his heels, but stayed quiet for a few long moments. Eventually, his eyes found mine. “It’s not going to be easy.”

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