Page 68 of The Hero + Vegas = No Regrets

“You’re probably right.” He pulls me toward him and I wrap my arms around his waist, my cheek nuzzling against the soft flannel of his shirt. “Have I mentioned I’ve been thinking of moving?” His voice reverberates in his chest.

“I’m not saying you should move,” I say.

“But if we’re going to live together?—”

“Worth, we’ve known each other five minutes.”

“It’s been weeks. And I’m not sure how you’re feeling, but I’m not feeling like this is going to end… anytime soon.”

I smooth my hand up his back. “Same. But I’m in the middle of stuff with my family right now. I don’t want to make life-changing decisions just yet.”

He growls and I look up, trying to take in his expression. Is he pissed? He looks frustrated.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“Don’t,” he says. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m annoyed with myself. I never should have let you marry me. I knew you were vulnerable and I went along with it anyway.”

“Worth,” I say, taking a step back. “You didn’t make that decision. I did.”

“But I knew you were going through something.”

“We were basically strangers. You can’t take on everything everyone else is going through and be responsible for it. I’m an adult woman, and I married you because I wanted to do something wild. I wanted not to care for a night, to make a mockery of the institution that my parents had before me.” I shake my head. “I don’t know if I was even thinking much at all. But I do know it wasmydecision to marry you.”

He takes me in, listening. “It’s hard,” he says. “I often feel… responsible for…”

“Everyone?” I suggest. “Like you’re everyone’s caretaker, father, benefactor, protector.”

“Maybe,” he says, and I link my fingers through his.

“But who’s looking after you?” I ask. “You’re busy running around, making sure everyone else is taken care of. Who’s taking care of you? Who’s meeting your needs?”

“I do okay,” he says.

I raise my eyebrows. Doing okay isn’t enough.

“Marrying you is one of the first times I felt like I wanted something for me,” he says. “I knew it could potentially cause problems with the guys. I knew I might piss off Efa and Jules, and I might even permanently damage my relationship with Fisher or Leo. And I knew when my sisters found out, they’d be pissed. But I did it anyway. You had your reasons for marrying me—but I wasn’t trying to make a mockery of the institution of marriage. Not at all.”

I swallow. “I’ve hurt your feelings,” I say. “I don’t want to lie to you. And I didn’t know you then. I felt something between us. But honestly, I wasn’t thinking about being with you forever. I wasn’t thinking past the next hour. Things are… different now.”

He nods, and I slide my hand up his chest, but I don’t say more. I want to hear what he’s thinking.

“I understand. My feelings aren’t hurt. But it was different for me. The moment I saw you, it was like a beacon went off inme. I wanted more immediately. If I’m honest, it frightened me a little. I’ve never felt that way. And then when I saw you in Vegas again, I longed for something to bind us together. The shots. The conversation. The ceremony.”

His eyes flit across my face, one way, then the other. “I still feel like that. Like you’reitfor me. Like I want to dive in deeper every time I see you. I know we’re not going at the same pace. I know you’re going through things, so I’m hanging back, happy to be ready whenyou’reready. But, Sophia, I need you to know that I’m ready whenever you are. I’m here. Waiting. If you don’t want to move into the brownstone because of what you’ve got going on with your dad, that’s fine. If you don’t want to move into the brownstone because it’s my place and you’d feel like a roommate, then let’s find somewhere else together, because I’m right there next to you, ready. Not because I want to be your benefactor or caretaker. But because I want to be your husband. I want you.”

I don’t know what to say. I’ve never felt so adored by a guy. And it’s not that I don’t feel the same, but I’m holding back. I can’t help it. When I’m with Worth, I want to stay exactly like this, with him. I can’t imagine my life any other way. It’s only when I take a step back, when I see the other parts of my life moving in different directions, that I doubt what we have. I’d like to fast-forward to the future to see how things shift. Will I catch up to Worth? Will I be able to set aside everything other than him, for him? I don’t have the answers to those questions. But I owe it to him to be honest.

“I’m not ready to move in with you because of what I’ve got going on back in Cincinnati.” I can’t even bring myself to say the word “dad” or “father” right now. “And honestly, I don’t know when I’m going to be ready.”

“That’s okay,” he says. “I’m a patient man.”

Something in my stomach stirs like the silt at the bottom of a clear river, making everything murky. I don’t know if I’mevergoing to be ready. Worth’s standing in front of me, offering me everything I could ever want in a man. And I’m still not ready. What’s it going to take?

“Promise me one thing, Worth?” I ask.

“Anything,” he replies.

“That if waiting becomes too much, you walk away. You don’t stay to help me or support me. You go.”

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