Her eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to embarrass me?”
He shook his head. “Never.”
“Fine. Okay, I love you, but I won’t bother you with it.”
“You’ve been bothering me since Sarajevo.”
She blinked. “What?”
“It’s been about five years, right? You in my ear, giving me shite, being all sassy.”
“I am not sassy.”
She sounded so offended that he snorted. “You are. Do you know what was happening during all that time?”
“I irritated you.”
“Yeah. A lot. I mean, some American in my ear telling me I suck, that irritated me.”
“Let me go.” She tried to twist away, and normally he would let her go. But not now. Now she was stuck with him, and she had to understand that.
“I can’t. I love you.”
Instead of stopping, her struggles increased.
“You do not.”
“Are you telling me that I don’t love you?”
“You’re just saying it out of pity.”
He laughed and she stopped struggling.
“Don’t mock me.” Hurt dripped from each word.
“Love, I am not doing this out of pity.” He sighed knowing he was going about this all wrong, but then that was them, right? The two of them would never be normal. “I started falling for you from that first time. I didn’t know it, but I was. I started looking forward to every call.”
She continued to look at him, unshed tears shimmering in her bicolored eyes. She would always stun him no matter what. All that beauty and an amazing brain, he was a goner the moment he saw her. Hell, like he had said, he had been falling for her while trading jabs over the phone.
“Then, I found out that beneath that steel exterior, you had a soft heart. You cared, putting yourself in danger for other people. The moment I saw you in person, you owned me. You crawled right into my heart, and I don’t think you’ll ever leave.”
“Ian.”
“I’m not good with words.”
“You seem to be doing a pretty good job right now,” she rasped.
“You bring it out in me, love.” He set his forehead against hers. “I’m insanely, completely in love with you, Lila.”
“Ditto,” she whispered, then she kissed him. He had been careful to keep their kisses light over the last couple of days. Every bit of him wanted to claim her, take her to bed and never let her out. Hell, they could live there and be happy, he was sure of it.
But she was still healing and he needed to let her rest, so he pulled away. Lila stopped him by grabbing hold of his shirt.
“Where are you going?”
“You need?—”
“You. All I need is you.”
