“Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?” she asked. “You’re not going to do anything stupid are you?”
He frowned in confusion, but apparently figured it out because he shook his head again. “No, I’m not going to do anything stupid. If I scared you, I’m sorry about that too. All I’m trying to say is that I was in a bad place for a long time, and I did some things then that I’m not very proud of. But I’m not in that bad place now, and it’s all because of you.”
Her heart squeezed. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes, you did,” he said firmly. “You had no way of knowing this, but when I first met you at Landon and Ivy’s wedding, I was at my lowest point. The Army Medical Review Board had just told me that my request to be allowed back on active duty had been denied. I’d known it was a long shot, but I’d still invested a lot of hope in that chance, and I was seriously down. I almost didn’t go to the wedding, but I figured Landon would harass the hell out of me if I didn’t. I planned to show up and say congrats, then bail. But I met you and everything changed.”
Layla smiled, remembering the first time she’d seen Jayson. He’d looked so handsome in his suit, though she could tell he’d been in pain even back then. She barely remembered any of the reception because she’d spent the whole evening with him.
“From the moment we met, there was something about you—a spark,” he said. “While we were hanging out together at the reception, I forgot I was a wounded warrior. I was just a guy attracted to a beautiful woman.”
“The attraction was mutual,” she assured him, leaning in for a kiss. “I can assure you of that.”
It was just a short, playful tangling of the tongues, but it was enough to make her body start to heat up again. When Jayson pulled back, the serious expression was still there.
“But that evening was just the beginning,” he continued. “When you started coming to see me at Walter Reed, I found myself getting out of bed a little earlier in the morning on the chance you might show up. And when I was transitioned to outpatient status, you were the one who helped me find a place to live.”
Now she was getting seriously embarrassed from all the praise and adoration. “Anyone could have done that.”
“Anyone could have, but you were the one who did it. You were the one who put up with the grouchy, medically chaptered army guy.”
“You weren’t grouchy,” she protested.
He lifted a brow.
Layla laughed. “Okay, maybe you were a little bit grouchy.”
“I was way more than that,” he corrected. “I was a total ass on more than one occasion, but you hung in there and never walked away, no matter how much I pushed.”
She caressed his stubble-covered jaw. “There was nothing you could ever do that would make me walk away. My only fear was that you would be the one to leave without ever giving me a say in the matter.”
He caught her hand and pressed his lips to her palm, his breath warm on her skin. “Thank God I was never stupid enough to do that. If I had been, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”
She laughed and kissed him. “You mean in a bombed-out library in Donetsk?”
“No,” he whispered. “I mean lying in the arms of the most beautiful woman in the world, telling her how important she is to me and how much I love her.”
Layla almost missed the significance of what Jayson had just said, but then his words sank in. “Did you just say…?”
He grinned. “That I love you? Yeah, I said it. I love you, and I have from the first moment I met you. It just took me a while to figure it out. Though I have to admit, I envisioned it coming out completely differently—more romantic, you know?”
“I think it was perfectly romantic just the way it was,” she said, her voice a little husky because her throat was tightening up again as emotions began to pour through her.
She realized now that some part of her had become convinced that she’d never hear those words from Jayson, and that she was okay with it. She’d come to accept that it would be enough to love him, but she’d been lying to herself. She’d needed to hear those words. The joy of hearing them now, having never expected them, nearly overwhelmed her.
She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him close and burying her face in his neck. As she breathed in his amazing scent, tears filled her eyes. She needed the tears as much as she’d needed to hear that he loved her. She’d been holding her emotions in check for so long, it felt good to finally let it all go.
Jayson held her close, his hand gently caressing her hair. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to a place where I could say I love you, but to be truthful, I couldn’t imagine ever being good enough for you. I’ve realized that I had to tell you though. Or risk losing you. I couldn’t live with that. I’d die rather than live without you.”
Layla pulled her face away to blink at him. “You’re never going to have worry about being without me because I love you too. I have since the day I saw you at the wedding. I’ll always love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Jayson tenderly brushed a tear from her cheek with his finger, then leaned forward and kissed her. His lips were warm and sweet, and her mouth opened of its own accord to give him an all-access pass. His tongue slipped in to tangle with hers, making her moan. He tasted like the chocolate bar they’d had before going to bed last night mixed with something else that was intrinsically his and more delicious than any candy.
He rolled onto his back, pulling her with him. Layla slowly slid atop him, cautiously straddling his hips. She was very careful not to put too much weight on him, worried she could hurt him. But the position didn’t seem to bother him at all, and as his hands slid down to her hips to tug her down a little harder, she couldn’t help noticing the impressive erection he had in his jeans.
She dragged her mouth away from his and looked down at him with amusement. “It seems there’s someone down there that loves me too.”
He groaned. “Yeah, that would be true. He’s definitely in love and has been from the moment we met.”
