“Aren’t we moving too fast, too soon?”
He placed my hand on his chest over his heart. “Feel that? The heart doesn’t care about time. That myth is all in our heads. I’ve fallen for you, Monroe.”
Damn him. I sure as hell hadn’t seen that coming. But I couldn’t deny that my heart was beating probably faster than his. That my stomach was somersaulting like a gymnast on speed.
I licked my dry lips. “You make me crazy.”
“Likewise.” He grinned that sexy grin I so loved. “I’m not asking you to promise forever. I’m asking for a chance to show you the man I am. One who doesn’t walk away. One who will love you to the day I die. And one who will always have your back. You have my heart, Sunshine.”
I broke away and sat on the couch or else my weak legs were about to betray me. “I’m… I don’t know?—”
He knelt in front of me, placing his large hands on my knees. “I don’t want to spend another night afraid that I’ve lost you. I know you feel the same way I do. Tell me I’m lying, and I will get up and walk out of here and never look back.”
Pain spread through my chest at that thought.
I gently rubbed his scraped knuckles. “You should clean that.” That had nothing to do with the topic of discussion, but I had to take a minute to think and dig up the courage to say what I was really feeling.
“They’re surface wounds. Nothing to worry about.”
“You scare me, Jace,” I said on a sigh then gave him a weak smile. “I feel too much too soon, just like I felt when I laid eyes on Ryan in high school. Though this feeling is stronger, different.” I shuddered. “It’s not love at first sight like it had been with Ryan. It’s more…” I paused, trying to find the right words.
He climbed to his feet, sat on the edge of the coffee table, and leaned his elbows on his knees, watching me fidget with the throw blanket.
“With you,” I continued, “I’m falling for who you actually are. The cocky fighter pilot who’s honest about being scared, who trusted me enough to share his pain about losing his brother. You don’t hide behind a mask. I always know where I stand with you.” I swallowed thickly. “I trust you in a way I never trusted Ryan, even if the military part scares me. But you freaked me out tonight.”
He rose and tugged me gently to my feet. “Let me prove I’m worth the risk.”
I studied him and found nothing but love and sincerity washing over him. I reached up and touched his strong jaw. “You think words fix everything?”
He circled his fingers around my wrist then pressed a kiss to my palm. “No, but actions do and also love.”
That last word hit like a boxer in a ring throwing a knockout punch at me. I hated and loved that he was so sure, so certain of what he wanted.
“Love, huh?” I asked.
A soft laugh escaped him. “Yeah. I love you.”
All the fear I had about falling for a man in uniform didn’t stand a chance against the honesty in his voice. If he were jerking my chain, he wouldn’t be pleading with me. He would’ve walked out already, and even if he did, my feelings wouldn’t change. As frightening and overwhelming as it was, I had to take a chance.
“I’m trying not to fall for you.” My voice cracked. “But I can’t stop it even if I tried.”
His lips brushed my temple. “Guess we both failed.”
I pressed my hands on his chest and couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “I do love you, too, Jace Callahan.”
Suddenly, I felt freer than I ever had. I felt like this huge weight had been lifted, and I could finally breathe again.
His blue eyes widened. “You mean it?”
“I’m frightened out of my mind, but yeah.”
He feathered his mouth over mine before he kissed me—slow, steady, easy, and deep. The kiss was a promise written in breath, warmth, and tenderness. A tear leaked out—a happy one, for sure.
We broke apart, and he rubbed his nose over mine. “Didn’t think the night would end up like this.” Grinning, he squeezed me to him. “I’m never letting you go.”
I burrowed into him. “Ditto, big guy.”
For the first time, love felt different, deeper, stronger, and real. Jace gave me a sense of love that was wild, free, and alive with more possibilities than I’d ever dared to imagine. I was ready to take that step with him, all the way into a future filled with risks, challenges, and the unpredictable. Something I thought fear would never let me do again.
