Page 26 of Tangled Hearts

“Hold on.” I pick up my glass of wine and take a healthy swallow. I don’t want Dylan and me to be over. He pours more wine into my glass for me. “All right, I’m ready.” I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for whatever comes out of his mouth.

“I knit.” He sets the bottle of wine down.

“Like yarn, with the needle things?”

“Yes.”

“Are you knitting ski masks so they can’t be traced because you go out at night and commit crimes all around the city?”

“No?” His brows furrow together.

“Okay, then what?”

“That’s it.”

“What do you mean, that’s it? You said you were confessing something.”

“I did. That I knit.”

“What are you knitting?” I must not be getting it.

“The first thing I made was a baby hat and then a blanket.”

"That is freaking adorable, but I think I'm missing something here, Dylan, and I want you to spit it out because it's kind of freaking me out, and I don't want to freak out." I start to ramble. "I really like you. Like, Ireallylike you, and if you're some weirdo freak, just say it already!" I shout that last part. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

“There’s nothing else, Natalie. Just the knitting part. It’s the reason I’m leaving law behind.” This is the first time Dylan looks nervous.

“Can I see it?” I ask.

“My knitting?”

“Yes, I want to see it.”

“Okay,” he agrees. “I’ll be right back.” I pick up my wine and take another sip. He confessed to knitting. A minute later, he returns with a pink blanket and tiny hat.

“It’s pink.” I smile while picking up the hat. “Did you do pink because you want a daughter one day?”

“Oh, I never asked myself why I did pink, but when I do think about having children, a baby girl comes to mind first.”

If someone told me that I would find knitting hot a few months ago, I would have called them crazy. Yet imagining Dylan making these delicate things with his big hands makes him even more attractive to me. I’m not sure how that’s even possible, but here we are.

“I think it’s incredible that you found something you love to do. I must say that your skills are pretty impressive, but I’m not shocked. You seem to excel in anything you do.”

Dylan leans down and takes possession of my mouth. My eyes fall closed, and our kisses quickly turn heated. We break away when a timer starts to go off.

“Shit!” Dylan rushes back over to the oven to get the loaf of bread he was preparing. I smile as I watch him. This feels so natural with him. The second I crossed over the threshold of his home, I felt safe and more relaxed. The tension of my shitty day is fading away.

If I got to come home to this every day, my job might be more bearable. I could see this. The worry and doubts I've been having about going all the way with Dylan slip away. I don't want to hold back anymore. I think it's time to take the next step. I know my body is begging for it, and I know he'll make my first time perfect, but I should probably let him in on that small detail.

“I have a confession I need to make,” I tell Dylan when he sets the plate down in front of me.

“Should I be worried?” He pours a little more wine into both of our glasses before sitting down with me.

“I don’t think so. Maybe. Shit.”

“I promise you, Natalie, nothing you say is going to scare me away.”

“I think you should know before we go further with whatever you want to call this.”

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