Impossible. Because I’ve got three years of wanting tied up with this woman. Greer’s it. She’s the one. She’s been the one since the first day she sat down and talked to me in the student café. I knew then I couldn’t keep her, but now . . . now, things are different. Years stand between me and the sins of my past. I’m not the same man I was then. Now, I’d argue that while I may never be good enough for her, at least I can give her the kind of life she deserves.
“I love you, Greer.”
The words come out, and even though they’re not the first time I’ve spoken them, it feels like it.
Her hand, already anchored behind my neck to help her keep her balance on my lap, flexes.
“I meant it before and I mean it now. I want you in my life. Here. I’ll do whatever you need to make it happen. I won’t wait another three years. Hell, I don’t want to wait three months, but I will. Move out here, live with me. Be with me.”
I hadn’t intended to have this conversation right this moment, but now that the words are out, I can’t pull them back, nor do I want to.
Greer’s face is lit by the streetlights outside, and her mouth has opened into a small O.
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. I know your life is in New York, but I think you’d be happy here. Make a new life, with me.”
Her clever little brain is working overtime as she considers my proposition. “Move in with you . . . and find a job here?”
“Or don’t find a job, whatever makes you happy.”
She rolls her eyes at that. “Not having a job wouldn’t make me happy.”
“Then find a job. I don’t care what it is as long as it makes you happy and you fall asleep every night in my arms.”
“What about when you’re filming on location and you’re not here?”
“Find a job you can do from anywhere, and travel with me.”
She goes quiet for a few moments, considering. “Are you sure? This is what you really want?”
“This is everything I want.”
She presses her lips to my chin. “Okay. Then we’ll figure out how to make it work. It might take some time to transition, but . . . I want that too. I don’t want to go back to only seeing you on TV and in magazines. I don’t want you to be the guy I knew once, but missed my chance.”
“Good, because I just want you to be mine, Greer. Every day.”
“I already am.”
Triumph barrels through me, even though she doesn’t say the words I’ve been waiting to hear, but I’m not going to push for them.
“I love you so fucking much, Greer, and I’ll do everything I can to prove this is the best decision you’ve ever made.”
She wraps both arms around me and squeezes. “You don’t have to do anything. I already know it is.”
Cav carries me into his house—or rather, what’s going to be our house—as the driver pulls out of the driveway. Was I shocked to hear him say those words again to me? Yes.
So shocked that I couldn’t gather myself enough to say them back. But I will. For the first time in my life, I’m both diving in and holding back. There’s a tiny voice in my head that worries it’s all going to fall apart and Cav will leave me shattered one final time.
Now that I’ve had him like this, I don’t know how I’d recover. He’s worked himself into my life in such a way that I can’t see my future without him. I won’t let that voice win. I have to believe in him. In us.
Cav lowers me to my feet in the bedroom, saying nothing as he unzips the dress and lets it fall to the floor. I’m naked beneath it, and he kneels to unbuckle the straps encircling my ankles. My feet scream with relief when I step out of the shoes, and I’m bare before him.
Wordlessly, he strips. I follow his fingers as he undoes each button, tossing the shirt away before he kicks off the shoes and unzips the slacks. Pushing both the pants and his boxer briefs to his feet, he steps free of them and stands before me naked.
Cav takes my hand and leads me to the bathroom and flips on the shower. Once steam fills the enclosure, he opens the door and I step inside. Cav is moments behind me, and his hands are everywhere.
Seeking. Touching. Worshipping.
He doesn’t miss an inch as he washes me. My hair, my body, everything. Some part of my overactive imagination tells me we’re washing the past away and starting again for the last and final time.
I silence any remaining doubts. There are no more secrets between us, and I’m leaping. I turn in his arms and meet his gaze.
“I love you.”
The words are quiet, but Cav can feel the force behind them. He wraps both arms around me and crushes me against him. Happiness radiates from him, and I know I’ve chosen the perfect moment. A new beginning.
“I fucking love you, baby girl.”
His lips find mine and my body ignites. His tongue teases and his hands are everywhere.
I haven’t forgotten the one extra accessory I’m still wearing, or the heat igniting once more between my legs. I want him. There. And I’m not afraid to ask for it.
“Are you going to fuck my ass like you’ve been promising?” I whisper the words, but they still echo in the tiled shower enclosure.
Cav’s lips curve into a grin. “You know I’m never going to say no to that.”
“Good, because I want it.”
“Then that’s exactly what you’re going to get.” He releases me from his hold and places a hand on the glass. “I’ll be right back.”