Page 41 of More Than Words
Maybe it was the storm.Or the wine.
Maybe it was the way we were finally opening up and getting to know each other properly.
But right at that moment, cross-legged on my living room floor with the storm raging just outside the window and the world shrinking between us, I wanted to tell him everything.
Things I’d never told anyone before.
The way I knew how it felt to be someone’s afterthought.
How I’d also spent way too long in a marriage that I knew wasn’t right.And I’d spent far too long convincing myself I didn’t need anyone in my life.That I would be perfectly fine on my own.
How terrifying it was to realize that maybe Ididwant more.
And maybe the man I wanted it with sat right in front of me.
I didn’t say any of that.
Instead, I readjusted my hand in his and squeezed a little.
He squeezed back.
“Do you ever regret it?”I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Which part?”
My lips curled up in a small smile.“Any of it?”
“No.”His answer was immediate.“It’s true we should never have been married,” he continued.“But if I hadn’t married Polly, I wouldn’t have Quinn, and she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
The way he said it with such solid certainty felt right.
“You?”
I’d been expecting the question, but it still stopped me.After a second, I shook my head.“I used to,” I answered honestly.“There was a time when I was so mad at myself for falling for Ken’s charm and losing everything to a man who never could have loved me the way I loved him.”
“And now?”
“And now, I know that if things hadn’t happened just the way they did, I wouldn’t be right here, right now.”
Ethan’s smile made my stomach flip, and when he scooted closer to me until our knees touched, my breath caught in my throat.
His eyes darkened in the soft light and for a second, I thought he might say something else.Instead, he leaned in.
When his mouth found mine, there was no hesitation.
Only heat.
And the desperate, terrifying, beautiful feeling of falling.
ChapterTwelve
Ethan
The old windows rattled from the icy winds outside.The snow was piling up, blurring the world beyond Delaney’s tiny apartment.
But all I could see was her.
Delaney was the only thing that mattered.
