Page 73 of I Found You
Okay. Maybe I didn’t need his advice if that was all he had for me.
“That’s it. Go talk to her?”
“Start with an apology. That’s my advice.”
Dad stood from the table and gripped my shoulder on the way past. He paused. “She’d want you to be happy, Wyatt. And I’ve never seen you happier than you’ve been since she’s come into your life.”
My brow furrowed. “Maeve?” I asked.
“Your mother.” He squeezed my shoulder again. “Now, go get your girl.”
He was right. I needed to get my girl back. But I couldn’t just call her and talk to her. She deserved more than that. I could just show up, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t let me in right now.
* * *
My house was spotless from top to bottom. After barelysleeping last night after I got back from my dad’s, I tried to sleep in this morning, but I was too fidgety. I was up with the sun, but unfortunately, I still had to wait hours before I could start to win Maeve back. The impatience drove me to clean. My kitchen, my bathroom, the floors, the windows. The curtains were washed. Hell, the baseboards were dusted. My house had never looked this clean since the day I moved in. Yet, I couldn’t wait to leave.
As soon as I could, I hopped in my truck, and after making two stops along the way, I showed up at Maeve’s house at eight thirty in the morning. The front of the house had been finished a few weeks back. The porch was sanded and painted a light blue. The same color was applied to the shutters. The siding had been pressure washed and repainted with a fresh white coat. Weeds were no longer coming up from the cracks in her walkway. It still needed to be replaced, but that would have to wait for another day.
Curtains swished in the front window, and before I had even made it halfway down the walkway, the front door opened.
My heart stopped at the sight of her. Christ, I’d missed her. Even with a sweatshirt and flannel pajama pants, she was easily the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.
Nearly tripping over my own feet, I made my way up to her. Where was my confident swagger and trademark smirk now? I couldn’t remember a time when I had been so nervous just to talk to a woman before. Maybe the fact that she had yet to say anything to me was messing with my head. Not that I expected her to bound into my arms and wrap her legs around me, but it would have been nice.
“Hey,” I said. Real smooth-talker here. “I, uh, this is for you,” I said as I handed her the coffee and the bag with the pastriesin it. I had bought two, hoping maybe she would want to share one with me. She looked at me but didn’t say anything and didn’t make any attempt to take the offerings. “I’m sorry, Maeve. I fucked up, and I’m so sorry.”
Without a word, she reached for the bag and the coffee and then closed the door.
“Maeve. I’m sorry. I never should have said those things to you. You didn’t deserve that. Fuck, I feel awful.” I rested my head against the closed door as I talked to it. I wasn’t positive, but I swore I heard her rest against the door on the other side. It was probably my imagination.
After a few minutes of pleading with her to open the door so we could talk face-to-face, I gave up. Time to move on to the next phase.
Hauling all of the equipment and supplies from my truck to the backyard, I set up a staging area and got to work on the back deck. Reid and I had started it earlier, but after his breakup with Kayleigh, he hadn’t really been in the headspace to be helping others with their projects. And Maeve and I got into our own routine. House renovations started to fall to the wayside. But I wasn’t going to let her down. Even if she never talked to me again, which I hope to God wasn’t how this was going to play out, I was finishing what I started.
About an hour later, Maeve came out. She was freshly showered, wearing a cream-colored sweater over a skirt with a pair of black tights clinging to her legs. I was itching to reach toward her. Touch her, hold her. But I held back. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her away if I came on too strong. We’d already been there once.
Wordlessly, she handed me a glass of water and then pulled one of the pastries, the raspberry danish, from the bag andgave the bag back to me with the cheese danish in.
I thanked her and tried to catch her eyes, but she wasn’t looking at me.
“Why are you here, Wyatt? You don’t need to finish doing home projects for your ex-girlfriend.”
“We didn’t break up. We had a fight, Maeve. We might still be fighting. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you something fierce. This is only the first fight. We’ll have more, and that’s a fact. Do you want to know how I know that’s a fact? Because I’m never giving you up. Never walking away. We can’t go through life without some battles along the way, but that doesn’t mean I’m out. Not ever. You’re mine, and I’m yours. I found you, and I’m not letting you go. Finders keepers. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
31
Maeve
“Jane’s not here, Wyatt. She’s not coming back.” My eyes filled with tears, but I refused to let them fall. I missed him so much, and now he was here. And looking like sex personified.
“What?” His brow furrowed. “I know that.”
“Is that enough for you? Just me.” My heart twisted, waiting for his response. Needing to know and not wanting him to answer at the same time.
“You’re all I want, doll,” Wyatt said. He reached his arm out quickly and wrapped it around my waist, dragging me toward him. “Well, that’s not entirely true. I want it all. I want Jane back in our lives. I want her to have brothers and sisters to boss around.” He leaned his forehead on mine, our noses touching, his mouth so close I could feel his breath on my lips. “But you’re all I need. I need to dry your tears, to make you smile and laugh. I need to hear you scream my name. I’m sorry, Maeve. I feel fucking terrible. I never want to be the reason for your tears again. And I know we will fight again, but I promise you, no matter what, I am not leaving. You are more than enough, and a fuck lot more than I deserve, but Ilove you too much to let you go. I can’t do it.”
My lips crashed into his with a hunger I didn’t realize I possessed. He bundled me into his arms, my hands locking behind his neck. Wyatt backed me up to the door and hauled my legs up around his waist. What started as a frantic kiss turned slower, more sensual, as we continued to show each other our affection.
