“What are you doing in my apartment?” I asked.
He raised his hand. “You gave me a key.”
We’d exchanged keys weeks earlier. I should’ve known then that I was hopelessly in love with him. After my last relationship, I promised never to give another man a key to my apartment unless I was related to him. Yet, with Don, it didn’t even occur to me to not return the gesture when he first gave me a key to his place.
“And you used it,” I said, unable to come up with a better response.
He stuffed the key back into his pocket. “I’m not giving it back either. Don’t even think of asking for it.”
I stifled my grin and dipped my head. “I wasn’t planning on asking for it back.”
“Don’t try to change the locks either. I’m great at picking locks.”
“I figured.”
His facial expression turned serious. “I should put you over my fucking knee.”
My pussy hummed, and my panties were no longer of any use. They were soaked completely through.
“You’re not getting rid of me,” he insisted. “I don’t give a damn how afraid you are. I’m head over heels, chocolate hearts, flower arrangements sent to your job, put a ring on your finger, and buy a house and fill it with kids in love with you. So, you’re just going to have to get over your fear. I’m not going anywhere, and I’d slit my own throat before I did something to fuck this up.”
I could barely see him through the damn tears in my eyes. “I never cried this much before I realized I was in love with you.”
“You can cry all you—wait. Say that again?”
My mouth spread into a shaky smile, and I wiped at the offending tears. “I said, I love you too. Like, wake up in the morning with you on my mind, go to bed with you on the brain, dream about you in the middle of the night, fantasizing what our kids would look like...kind of love.”
“That’s what the fuck I’m talking about.”
A giggle spilled from my lips. I wrapped my hands around his wrists and looked him in the eye.
“I’m sorry. Concern for Corey’s well-being was only a part of why I didn’t want to tell him.”
He snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Shut up. I’m trying to be real here.”
He grinned.
“I know you’re not my father, or my ex, or any of the men I investigated. I let my fear of not being enough for you get in the way.”
“How in the fuck could you believe you aren’t enough for me?” he asked. “That’s the most ridiculous bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life. You’re smart as hell, driven, sexy as all get out, and the second-best gamer I know.”
“Second?” I scoffed.
“I’m number one.”
I rolled my eyes.
“The real deal is I might not be enough for you.” He pressed a finger against my lips when I parted them to protest his comment. “But I’ll spend a lifetime proving why you belong to me, Jocelyn. Only you.”
I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulder and rose onto the tips of my toes. “And only you belong to me.”
“Damn straight,” he growled before fusing our lips. I tightened my hold around his shoulders, needing him in my arms as much as he needed me.
“I’m still putting you over my knee,” he said against my mouth.
“Do you promise?”
