Page 104 of Caught Up

“You bought the building,” she said in disbelief.

“I’d buy the whole goddamn block if you asked me to.”

She snuggled closer. “I don’t think that will be necessary, but I’ll let you know.” We were quiet for a minute, relearning how to breathe, before she spoke again. “I’m still mad at you.”

“I know. I’m mad at you, too. But I don’t want to be.”

She said nothing.

I tightened my arms around her. “Do you want to be mad at me?”

“No,” she finally huffed. “I think it’ll take a couple more hate fucks for me to get over it though.”

“I could never hate you, Lo,” I said.

She sighed. “I could never hate you either. But this has to be the end of it, Nic. I can forgive you for everything you’ve already done, but I can’t be with you if you continue to do bad things.”

“I’m done,” I promised.

She relaxed back into me. “When is the next family dinner?”

Hope flared in my chest. “You’re serious about wanting to come?”

“Are you kidding?” She sat up enough to look at me. “I might try to find some way to film it.”

“It’ll be a few weeks,” I said, relaying the plan Josh and I had come up with, watching the smile spread over her face and wondering if maybe Lauren had a little more darkness inside her than I’d realized.

“I wouldn’t miss that for the world,” she said.

“So we’re doing this?” I asked. “Really trying to see if we can make this work?”

She bit her lip, looking scared, but finally nodded. “Slowly. Because trust takes time to rebuild.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I said.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, too,” she told me. “I just got so mad and so scared that you were breaking my heart again.”

I pulled her to me, my pulse picking up. “Does that mean I have your heart?”

She nodded, cheek rubbing over my chest. “Be careful with it this time.”

“I’ll guard it with my fucking life.”

32

Lauren

“Are you nervous?” I askedNic as we drove up his parents’ driveway.

He nodded, downshifting. “Of course.”

Two weeks had passed since that night in my apartment. We’d spent almost every day together since, rebuilding the trust between us, talking through all the things we’d left unsaid, splitting our time between my place and setting up his new one just a block away from Velvet. Almost no one knew about his acquisition, because he’d threatened McKinney to keep his mouth shut and everyone else in on it knew not to talk. Secrecy was the bedrock of Nic’s plan tonight. If his father had time with the news, he’d have time to scheme, time to figure out some way to trap Nic into staying.

“Areyounervous?” Nic asked.

I laughed, stiffly, aha ha hathat sounded as off as I felt. “Not nervous. Terrified.”

“You’ll be okay,” he said.

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