Page 44 of The Problem with Dating
“Seriously?”
Gideon grinned. “I was six and he was four, but they’d been bad enough to cause me some serious PTSD.”
I choked out a laugh. “You’re such a jerk, Gideon Hayes.”
He nodded. “I am,” he agreed. “But I love the fuck out of you, Echo Woodward.”
My heart dropped. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it, Gideon,” I told him. “I mean it.”
He scowled. “Since you’re the only woman, outside my family, that I’ve ever said that to, I’m pretty sure I mean it.”
Hope was a scary thing. Nothing was more disappointing than false hope. It was heartbreaking, actually. Hope made you pray for the best even if you had the tragic facts staring you in the face. It was what made faith so powerful. No one wanted to face the reality of disappointment or failure, so we held onto our hope until we had no choice.
I saw no reason why Gideon would lie about something like love, but a part of me was asking if this was all too good to be true.
My plan had been to get a new life, a new job, date some, and eventually find a nice guy who I could start a family with. I had been prepared to wait months or years for that to happen, because a solid relationship took time to form. Love took time to develop. It needed a healthy environment to grow in.
Instead, I got a grouchy engineer who insulted me the first time we met, then cursed the Heavens when he found out I was his neighbor, then bullied my movers, then ran roughshod over my contractor, then barged into my home-uninvited-to fix my floors, then gave me the best night of my life, then was an asshole, then beat up my ex-husband, and is, now, telling me he was in love with me.
And he was still grouchy as fuck.
“I have no idea what to do with a man like you, Gideon,” I told him honestly. “You’re a lot to deal with.”
“I am,” he immediately agreed. “I’m a moody bastard, and there’s a reason Dad deals with the people side of things, and my family is crazy, but you kind of don’t have a choice here, baby. I’m keeping you.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he echoed.
“Because you’re certain it’ll work out?” I asked. “What happens if it doesn’t?”
He gave me a cocky grin. “That’s not going to happen,” he replied. “I’m a contractor. The things I build, I build them to last, Echo. And what I’m going to build with you is going to be my greatest creation.”
“Gideon…”
His hands came up and slid from my neck into my hair. His blue orbs looked into mine. “I love you, Echo. Now, you don’t have to say it back because that’s not what I need from you. I need you to say it when you feel the same. I don’t need you to say the words just to spare my feelings. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to say them to you.”
“How do you know it’s love?” I already knew I felt the same, but Gideon just didn’t seem the type.
“Because you live right next door to me, but there’s still this underlying panic in my veins that you don’t live with me. I’m bothered that you aren’t mine, Echo. I’m bothered that you live one house over.”
I couldn’t help my smile. “That could just mean you’re crazy. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in love.”
His arms wrapped around my waist, and pulling me closer, he said, “Then how about the fact that I wasn’t the least bit concerned if you were on birth control or not that first night?”Oh, Christ. “You had let me know that you hadn’t had sex in over a year and that you were healthy, but we hadn’t discussed birth control before I slammed my cock into that tight pussy or yours.”
I let out a soft whimper. “Gideon…”
He stood up and his hands grabbed my ass, lifting me, and I was forced to hook my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist.
Gideon sat me on the counter but made sure we stayed pressed against each other. He reached down and started removing my sandals, and my body almost wept with anticipation of what was to come.
I planted my hands on the counter and leaned back a bit. “Are we making up?”
Gideon went to work on the other shoe. “Fuck yeah, we are,” he replied gruffly. “You didn’t really think you weren’t going to get fucked, did you?”
I was never going to get sweet and romantic from Gideon. I knew this. He was always going to proclaim and take. If he ever bought me flowers, he’d probably just toss them on the counter with a ‘here you go’ and call it a day.
And I was okay with that.
