Nothing in my life ever felt more right than that moment with her in my arms. Nothing ever fit so seamlessly, so perfectly, like it was always meant to find its way. Nothing will ever matter more than her—more than this, more than us.
She is everything. My hopes. My dreams. The reason the sun still shines after every storm. The reason the stars have a home in the night sky beside the moon. She is why people believe. Why I believe.
Months ago, we were strangers in an alley, talking about Heaven and stars and things I never thought could be real. If she asked me again, I’d tell her I know now that there is a God. That there always was.
She’s the proof.
On the fourth day of break, the winter sun peeked in through her dusty rose-colored curtains. The amber light danced across her flawless skin, her slightly parted lips, the high curve of her cheekbone. In the golden aura that surrounded her, she was an angel.
I ran my fingers through her soft waves and peppered kisses along her face, her lips, her neck. Then I shifted carefully, trying not to wake her. She stirred beneath the sheets, long dark lashes fluttering open.
“Going somewhere?” she asked through a lazy smile.
“Shh, go back to sleep,” I murmured. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
She stretched, long and slow. “Seems like you’re sneaking off in the middle of the night. Not very gentlemanly of you, Cooper. After how generous you’ve been these last few days, I have to say, I’m a little surprised.”
I huffed out a laugh. “It’s morning, actually, and I wasn’t sneaking. I was admiring during a quiet goodbye.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “Admiring what?”
I brought my lips against her ear, kissing her just beneath it. “An angel,” I whispered as I climbed on top of her, pushing her knees open with my thigh. “Halo. Wings. The whole nine.” I kissed her again. “She’s the real deal.”
She smiled against my neck as her arms and legs wrapped around me. I instantly became hard and rubbed against her, her moan dancing along my skin. It made it that much harder to leave.
She kissed my chest. “So where are you going?”
“Home. I need clothes. And soap that doesn’t smell like flowers and oranges. People might start to talk.”
She laughed. “You have clothes.”
“I’ve been wearing the same shirt for four days. At this point, it’s becoming a part of me.” She giggled, and I rolled off her, finding my jeans and stepping into them. She perched up on her elbow, a sultry grin meeting her lips and a seductive haze coating her silvery eyes.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Admiring,” she hummed. Something about it warmed my chest. I walked back to the bed and kissed her softly.
“Fine. We’ll go,” she said when I pulled away.
“We?” An excited thrill shot through me.
“Yeah,” she sat up, long legs dangling over the edge of her bed. “I need coffee. And I want to see what your bedroom looks like. I bet it’s all sexy and manly and stuff.”
I laughed, thinking of my blank slate of a bedroom—a navy comforter in a gray room with a window half the size of hers. “I’d lower your expectations.”
She grabbed a hoodie and slipped it on. “Impossible. I’ve already decided it smells like you.”
I slipped my hands around her waist. “I’d much rather it smell like you.”
“Well, you already smell like me. Now it’s my turn.”
My voice turned gravelly, low and suggestive. “I could help you with that now, if you want.”
“Mmm, I want,” she sang, jumping up into my arms and pressing her mouth against mine.
An hour later, we were right back where we started—getting dressed before grabbing a cup of coffee and heading to my apartment.
What I didn’t know was it would be the last time.
