He closed his eyes and ground his teeth together so hard that he saw stars. “I didn’t say that.”
Harmony slipped her hands under his T-shirt and he sucked in a breath.
“Sorry,” she murmured, pulling her hands back, “my hands are cold.”
He grabbed her hands and drew them back against his belly under his T-shirt.
“They’ll warm up,” he promised her.
And even though he felt the cold of her hands under his shirt, he didn’t stop or try to push her hands away.
He wanted those pretty hands on him.
Those amazing hands.
Harmony smoothed her hands under his shirt, her palms against the taut flesh of his belly.
“Take the shirt off.”
His breath caught in his lungs and he sat back, with one leg off the bed and the other folded under him. He kept his eyes on hers every second until his shirt crossed his eyes, taking the sight of her away from him.
When he saw her again… he hoped he wasn’t imagining the look of love that he saw there.
He balled his T-shirt up in his hands and looked at her.
“Honey, I know I haven’t said it yet, but I love you.”
He watched her draw in a breath, the thin strap of her camisole fell off of one shoulder.
She looked at him for what felt like an eternity before she spoke.
“I love you, too.” She swallowed and looked a little hesitant before she spoke again. “I should have told you a while ago, but-”
He tossed his shirt to the side and stretched out beside her on the bed, drawing her closer and into his arms.
“Honey, you tell me every damn day that you love me. Every moment you take care of me and worry about me. Even when you told me to get off of my ass and go to my PT appointments, I knew.
“When you took Sabine to the firehouse and the precinct to show her around where we both work, I knew.”
He kissed her.
He kissed her like she was running out of air and he wanted to give her some of his own.
He kissed her like it might be the last time they saw each other.
And he kissed her to show her just how much love he had for her inside.
When he broke away, she was breathless.
He was, too.
“I… I wanted to say the words.”
Her voice was whispered soft.
“But every time I started to say them,” she drew in a shaky breath, “I remembered how close I came to losing you. And it brought back memories of every time I should have said it and didn’t. It… felt like I just kept missing the opportunity, and catching up was impossible… so I just kept pushing it behind.”
“You never have to tell me you love me, Honey. But if you want to… I’ll listen to it all day long. I see what you do for me and I love you for it.
