Page 20 of Perfect for Her

“You okay?” Mark’s voice filters into the room and when his worried gaze meets mine, I nod, not hiding the weight of what just happened. “Come here,” he mutters, holding out his arms and waiting until I’m cocooned in him before kissing me softly. “I want to show you something.”

I raise an eyebrow as he takes my hands and leads me into his walk-in closet. I watch as he walks to the back corner, pulling out a shoebox and handing it to me.

“What is this?” I ask, very confused.

“Just open it.”

I roll my eyes, wanting to be sarcastic but thinking better of it. So instead, I take it into the room once more and set it down on the bed. The second I open that box, my world stops, and every breath I have comes rushing to the surface.

“Mark…” I whisper, my voice is hushed as I pull out every photograph he took of me that week in the Caribbean.

Some of the photos are of us together, but it’s mostly just me, smiling at the camera or just walking ahead of him. Dozens of photos fill the box, but then I see the small green sea glass I thought I lost that last day we were together.

“You kept this?” I ask, holding the smooth rock in the palm of my hand, the weight of what it means filling the room.

“You meant more to me than a week-long fling Harlow, I tried to tell you that before you left, but you didn’t want to hear it.”

The tears fall for real this time, large drops falling from my eyes as I realize that my life could have been so much better if only I had listened to what he was saying all those years ago.

“Baby, don’t cry,” he whispers, pulling me into his chest once more. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad. I wanted you to know that I haven’t thought of anyone else since meeting you. I couldn’t, not when you changed me from the inside out.”

God, I’m falling deeply in love with this man and I can’t stop it.

“I’m so sorry,” I whimper against his chest as he takes my face in the palms of his hands and kisses me softly.

“There is nothing to be sorry for. I have you and I have Ethan and that’s all that matters right now. Okay?”

I shake my head, not believing him.

“All I care about is that I have you, the past doesn’t matter anymore. Okay?”

I nod, wanting to believe every word that leaves his mouth so badly it aches inside me. “Thank you.”

His head tilts to the side, wondering what I mean.

“For waiting for me all these years. Thank you for being perfect for me.”

His smirk is enough to break the sadness welling up inside me and I chuckle softly.

“You are perfect for me. And once everyone leaves, I will show you just how perfect you are. Because I’ve had a fantasy in my head all day that involves you, that pool outside, and those moans that have been haunting my dreams since the other night.”

My breath hitches and he kisses me one more time before backing away.

“I’m going to get everyone out of this house and then we’ll put Ethan to bed and you and I can relive that night in the grotto.” He winks and my body lights up, remembering just how amazing that night was and wanting that again and again and again with him.

Mark

I stare out of my back door, watching the moon reflect off the pool as I wait for Harlow to come back downstairs. I tucked in Ethan, reading him a short story before I left them alone, knowing she needed some time with her boy. Over the last week, I’ve slowly become accustomed to her facial expressions and I know today was a lot, for many reasons. One of them was Drew inserting himself where he wasn’t needed and trust me when I say we had words. He knows he overstepped and when Kate found out, the murderous look on her face told me he would be hearing it all the way home.

I don’t think I’ve been that angry in a very long time. It’s one thing to question my motives, but to question hers when she was halfway around the world and going through everything she was going through, I was ready to throw hands. But Max held me back and reminded me that I needed to walk away and take a breath. I’m falling in love with Harlow and the second I knew Ethan was mine, the love I felt grew every second of every day.

“You look like you’re thinking about something important,” Harlow whispers, her melodic voice traveling across the room as I turn, only for my jaw to drop.

She’s leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over her chest, a cheeky smile playing on the edges of her lips as I take in the sight of her in that plain white bikini I saw all day underneath that oversized T-shirt she wore.

“Jesus,” I grunt, my fingers aching to feel every inch of that exposed skin.

Taste every last drop of her over and over again. This is the first time I’m seeing her body in the light, unobstructed and glorious in its curves. I thought my memories of her body were insane, but the real thing is by far the better version. Her eyes search mine, uncertainty rising at my lack of response. Her fingers play with the edge of her bottoms, my eyes flicking to the thin scar that rests right above it, reminding me how close I was to losing her forever and thanking whoever was looking down on her for bringing her back to me.

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