Page 57 of On His Knees

“He’s gone crazy,” I whisper.

Tamara looks at me and blinks. “You know this guy?”

I nod. “I know him.”

“You’d better get him off the street, then, before he gets arrested for loitering.”

“I don’t think they would, unless we called them,” I say, making no move to let him in. “I think we’ll let him sweat it out a bit longer.”

Tamara eyes me. “What did he do to you anyway?”

“Long story.”

Tate walks up to the door and puts his hand on the glass. I stare at him, my heart in my throat. All the love I feel for him wells up inside me when I see the pain in his blue eyes. Tate is hurting as much as I am.

I back away, and Tamara says, “He looks like he’s in agony.”

“Let him in.”

Tamara rushes to the door and opens it. Tate walks in, his presence overwhelming the place, overwhelming me.

He pushes his hoodie off, and his donkey ears flop onto his back. “I’m an ass,” he says.

“Yeah, you are.” I fold my arms and perch on Tamara’s desk.

As tension arcs between Tate and me, Tamara grabs her purse. “I’m heading out early,” she says and disappears out the door.

Tate turns and sets the bolt, locking us in. Then his eyes meet mine and my stupid heart wobbles.

“A big fucking ass,” he says.

“Not disagreeing.”

He exhales slowly as he looks at the floor, and then his eyes slowly lift to mine. “I’ve never believed in love at first sight,” he says. I open my mouth, but he holds his hand up to stop me. “Can I please just get this all out? I’ve been practicing, and I don’t want to screw this up like I did last time.”

I hide my smile and nod.

“I think I fell for you when Granddad showed me that Polaroid. Your sweet smile, the light in your eyes. I don’t know. All I know is I was drawn to you. Then when I met you, put my hands on your body, well, let’s just say that was a total mind fuck. I thought you were a gold digger, Granddad sort of led me to believe that, and I’ve seen so much of it in my life.” A pause and then he confessed, “It’s hard for me to trust anyone, Summer.”

“I know.”

He taps his head and says, “Just so you know, that old man is on the ball, as sharp as ever.”

“I know that, too,” I say quietly.

“He misses you.”

“I miss him.”

“Well, anyway. The plan was for me to seduce you. It was messed up from the start, I know. But I thought if you went for me, I could report back to Granddad that you didn’t love him and were just using him for his money. But when you opened yourself to me, Summer, so honest and giving, I lost it. I truly lost it. I never meant to cross the line, but after we made love the first time, there was no turning back for me.” He takes a small step toward me, gauging me. I don’t move so he comes a bit closer.

“There was a part of me that couldn’t believe you were a con. After a while, I thought maybe I didn’t want to believe it because I wanted you for myself. But that last night in front of my fire, when you put your body and trust in my hands, opened yourself to me completely, I finally had to admit to myself that I was head over heels in love.”

A little gasp pushes from my lungs, and he takes a measured step closer, but I hold my hand up and he stops. “You hurt me, Tate. You made me feel small, used, all alone in the world. Like I did when I was a girl.”

“I’m sorry, Summer. I never in a million years wanted to make you feel that way. If you’ll let me I’ll spend the rest of my life worshipping you.”

I look down, take my time to sort through the matter, the extent Tate has gone through to get my attention so he could apologize. “I do like the way you worship me.”

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