Page 26 of Flirt Away

“Not really,” he said, tucking a piece of her thick hair behind her ear. “I want you to know that not a minute goes by that I don’t think about you.”

“Just so you know, I have it on good authority that you are most likely going to get laid tonight.”

He chuckled. “Good to know, but not where I was going with this.”

“Okay. Then I’m all ears.”

It shouldn’t be so hard to get out three little words, but he found himself sweating and speechless.

“Dixie, you rock my world.”

“That’s it?”

He shook his head. “This isn’t going as planned.” He rested his hands on her hips and stared into her sweet green eyes. “You are the sun to my sky. The moon to my night.”

“I’ve never seen you this corny.”

“Oh, wait. I’m sure I’ll come up with more weird, subpar, not-very-romantic crap,” he said with a nervous laugh. In his thirty-one years on this planet, he’d loved only once, but that relationship had been vastly different. Looking back, no one had ever stolen his heart the way Dixie had. “But in the meantime, you should know that I love you,” he said. The last time he’d said those words to a woman, he hadn’t meant them. And it had cost him dearly.

But Dixie would never betray his trust, this he knew deep to his core.

Her green eyes grew as wide as the Emerald City. “You what me?”

“You heard me.”

She stuck her finger in her ear and wiggled it. “They must be full of wax because I could have sworn you said you loved me.”

“I did.” He swallowed his beating heart. “Too soon?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m just… just… stunned.”

Shit. His mother had always told him that wearing his emotions on his sleeves was both a blessing and a curse. “You don’t feel the same—”

She covered his mouth with her hand.

“Oh. No. I love you, too. I just don’t know that I’m ready for this.”

“You and me both,” he said. “There is something else I need to tell you.” He knew he should have told her about his past sooner. Probably before he declared his love, but every time he thought it might be the right time to bring it up, he either chickened out or something came up.

She tilted her head. “You’re not a natural brunette?”

He would never tire of her quick-witted remarks. But when she got scared or concerned, she sometimes used them to deflect. “There’s something from my past that I kind of left out.”

“As long as you’re not secretly married or have a bunch of kids somewhere, I don’t care.”

He laughed. “It’s nothing like that.”

“Well, there are a few things I haven’t told you about me, too.”

He arched a brow. “A few?”

“Okay. Just one.”

“Looks like we both have confessions to make.” He held her tight, not willing to let her go. He loved everything about her, so whatever this little revelation was that she needed to get off her chest, he figured it would be no big deal. He just hoped she was open-minded about the fact that he had once been in love.

And it had been with a man.

His phone buzzed in his back pocket. He held up his hand. “Let me check in case it’s Xavier.”

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