Page 108 of Sugar Coated Secrets

Her tongue licks mine, and she lets out a small whimper.

“Her babies that look like both of us vacationing in our villa in Italy. Replacing bad memories with the ones with us. If she has a nightmare, I’m there holding her, whispering in her ear that I will fight for her. Every fucking day if she’ll let me.”

“You’re crazy.”

I smile, taking her wrists and feeling her pulse points. “Besides, I made a promise to an old woman on her deathbed when she looked at me like I was the sun because I put a smile on her granddaughter’s face. I promised her that I would love her granddaughter, and I do. I fucking love you more than anything in my life. Call it an obsession. Call it whatever you want, but I loved you the moment I smelled your skin for the first time. Tasted what you made with your hands. I fell in love with everypart of you, and I’ll do anything to make it right. I know more than you think, Dulce. But the truth is…I came back for you.”

“That doesn’t make sense. You’ve been gone for four years.”

“It does if you let it. If you can remember the little things from the past.”

“Remember what?” she says, confused.

“Let’s just say you weren’t crazy if you ever thought I wasn’t watching you when we were in school.”

Katie walks in and looks back and forth between us. “Are you two good now?”

“I’m not going to kidnap her?” I say sarcastically.

“I said I was going to look out for her and that meant from you too,” she confesses.

I knew she would tell her sooner or later.

Dulce glances at Katie. “What are you talking about, Katie?”

“He told me to watch over you,” Katie admits. “Basically, call him to tell him where you were and what you were doing at all times of the day,” Katie confesses. “Everything I told you was true about my past except who my ex-boyfriend was. It was Trent. Trent’s the asshole who broke my heart. He cheated on me with Summer. When Ford wanted to make sure you were okay, he knew I hated Trent and asked me for a favor after that day in the garage when you took me with you to see Trent.”

I pull out the wrapper she gave me that day four years ago from my back pocket. Dulce gasps when she sees it covering her mouth.

“I’ve always kept it,” I profess, looking at it. “It’s my good luck charm. I never race without it.”

“Is that why you ordered the cookies every week since then?” Dulce asks curiously, staring at the paper. “Under a company name.”

“That’s part of it.”

You’re my sweet obsession, and I don’t plan on letting go. Ever.

34

DULCE

Flashes of his face go off behind my eyes like a camera snapping pictures. White light. Hot breaths. His hair through my fingers. Heat between my thighs. Moans. His voice.

“You’re perfect.”

It’s what he said to me the night in the hotel before it turned into a nightmare when I took a bath in the infinity tub.

I back away. “Ford?”

“Yeah?”

“The other night….”

“I’ll be out front,” Katie says, taking it as her cue to leave the kitchen.

“When we had sex,” I finish for her after the door swings shut.

“We didn’t use a condom.”

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