My fingers returned to sifting through her hair. “And how do we do that?”
“By falling back in love with each other.”
I tipped her chin, forcing her eyes back to mine. “I never fell out of love with you.”
She moved her body further into mine. “Neither did I.”
The truth set my soul ablaze, burning away the pain of leaving her and offering an opening to finally heal. I dragged her mouth to mine, capturing it in a kiss that ricocheted through me. Knowing she didn’t want to move fast, I stopped myself from smoothing my hand over her body like I wanted, but when she climbed over me, my hold cracked. I took her hips in my hands to steady her. Sweatshirt lifting, my fingers spread over her skin, and I questioned how I’d ever taken it slow with her when we’d first met.
Her hands pushed at my shirt, tugging it free from my pants, and sliding over my chest. I sucked in a breath, pushing her back and seeing the desire that shadowed her blue eyes.
“Middle,” I said, hearing how strained the word came out. As much as I didn’t want to stop, I didn’t want her to wake up in the morning and regret moving too fast. We had years of history behind us to work through and emotions that needed recognizing. I wouldn’t risk losing her again on my body’s need to have her.
She crinkled her nose, twisting her lips as she contemplated the word.
“Your boundaries, Tori. Not mine, and I won’t risk plowing through them.” She ground down on me, and I groaned, the need for her howling through me. “Even though moves like that make me want to be the bad guy.”
Her smile broke through as she sat back. I grabbed her hips, giving her a warning look, although I knew she hadn’t done it to torment me like it had.
“You’ve never been the bad guy type, Gabe.”
Head tipping, I said, “I’ve been the bad guy for over five years.” Regret and guilt returned with the admission.
Leaning forward, she took my face in her hands. “Because you had to, which means you weren’t really the bad guy I thought you were or that you thought you were.”
Sweeping a piece of hair behind her ear, I studied her, taking in the small parts of her I’d missed. The gentle smile, the depths of blue in her eyes, the thick lashes that outlined them, the dark locks with hints of brown in them, the small freckle on her left cheek. Lifting her hips, I settled her back to my side, tucking her in as close as I could have her and rubbing my hand up her back.
“I don’t want to be that man anymore,” I told her, staring out at the ocean. “I want to be who I am when I’m with you. You make me a better man because you make me whole.”
She buried her face further into my chest. Silence fell over us, but it was a comfortable quiet, our breathing matched, our bodies calm. After a few minutes, I said, “A secret for a secret.” I hadn’t forgotten my intention in bringing her here—to stop the secrets between us.
“I told you everything,” she said, and I heard the mistruth.
“Tori, you know everything I kept from you. What happened with Bradman?”
She went rigid. “Nothing.”
“You were never good at lying. Remember that time we played poker?”
Her head shot up, her eyes narrowing. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“You were pretty bad,” I replied with a chuckle. “Talk.”
A roll of her eyes let me know she was going to fight me on this.
“There’s an NDA. I can’t tell you anything.” She sat up, rubbing her wrist, where I’d seen her do the same action whenCarl had stopped by her office and another when I’d mentioned the company.
“My lawyers can shred it within minutes. I have more money and power than he has, so don’t worry about the NDA.”
“It was nothing,” she said, her sight on the water.
“Nothing doesn’t leave you this rigid and rattled. What did the asshole do?”
Her head turned to me, blue orbs wide.
“I’m not playing, Tori. What happened?”
“But the NDA?—”
