Page 84 of Only Once

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I watchedas a few stray leaves blew onto our walking path, causing the two kids to stop and drop to pick them up.

“Look! It’s the first sign of fall.” Cole beamed. He’d had his cast removed the previous week, and since then he wanted to do every possible outdoor activity he could think of before the weather got too cold.

“Let’s save dem,” Bella mused, bending to scoop up her own.

I tucked Bexley under my arm as she smiled at her kids, and eventually she bent a knee and investigated the leaves too. She promised something that involved a crayon and tracing once we got back to the condo. My last day of vacation was quickly approaching, and with it would come my return to work.

So far, I wasn’t sure what that meant for my relationship with Bexley. We’d talked minimally about the future; instead our time was spent with the kids or, after they went to bed, in our own. Bexley and I were ravenous, touching, kissing, making love every chance we got.

Yes, making love. I refused to say I was fucking this woman, because after that night, I swore I never would. It would always mean something to me, always be more than just a physical activity or a means to get off. I even had a surprise for her later that night to show her how serious I was.

I couldn’t make any promises to her about my acting or my career, and since she had the kids plugged into school here, there was no way I would ask anything of her that was beyond her ability to give. Still, I wanted to keep going, see where we could go if given enough time together.

I knew she was already jumpy regarding our relationship, especially after articles started popping up about my past flames. Some sites were trying to twist a story out of thin air; there was nothing to them, but it painted Bexley in a light that made it seem like she wasn’t my first pick. I could only imagine how frustrating it was for her to constantly see my name in headlines, to see hers muddied and see stories generated about her life that had no basis in truth.

Someone had caught a photo of her out in her yard, watering the flowers, and somehow the image and post that had been circulated was about how she needed a break from the drama I’d brought into her life. They said she would rather be outside, doing anything else if it meant she could escape me. That article made her laugh, but I could see the lingering anger and hurt at how unfair the lies were, how out of control she felt regarding us.

“Hey, I have something to show you,” I said as we made our way back to the condo. If Bexley worked, everyone stayed over at my place, but if she had the following day off, I’d stay over there. Either way, we spent every night together, and changing that was going to be difficult.

“Yeah?” She tilted her head back, and the hat she wore tipped too as those pink lips slung to the side. The sight of the dipping sun breaking through the strands of her starlight-white hair took my breath away. She was too much for me, too perfect, too sexy, too beautiful…I never wanted to let her go, and a part of me never wanted to tempt fate by allowing my heart to hope.

“Yeah.” I breathed out, taking her hand in mine.

The kids ran past us into the house, and Bexley snuggled into the patio furniture that sat around the outdoor fireplace.

Pulling her knees under her, she smiled in anticipation. Part of me felt stupid for the gift I was about to give her, as it wasn’t really a gift…just a promise.

“Here.” I sat down next to her, gripping her thigh.

“Your phone?” She bunched her brows together as she concentrated on my locked device.

“Punch in 6330.”

Hesitation crossed her face, her fingers paused over the screen. A second later, she punched in the numbers, and the screen came to life. She’d seen my background a thousand times by now; it was her, walking forward but turning back to look at me. I’d snapped it when she wasn’t expecting it, her face totally unassuming, with the most natural and gorgeous smile gracing her face.

“Look in my contacts list.” I caressed her thigh, encouraging her along.

Please don’t think it’s stupid.

Her eyes narrowed as those luscious lips parted on a silent gasp, and with it, my pulse raced.

“You deleted them?” She quickly looked up from the phone, a thousand questions brimming in her eyes.

“I know we haven’t talked about our future in too much detail yet, but I wanted to show you that I’m serious about this, about us. I don’t need any phone numbers because I plan on having you.” I smiled nervously.

“Ryan, this is…” Tears seemed to clog her throat as she set my phone aside and turned toward me. Wrapping her arms around me, she slid into my lap and pressed her lips against mine. “I love you; this means so much to me.”

She didn’t wait for a response as her lips slammed against mine again and a few tears slipped down her face. I gripped her hips and held her in place, but before we even had a chance to finish our conversation, before I could suck it up and tell her how I’d imagined her moving with me while I traveled, how permanent I wanted to make this, Cole was running outside, holding a phone.

“It’s Daddy, says he needs to talk to you.” Cole’s blue eyes flitted back and forth between Bexley and me, pensive and worried.

Bexley moved off my lap with a heavy sigh, taking the phone in her hand. She held it up to her ear and walked back inside.

I remained outside for a few seconds longer, because since that day in Portland, I had tried my best to distance myself from the Logan topic. Bexley knew how I felt about him, but he was the kids’ father, so it left little room for my issues to grow. I needed to swallow my frustrations and get used to him calling all the damn time. He texted nearly every day, which Bex told me was abnormal. She mentioned he’d been fairly absent from the kids’ lives before I showed up, and now he was ever-present.

Finally heading inside, I found Bexley in the kitchen, still talking on the phone, with a bored look on her face.

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