“You know, when I first met Donovan I used to think I was special,” I admitted. “I mean, here was this dashing, fancy billionaire who could have any woman he wanted, and the only woman he wanted was me.”
“Youarespecial,” Colson muttered.
“No,” I shook my head. “What he saw was someone who wouldn’t push back. Someone looking to settle down, who was finally taking the exit ramp from the usual relationship drama.” I sighed, headily. “He thought he could shape me, because of that. Mold me into the kind of wife he’d always wanted.”
I saw him relax. He was half-smiling when he turned to face me again.
“He really fucked up, huh?”
“He sure did.”
Those steely eyes looked me over again, but more than just physically. Right here, right now, I felt like he could see my soul.
Maybe he even could.
“I never understood why you stayed,” he said softly.
I thought about it for a moment. The answer was a bitter pill.
“I never left, because leaving would be like admitting I was wrong,” I told him. “For once, I wanted to be right about something. I wanted to see it through.”
He nodded slowly, as if he understood.
“Yeah, well you almost made it,” he chuckled. “You got all the way down the aisle.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Yup. And then you hopped on a motorcycle, lit up the tires, and made that asshole turn six shades of purple.”
I laughed and leaned into him, which was like leaning against a mountain. The move made my body tingle, as my brain conjured images of last night. The shower spray, bouncing off those iron shoulders. The feel of his hands, squeezing me like he owned me, as his hard body crushed me against the tiled wall.
“You’re still a Marine,” I told him softly. “Once a Marine, always a Marine. Right?”
He hesitated, but only for a moment.
“Yes.”
“Well, take me to the bed then,” I smiled, sliding both arms around him. His body was soothingly warm. So hard and sculpted, but also, inviting.
“I’ve never slept next to a Marine before, and it sounds like the most comforting thing in the fucking world.”
