Page 63 of Rock

“There are so many words,” he responded, “but I can’t put them into coherent sentences.”

She giggled. “Okay, maybe that.”

He eventually eased out. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

She watched as he padded from the room, breathing heavily. Could she really have this?

A minute later, he returned with a wet washcloth. He spread her legs gently and cleaned her up.

She shivered from the sweat on her skin and the cool air in the room.

He climbed into bed, pulled the covers over them, and dropped onto his back.

She snuggled into his side, wrapping her leg over his, hugging his chest. “Tell me about your heart,” she whispered as she played with the hair on his pecs.

“They put a stent in. My heart is probably in better shape than ever because Remi has been forcing healthy food down my throat and making sure I exercise.”

“Good. I’ll do the same.”

They lay there in comfortable silence for a long time while Lyla’s mind ran in ten-thousand directions. She pictured her condo in Florida. It meant nothing to her. It was just a place to sleep. Did her parents really need her close by? No. She’d only moved there because why not?

But this was happening so fast. “Are we being reckless?” she asked softly.

He tipped his head down to look at her. “No.” He didn’t hesitate.

She rose onto her elbow to face him more directly. “We barely know each other. It’s been so long. We’re jumping in so fast.” The truth was she was scared out of her mind. If she lost him again…

“We know everything that matters, Baby girl. We know we still have the same chemistry we had back then. We know how we feel when we’re together. We’ll figure the rest out one day at a time. We’ll learn each other’s likes and dislikes as we go along.”

She swallowed. He had an answer for everything. “You’re so confident. Maybe we should take a step back and not rush.”

He cupped her face. “Baby girl, if you think I’ll let you walk out that door when I just got you back, you are sadly mistaken.”

His intensity was undeniable. He was serious. He wasn’t going to let her go. That meant a lot to her.

He brought her face closer to his. “I mean it, Lyla. I’ll cuff you to the bed if I think you might slip away in the night.”

She drew in a deep breath. “I won’t slip away.” She dropped back down alongside him, snuggling into his warmth, wrapped so tightly to his side that there wasn’t a millimeter of space between them anywhere.

He stroked her arm up and down while they lay in the peaceful quiet for a while. Finally, he spoke. “Will you tell me why you never came back?”

She inhaled slowly and nodded. Over the past day, she’d begun to wonder if the information she’d had about him back then hadn’t been accurate. She’d never questioned it before, but something felt off about it now.

“Were you seeing other women at that time?” she asked.

He flinched and then extricated himself from beneath her, rolled her to her back, and hovered over her. “Seeing other women?”

She nodded, gritting her teeth.

He searched her face. “Lyla, I didn’t go on a single date with a single woman from the day I met you until long after you left.”

She gasped. “Seriously?” Her voice squeaked. Was he telling the truth?

He frowned. “You stole my heart the first time I saw you. I had no interest in anyone else. It was all I could do to keep my fucking jeans on every time I came to your house. I was a nutjob. While my friends were off sowing their fucking wild oats, I was pining for a girl who wasn’t old enough to touch. Where the hell is this coming from?”

She swallowed. “Jackson… He said…”

Rock’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling, his body went rigid, and then he groaned. He flattened one hand on his face and stroked it down to his beard. “Fuck.” He sat upright, rubbing his chin. “Fuck.”

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