Page 81 of Infinite
I’m going to tell her. I’m going to win her back. And then I’m going to marry her before she ever has a chance to run away from me again.
* * *
The conversation carried on until her parents excused themselves to go to bed. Now we both stand here, unsure of what to do next.
“I can sleep in the guest room if you want to take my bed,” Ashton offers.
I shake my head. Neither of those options are happening. I’ll be right beside her whichever bed it is. “I don’t think so.”
“You want the guest room?”
“No.”
“Well, are you planning to sleep outside then?”
I take a step closer, not being able to stay away from her. Today, she was magnificent. She handled Aaron and her parents as though she were a new woman. She’s still the same, but what we endured has changed her in some ways. Since she returned from California, I’ve been watching her learn to embrace it, day by day.
I’ve been waiting for her to go back to the way she was after the kidnapping, but she hasn’t. At least, she isn’t backsliding when it gets too hard.
She’s stronger, more resilient, and I need her.
“I’m planning to sleep with you.”
She smiles with a bit of a laugh. “My mother will kill you.”
“I’m pretty sure your parents are aware we’ve had sex.” Ashton seems to be at a loss for words as she takes a step back, but I’m not having it. “Not to mention they love me.”
“They might, but I assure you that they won’t allow this.”
I take another step, smiling as her back brushes the wall and she’s trapped. “Then we don’t get caught.”
“What makes you think I want to have sex with you?” she asks, her eyes blazing with desire.
“What are you thinking about?”
Her blue eyes shimmer with longing. “What are you doing, Quinn?”
I lift my hand, pushing the auburn strands of hair away from her face. “I’m wooing you.”
“Wooing me?”
I’m clearly doing a pretty shitty job of it, but yes. I want to make her feel everything I am. She’s everything to me, and I want this night to be a new beginning for us. We’ve been through so much, and we’ve made a mess of things. It’s time to set it right.
“Yes. I have a lot of things I need to say to you.”
A little part of her seems to deflate. “Before you leave?”
I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You’ve made it clear that you are.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Ashton. I’m staying here, with you, and I’m hoping that you want me to.”
Tears fill her eyes, and it breaks me. “You’re staying?”
“I’m staying.”
“And then what?”
