“I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world. Now I think you’re the most beautiful woman.” I move to the bed and sit with her still cradled against me. “So trust me when I say that the only way you could hurt me is by pulling away when I finally have you in my arms after a decade of wanting you.”
“You have to say that.”
Huffing out a breath, I shake my head. “No, I don’t. Indie, we lost ten years with each other because of a misunderstanding. Do you really think I’m going to be anything but honest with you right now?”
She blinks rapidly while staring at me. “No?”
“Correct. Now, do you believe me when I tell you that you’re the most beautiful woman in the world?”
“Yes?”
Chuckling, I rest my forehead against hers. “Infuriating woman. But that’s fine. You don’t believe me right now, but you will. I’ll make sure of it.”
“I’m sorry, I just…”
She sucks her lower lip between her teeth, and my idiot dick hardens again. And I know she feels it when she shifts on my lap, trying to get comfortable, then goes stiff as a board. Or my dick.
“Right. I know you feel that, Rosebud. So despite what your brain is telling you right now, my body is backing me up. You’re sexy as hell. Your body turns me on in a way no one else ever has. But it’s more than that, and you know it.”
I have to be careful here. Indie’s a flight risk, and while I’ve spent the last ten years wondering why she disappeared, she spent them thinking I’d chosen someone else over her. We’re starting from different places, and I need to remember that.
Slow and steady. Controlled and deliberate.
“Go on a date with me.”
“Was that a question?” She arches an eyebrow at me, her lips quirking up in a smile.
“If you need it to be. Please, Indie. Go on a date with me. Let me plan something romantic and give me the chance to show you how much I still care about you. How much I still want you.” My heart thunders away in my chest as we stare into each other’s eyes and silence stretches between us.
“I’m only here temporarily.” It’s a whispered objection, but it’s a weak one.
I shrug. “I know. All the more reason not to waste time.” I certainly don’t plan to. Indie may have grown up in Hollywood, but she hates it. Whatever objections she has about her time here being limited, the only things keeping her in California are her parents and Lola, and her parents are gone more than they’re home. Even with their careers slowing down, I know they still spend months at a time on location. Lola could be the more difficult objection to overcome, so I’ll need to convince her best friend to stay too.
And if that doesn’t work, I’ll have my agent approach the LA Stars about playing there.
“I don’t know, Bash.” She sighs and, breaking eye contact with me, looks down at her hands, which are twisting in her lap.
“Why Minneapolis, Indigo?”
She looks up at me again. “What?”
“You could have gone anywhere. Why here?”
“I…”
I’m not sure if she does it consciously, but Indie grabs my shirt with the hand closest to my body and wraps it in her fist. She blinks at me, her mind working almost visibly, as she decides how to answer.
Give me the truth, sweetheart, I silently implore.
“Come on. There must have been a reason.”
“I wanted to go somewhere without photographers lurking around every corner. Somewhere far away from LA.”
I nod. “Sure. But that could have been anywhere. Chicago, New York. Hell, it could have been somewhere remote and secluded, like a little mountain town in Vermont. But you didn’t pick any of those places. You chose the Twin Cities. And I want to know why.”
“Do we really need to have this conversation?” Her grip on my shirt tightens as her tone sharpens.
“I think we do. Because the only reason I can think why you’d choose Minneapolis is because I’m here.”
