Page 94 of The Archer and his Rosebud

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t fight harder against Ty. I let him break what we had so easily. I allowed him to strong-arm me. Clem is my priority, but I should’ve listened to my gut, to my heart. I’ll never second-guess us again.”

A strange sort of numbness fogs my brain as I face her.What is she saying?

“You’re not losing us.” She shakes her head, but I don’t need her words. I can read her like an open book. “I’mnot losing us, Archer. It’s too meant to be. Too much like karma’s fixing our past hurts.” Her gaze drops as she moistens her lips, then meets my stare. “Plus, I need you too much.”

Every doubt vanishes. I can’t reach her fast enough, my hands cupping her face and my lips brushing hers. “You can’t take that back. None of it.”

She laces her arms around my neck. “I don’t plan to,” she says with a broken laugh.

Karma. I subscribe to her explanation as I kiss her hard and fast, my hands steering her head the way I want as I take and take and take. I’m desperate for every breath, every moan, every touch. I want it all from Willa Hawthorne. And I want it forever.

Breaking our frantic kiss, I drag her toward my bedroom.

“What are we doing?” A soft laugh falls from her because she knows damn well what’s happening next.

Spinning backward, I pull my sweatshirt overhead and walk into the dark room. “I’m taking you to my room, Rosebud.”

Instead of following me in, Willa leans her shoulder on the doorframe. “And what are we doing here?”

“How about you move that gorgeous ass two steps to the left, so I can close that door and show you.”

With a bemused smile, my love obliges.

When the door clicks shut, I drop to my knees and run a hand up her calf to find the zipper on her black suede knee-high boots. The room is quiet. Only our shallow breaths and the teeth of her boots’ zippers giving way.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I murmur as I tug one boot off, then the other.

My lips connect with the inside of her right knee, and Willa’s fingers dive into my hair, tugging. “I hate that I hurt you.”

Her knee socks come next. “I hate that my past actions threatened your life with Clem.”

“None of that matters,” she breathes out, one bare foot gliding between my thigh and over my fly while I roll the second sock down and off.

My gaze lifts to find her brown eyes following my every move. I wrap my fingers around her ankle and set her foot back on the floor. “You little minx.”

Rolling to my toes, I catch the hem of her knit dress with my thumbs and drag the material over her knees, up her thighs and past her hips as I stand. “Arms up, Miss Hawthorne.”

Once again, she obliges without a word, and with little more than a tug over her head, she’s standing before me in nothing but a bra and panties.

“How will we deal with Ty?” I toss her dress toward the chair in the corner.

“We don’t have to worry about him anymore.” Stepping away from the wall, Willa advances, pushing me further into the room. “He’s not going to fight for custody.” Her fingers move to unbutton my jeans.

The back of my knees hit my bed, and I drop onto the edge of the mattress. “How do you know?”

“Because.” She crawls into my lap, straddling me. “I fought for you, Archer.” She kisses my jaw.

My hands cup her silk-covered rear, anchoring her. Is she telling me that while I was irrationally picturing her on a date, she was fighting for Clem? For us?

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I run my hands up her spine.

“I’ll explain later.” She licks the seam of my lips.

Who am I to argue?Rolling us over, I remove my pants and boxers in one shove and get to work making up for the nights Ty stole from us.

Hours later,Willa shares her visit with Alan and Ellie Reynolds while we enjoy a late dinner of cereal and hot chocolate wrapped up in blankets on the couch.

I shake my head at what I’ve heard. “He was truly going to try to keep you two a secret,” I repeat as if saying it out loud could make what Ty did understandable. “And then to make you the villain. God, baby, I’m so sorry.”

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