Morgan stared at me for a moment. “What made you change your mind?”
“It wasn’t so much about changing my mind. I knew you were telling the truth. I just…I didn’t want to believe someone I considered a friend would do that.”
She dropped my gaze as she gave a soft nod. “Well…apology accepted. But you didn’t have to leave early. You could have waited until tomorrow.”
“No. I didn’t want to wait. Because there’s more…more I need to say.”
She looked at me again. “Then say it.”
“I ended things with Loralei.”
I saw her slightly stiffen at my words, but she was still clinging to her cool mask of indifference. “That’s good…for you, I mean,” she said. “At least…you seem okay with it ending.”
“I am okay with it.” I nodded with a small smile. “Morethan okay. It never should have happened in the first place.”
Her brow creased. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I went into it for all the wrong reasons, and it wasn’t what I wanted.” She held my stare, and I could see her trying to dissect my words. “Can I ask you something?” She hesitated for a moment before nodding. “What did you mean when you asked me why I thought you stopped coming around?”
Again, she subtly stiffened as she looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t believe that. If that were the case, you wouldn’t have said it at all.”
“You’re reading too much into it,” she countered.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that I am.”
Morgan shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure what you’re looking for me to say here.”
“I want you to cut the shit and tell me the truth,” I told her. “What did you mean?”
“It wasnothing.”
“Again, you wouldn’t have said it if there wasn’t somemeaning behind it.” I took a step toward her, watching her tense her jaw. “Tell me what you meant,” I said more firmly.
“What the hell do you want to hear, Wes?” Her voice rose slightly, and I could hear the soft tremble in it. “That while I was in Miami, I actuallymissed you? That I was pissed at myself because when Ifinallygot my shit together and let myself acknowledge Ifell for you, I was too late because you had someone else? That I stopped coming around because it was too damn hard for me to see you and her together? Isthatwhat you want to hear?”
My gaze never left hers as I took another step, bringing myself to stand directly in front of her. I lifted my hand, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before I let it rest against the side of her neck.
I fell for you.
I breathed in her familiar rose scent, staring at her for a long moment, drinking her in. This beautiful, sexy, stubborn, sassy-mouthed, incredible woman had me utterly intoxicated, drunk on love and a need only she could fulfill.
“I told you not to fall in love with me…” I watched her tense with unease, as if she were afraid of what I was going to say next. “But the truth is, I fell in love with you first.”
I heard her breath imperceptibly hitch as she stared up at me, her eyes shifting back and forth between mine. “I thought you didn’t believe in love…”
I shook my head. “It’s not that I didn’t believe in it, Princess. I just didn’twantit. Not until you.Youmade me want it. You make me wanteverything.” I watched her bite the inside of her lip as if to keep it from trembling as my thumb brushed against her jaw. “I’ve known…for a while now, I’ve known how I felt. But I was being a fucking coward. I convinced myself you didn’t feel the same, so I didn’t say anything and tried to force myself to forget you. It didn’t work. I can’t…Ican’tforget you. And I don’t want to.”
A shaky breath escaped her as she held my gaze. “Wes…”
“Youare what I want, Morgan. Your smiles. Your laughs. Your sass. Your snark. Your wit. You’ve gotten under my skin in ways no one else ever has. And I want more. I want itall. I want you to bemine.”
My other hand curled around her hip as I leaned forward, brushing my lips against hers in a whisper of a kiss.
“Say it,” I whispered as I let my fingers slip just beneath the hem of her shirt, brushing against the soft skin of her hip, earning another quietly hitched breath from her. “Please. I need you to say it.” My fingers continued to tease her skin. “It’s beenmonths, Princess, and I want to fucking ruin you in the most passionate way possible, but I need to hear you say that you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she breathed.
