Page 139 of Eternally Yours
He nods. “I wanted to tell you, and I thought today would be a good time to do it. Since it’s our anniversary, and it would bring a bit of good in our day.” He clears his throat. “But I didn’t want you to come back only for that reason...” And now I understand his sad expression from earlier. He thinks the only reason I came back is because I found out the truth.
I place my hand delicately on his forearm and wait for him to look up at me. He turns to my hand first, where my rings shine brightly with the lighting overhead, then drags his gaze up to my eyes.
“I was coming back to you, Silas,” I whisper. “I had been thinking about it sinceyou sent the letter, but I still wasn’t sure how to make it all work. I was afraid. But the girls talked a lot of sense into me in the last week.” My thumb draws little circles over his soft skin.God, I’ve missed touching him.
“Last night I decided that I didn’t care if you were having a child with someone else. I just wanted to be with you, and wanted to be by your side as you went through all this change. Like I vowed to do on our wedding day.” I offer him a tender smile before continuing.
“It was unfair of me to run off like I did and move out. I was letting my emotions drive me instead of sitting down and letting everything sink in. I didn’t think about how this whole situation was affecting you too, and I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for putting us through that pain.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Minnie. You had every right to leave. If I found out you were pregnant with another man’s baby, I would probably freak out and leave, too,” he interrupts, placing his left hand over mine, our rings rubbing against each other.
“Still, it shouldn’t have taken me so long to realize that I still wanted to go through this with you. The worst part is, I never once thought about getting a divorce. Even when people mentioned it, it was always out of the question for me. That should have been my first sign that I wasn’t going anywhere.” I smile again.
“And then yesterday I stayed up all night wanting to call you. I almost did a couple of times because I hated that we weren’t spending our anniversary together. Yes, the news made me move faster. But if I’m being honest, I would have probably cracked at some point during the day and came to you.”
“Yeah, you weren’t alone on that. It’s why I took Milo for an impromptu walk. I was talking myself out of driving down to see you. Well actually, make that his third impromptu walk.” He chuckles, and a slight blush forms over his cheekbones from embarrassment.
I bring my right hand up to his left cheek and caress the pink spot with my thumb. The gesture makes my body turn slightly his way, our left hands still resting above his right forearm.
We’re dangerously close now, I can smell his minty breath fanning out over my lips. I look down at his, then back up to his beautiful emeralds that seem to be getting brighter by the second.
“I missed you, Silas. I’m so sorry.”
He moves so quickly that I barely have time to register what’s happening. His hand and arm untangle from mine as he grips both sides of my face and crashes his lips to mine.
The kiss startles me for a second, but I quickly recover and melt into him, opening up to give him access inside my mouth. Our tongues twirl around, getting reacquainted with one another. Two lost souls finally finding their way back together.
“Stop apologizing, Minnie. I’m the one who’s sorry. If I had just stayed in my room that night like I wanted instead of letting everyone talk me into going out, none of this would have happened,” he says against my lips.
I bring my hand to his nape and push our lips back together. “No, stop. No more talking about that night. It’s over. It’s all over, Silas.”
Then we continue our dance until we’re both breathless and need to come up for air. But we don’t pull apart any farther, our foreheads resting against each other while we pant, then giggle.
He pushes my hair behind my ear, looking deep into my eyes. Searching. “So where do we go from here?” he whispers quietly.
I was waiting for this question, and I don’t know how he’ll feel about my decision. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I think Morgan was right about us needing to take our time.
I give him a sad smile before saying, “Please don’t be upset...”
He sighs, eyes closing and body sagging in defeat. “You’re not moving back in, are you?”
I pull away but take his hands in mine. “No, not yet at least. I want us to be together, Silas. I love you. I just think we should take our time coming back together and not jump right back in. The rollercoaster of emotions I went through since the beginning of the year has been extremely hard on me, and I nearly lost myself through it all. I can’t go through that again.” My eyes mist over at the thought, but I force those feelings away.It’s finally over.
“Right now, yes, our situation is technically fixed. But to the rest of the world, it isn’t. When news comes out of what she did, it’s going to be chaos again, and I can’t deal with that all over. I hope you understand?” I plead. “I still want to see you and talk to you. I want us to spend time together. I just think staying in separate places until everything dies down and we are one hundred percent free of drama would be for the best.”
He opens his eyes and nods reluctantly. “You’re right. I won’t hide that it sucks because I miss having you here. But I understand what you’re saying, and I’ll wait until you’re ready to come home.”
“Thank you,” I whisper and cup his cheek with a soft smile. “Don’t look so sad, it will be like when we first started dating. With the late-night phone calls and thedates, the excitement we felt when we finally got to see each other. I know it won’t be easy, and saying goodnight will suck, but I really think it will bring a lot of good into our relationship and make us that much stronger.”
“I know.” He sighs. “So does that mean I get to woo you all over again?” He smirks, which makes me giggle.This man always loved finding creative ways to woo me.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that.” I lean in to kiss his lips once. “Now, weren’t you making me something to eat?”
“Shit, right!” He jumps off his stool and rounds the island, heading to the stove. But stops midway and comes back to me, kissing me once more before returning to his destination.
Chapter thirty-nine
Silas
