Page 67 of Always

Skye knows.

“I see.”

“I was tempted,” she says. “I went for a drink with her and was ready to hear the whole story, but then I remembered something you said to me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You said I could take my time. That we could talk when I was ready. You didn’t push me, Braden, and I love you for it. I owe you that same respect and courtesy.”

I smile as relief courses through me. “That must have been difficult for you.”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

I cup her cheek and kiss the tip of her nose. “You deserve a reward.”

“I think so.”

I kiss her nose again. “You’re an amazing woman, Skye. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“Woman!” I rake my fingers through my hair. “Don’t you know by now what you do to me?”

“Yes, I know. You do the same thing to me. You have since I first laid eyes on you. No one can deny your obvious physical appeal, but it was your demeanor that got to me. Your presence. You fill every room you’re in, Braden. Nothing scares you. Nothing.”

“Only one thing,” I say, cupping her cheek once more.

“What’s that?”

“The thought of my life without you.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

She opens her mouth, but only a soft sigh emerges.

I just made a huge admission to her, but I don’t want her to respond yet.

I place two fingers over her lips. “Don’t say anything. I know I ended our relationship, and I did so for good reason. But being without you…” I shake my head. “It’s not something I want to experience again.”

“You don’t have to,” she says.

“I didn’t think this would happen to me.” I sigh. “We started out the same way I always start out. I saw something I wanted, and I went after it. But you got inside me somehow. And then, right before that last trip to New York, you broke me. Your tears, your sadness. I would have committed murder to keep that sadness away from you forever.”

She smiles. “You don’t have to become a criminal for me. I took care of it myself. Or I at least began the journey.”

“I’ve said it before. You’re an amazing woman, Skye.”

“And you’re an amazing man. What you’ve accomplished is beyond the scope of what most people can even imagine. You pulled yourself up by your bootstraps, without any help, and you made it to the top. You’re incredible.”

I tense a bit. Without any help. So much I need to come clean about.

But not now.

Not yet.

Not when my cock is hard and all I can think about is getting inside the woman I love.

I soften within a few seconds, thumbing her lower lip. “God, this mouth.”

---