Page 70 of Offside

I giggle. “That’s kind of how I feel about you all the time these days. I always worry everyone is going to see how attracted I am to you.”

Leaning his head down, he gives me a long, meaningful look, his gaze searching mine as if he’s lost something in them. Under the weight of his deep, penetrating stare and the delicious flex of his hips, shivers topple down my back.

I curl my fingers behind his neck and the edge of his hair dusts over my knuckles.

“Karis, I’ve never been in love with a woman before.”

Oh boy. Here we go.This is his way of reminding me that he doesn’t want anything serious, just sex.

Can I handle that? I won’t keep our affair secret any longer and it will become public knowledge soon. Could I get through each day knowing he might want to move on to another woman at any time?

I guess I’ll just have to work on that, just as I have everything else in my life. It’s one step and one day at a time. But if you want something bad enough, you’ll do anything to have it.

And I want Ballas.

My response is barely a whisper. “I know.”

“But I’ve fallen for you.”

His words rock my core.

“You…whatnow?”

My surprised reaction is stolen from my lips when he dips his head and seals his mouth over mine, kissing me deeply for the first time in weeks. The moment our lips meet, fireworks go off low in my belly. My fingers dig into his nape and I pull him closer to return his kiss hard, giving him everything I have and all that I am.

When we’re out of breath, he finally pushes away, his mouth wet and thoroughly kissed.

“I love you, Karis. And I want this with you. If you’ll give me the chance to prove I can be the man you need.”

I stare up into his eyes and see our past, present, and future reflected in them.

“Ballas, you’ve been the man for me since our first night together in Vegas.”

He gives me that sexy, crooked grin of his and angles his hips so his thickening erection dips between my legs.

Ballas’s voice turns gruff, triggering a visceral heat at my core. His eyes linger on my face for a beat.

“I’m going to continue proving that to you every day from now on.”

“Starting now?” I ask, hooking my ankles behind his back and gasping when he swings me up into his arms and stands with a deep groan and I giggle.

“We better start now because we both know I’m not getting any younger.”

EPILOGUE

Six Months Later

“The car is here,” Ballas says softly, his hand placed gently against the small of my back. “You ready to head over to the reception?”

I stare out at the green rolling hills blanketed with the first signs of spring and think about all the changes that occurred in my life this past year.

The last year and a half has taught me lessons about the strength I possess that I never knew I had. That I am as resilient as I am vulnerable, and it’s the hard lessons that led me to making difficult decisions, like the one I had to make about Marv.

This will go down in history as the most difficult week of my life. It could’ve had me curled up in a little ball on the bathroom floor, sobbing fits of tears. Instead, I grieved and got through it with the most incredible man by my side.

Five days ago, I said goodbye to the one person who kept me going for so long when I was young and had lost everything. I finally let Marv go after a series of infections he battled valiantly brought his life to an end. He passed comfortably in his bed, surrounded by those who cared about him.

Ballas, ever the stoic and strong one, wrapped me in his unrelenting arms and held me tight throughout, reminding me that with love, you can endure anything, no matter how painful.

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