“Honey, you’re freezing.”He tossed the blanket and her robe to the floor and then tucked her against him and pulled the blankets up to her ears.
She tried to get closer because his body temperature was always higher, due to his size and muscle mass.
He rubbed up and down her back and curled his body around hers.It was only when he knew she had stopped chattering and shivering, that he moved away enough to be able to see her face.
“Please tell me what I’m doing wrong?Why are you crying?”
“Kaleb, you’re not doing anything wrong.I promise.I’m conflicted about how to deal with us.”
His heart dived, and real terror started to build in him.“You’re not talking about breaking up, are you?”
“Oh, God, no.I want this to work.I love you, and I can’t see myself with anyone else.”
He exhaled.“That’s good because you’ll have a hell of a time getting rid of me.”
She smiled.“I know.”
“I know it’s early in our relationship, but what will you need to decide to move in?”
“I guess I’d like to know how you feel and what you see our future like, but I don’t think you’re ready for that, and I don’t want to push you at all...”
“Wait, what do you mean you don’t know how I feel?”
“Daddy, you’ve never said anything about the way you feel.”
“Yes, I have.I say it all the time.”
“What do you say?”she challenged him.
“That I...”He stopped and looked down at her, confused.“I know I tell you I love you all the time.”
Her mouth fell open.“You’ve never told me that.”
“I hear it being said.”
“Yes, by me.Every time I’ve told you how I feel, you look happy, and then you’re usually kissing me within a minute.”
“Jesus, Baby, I’m confused here.I feel like I’ve told you so many times.”
“Not once.”
“That’s why you don’t want to move in?”he asked.
“It’s one of the reasons.I can’t be one of those women who live with a man for years on end.I want a family someday, and I won’t bring a child into the world without being married to the father.”
He flopped back down on the pillow and pressed his hand over his eyes.“I can’t believe I’ve fucked up this much.”
She pressed a hand to his chest.“No, Daddy, don’t think that way.You’re not making a mistake.”
He rolled over on her, making a place for himself between her thighs, and braced his weight on his elbows.
“I feel like I’ve said it a thousand times, and I have in my head.I love you, Baby.I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone, and we are getting married.Sooner rather than later.Now, is there anything else I screwed up I need to fix?”
Remorse filled his heart at the tears that fell from her eyes.He used his thumbs to wipe the moisture away.“I’m so sorry.Please don’t cry.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.“I’m crying because I’m happy, Daddy.”
He grunted.He’d never understood that kind of shit.“I don’t like seeing them on your face.I don’t care what caused them.”
