“Thanks, Doug. I really owe you for this.”
“You don’t owe me anything. We’re partners now. Take care of Brooke. I’d like to see her well. Mindy Sue’s worried about her. She took it hard, trying to help Brooke and knowing there was nothing she could do to make it better.”
“I know just how she feels. But let her know, Brooke is getting help. She’s slowly getting better.” Cody leaned back heavily in his chair, happy about Brooke’s progress but exhausted from another long day. It was almost seven, and the morning had wilted to a black night as dark as his mood.
“Take it easy, Cody. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”
Cody said goodbye with a heavy heart. He didn’t want to deal with the governor and bring all the bad back into Brooke’s life. He didn’t want to see her go five steps back when he’d only gotten her to take one step forward.
The time they spent holding each other every night in the dark helped ease them into a more intimate relationship and rebuilt the trust he’d lost. She was slowly beginning to believe how much he loved her and wanted to make a life with her.
He wanted her to be his wife. He’d wait as long as she needed to make the commitment to him that he’d already made in his heart to her.
But first he needed to figure out who sent that damn note and a way to deal with the governor and make sure Adam paid for what he’d done without destroying Brooke in the process.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brooke stood in the doorway, staring at Cody, highlighted by the single lamp on his desk, casting the rest of the room in shadows. She remembered a lot of other nights she’d found him just like this. She remembered the night they made love.
Deep in thought, he stared at nothing. She walked into the room and around the desk. She didn’t think he noticed her, then he reached out, took her hand, and pulled her gently down into his lap. She went willingly, sinking into his warmth. His arms wrapped around her. He pressed his cheek to her head and held her close. She sighed and snuggled in closer, her heart glowing warm with the love he made her feel more and more each day instead of the cold emptiness inside her.
“Hey, sweetheart. I was just thinking about you.” His deep voice resonated through her.
She traced her fingers along the vein running over his muscled forearm. “I hope I’m not the one who put that dark look in your eyes.”
His hand rested on her thigh and squeezed. “Never. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
His other hand held her bare arm. His fingertips traced the scars. The stark reminder of what happened would fade over time. But right now they stood out just like the nightmare in her mind. She wondered how long it would take them to fade.
Cody didn’t hesitate to take her hand and kiss each scar with openmouthed kisses. Each brush of his lips countered the grim sight of them with the warmth and desire he spread through her system.
He held something back from her despite his efforts to distract her from seeing it.
“What’s wrong, Cody?” The words were soft and coaxing.
The strain of whatever weighed on him left lines in his forehead and bracketed around his sad eyes. He leaned his forehead to hers and stared at her. He sighed his frustration. His breath washed over her face.
She placed her hand on his cheek. “Please, Cody, talk to me.”
“I love you.” He put his hand over hers on his face and looked her right in the eye. “I love you so much.”
The flutter in her heart made it feel like it could soar right out of her chest, yet she went still at the joy his words brought. After all she’d been through, she didn’t quite know what to do with the vibrant, light feeling inside her but stand still and bask in it.
Cody frowned. “If it takes a hundred million times to see you light up with happiness when I tell you I love you, I’ll do it. I won’t stop. I’ll never stop. Not until you really believe that everything you hoped for and dreamed about with me is yours. And no one is going to take it away from you or me or us. I love you.” His solemn eyes pleaded with her to hear him.
His head fell heavy against the seat back. His gaze fell away from her, so filled with regret and remorse it made her stomach sink and her heart ache.
Something inside her shifted.
How could she guard her heart and have the relationship she wanted with Cody? It wouldn’t work. Not like this. Not while she was holding back, holding him at arm’s length so she didn’t get hurt again.
Cody would never hurt her. He wanted to love her.
She wanted to love him. All she had to do was show him her heart might be broken, but it still beat for him.
Brooke closed the distance between them and kissed him softly, letting her lips linger over his in a kiss so achingly tender it brought tears to her eyes. She ended the kiss, rolling her head until their lips broke apart and her forehead touched his. She opened her eyes and stared into the blue depths of his, so filled with love for her it couldn’t be denied.
“‘I love you’ doesn’t cover how deeply, irrevocably ILOVEyou.” She pressed her hand to the side of his face, her fingers softly caressing his temple, her thumb pressed to his soft lips. “I never stopped. I never will.” She kissed him again. Longer. Deeper. Lost in him and the love she felt him pour into the kiss to match her love for him.
