“Jaz.”
“—that. I know every time those lips of yours?—”
“Firefly.”
I sniffled as I moved out of his grasp enough to look up at him. “Wha?—”
I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight. His mask, tugged down around his neck. Those green eyes of his, focused intently on my face. My gaze traced along his nose, slightly crooked, like it wasn’t quite set right after being broken. They studied his cheekbones, high and proud, and for a moment, I didn’t see anything wrong.
Until my eyes fell to his lips.
I took in the jagged scars extending from either side of his mouth.
“Most people call it a Glasgow smile,” Ghost said.
I watched his lips as they moved. The scarred skin, just tight enough to draw his lips up into a permanent grin.
A grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Oh, Gee,” I whispered as I slowly raised a hand.
My fingers trembled as they moved closer to his face. He flinched for a moment, but he didn’t back away. My eyes darted to his, and his head ticked with the smallest nod. So I moved my fingers closer.
Slowly closer.
Until they brushed against the rough, jagged scars.
“I felt these when you kissed me for the first time,” I whispered as I traced them with my thumb.
His lips puckered and kissed the pad of my finger as I traced his lips as well. “Surprised you didn’t recoil.”
I just shook my head and traced the other side of his scar. “Never.”
My God, it felt like I was seeing him for the first time. This man that had unlocked parts of me I had cordoned off my entire life. This man who infuriated me, and then worried me, and then somehow managed to suck me under while allowing me to breathe the air I needed directly from his lungs.
The man I somehow fell desperately in love with.
“Hi,” I whispered as a soft smile graced my lips.
And when he returned the soft smile in kind, I relished how beautiful his face was.
Even if he didn’t believe it himself.
“Hey yourself, beautiful,” he whispered back.
28
GHOST
I wasn’t sure what made me do it. Maybe it was her selflessness, or her unwavering love for someone who didn’t always deserve it. But when I was sure of a decision, I never hesitated. And as I watched my little firefly stare up at me with those big, beautiful chocolate eyes of hers, I knew I made the right decision.
I watched her slowly smile up at me.
It was like she was seeing me for the first time. I guess in a way, she was. I tilted my head as her eyes roamed over my face, the tightness of my scars on the lower half of my face on full display for her. She reached up a trembling hand. I watched the motion with my eyes.
She allowed her thumb to slide across the scars extending from the corners of my mouth.
I figured she’d want a detailed explanation of how I got my scars. I would have given it to her, too. It wasn’t a pretty story. There was no way I could sugarcoat some of the tortures I experienced during my time in the military.
