Page 112 of Fight for Me
I hoped that would be her reaction, but I never know. I put the laptop aside and make my way over to the bed. “Does it help when I tell you how much I love you? Or how beautiful you are? Or how much I want to kiss you?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“What about if I were to do it now?”
“Do what?” Her voice is soft and there’s a slight tremble in it.
“Kiss you.”
Sydney’s gaze turns molten, and she smiles. “Is that what you want?”
If she only knew. “More than anything.”
I hesitate, not because I don’t want to kiss her—hell, I want nothing more—but because I want her to choose me. I want Sydney to see that, while I’m the same guy I was when I showed up here months ago, there’s something different inside me. Maybe it’s because I’ve found some way to let go of the past.
My father was a bastard, there’s nothing that will ever change that, but I don’t have to be him.
I can be my own man. One who’s worthy of the woman before him. I have a lot of healing left to do, and I’d be a liar if I didn’t think there would be times I’d doubt myself, but for her, I’ll push.
I’ll fight to be the man she believes me to be.
“Sydney,” I say as our lips brush.
I can feel her breath mingling with mine. “Yes?”
“Tell me you forgive me.”
Her hand lifts to my cheek, and she rubs her thumb softly against the scruff on my face. “I have loved you my entire life, Declan Arrowood. I never stopped, and I don’t know if I ever could.”
I kiss her tenderly and then pull back. “But do you forgive me?”
When Sydney looks at me, the vulnerability in her expression would drop me to my knees if I weren’t already sitting. I see the fear swirling in those blue eyes. “Will you leave me again?”
“No.”
She sighs.
Unable to resist the sweet sound, I kiss her again.
I kiss her as though the world around us can crumble because I have everything I need right here. Sydney is what I fought for through all the hell I’ve endured in my life. She’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and God help me, but I want her.
Her hands snake around my neck, and she pulls me tighter. I smooth my thumbs against the soft feel of her skin and send another round of thanks to whoever answered my prayers.
“Uncle Declan! Aunt Sydney!”
I freeze, and Sydney pulls back. “What is it with my family and their timing?” I say quietly, but Syd laughs.
“Hey, Hadley,” Sydney says around me to my niece.
“Mommy and Daddy are parking the car, and they said I should come in here and make sure you were okay. Are you okay? Was Uncle Declan and you kissing?”
I turn to her and shake my head. “What do you know about kissing?”
“Umm, I’m eight years old. I’m almost a teenager, and … I watch YouTube.”
Great. “You should be playing with dolls.”
“Well, she could be riding a horse, but her uncle hasn’t gotten it for her yet,” Sydney adds on.
