Page 246 of A Matter of Time

I crossed my arms and waited.

He smiled up at me. “You’re cute when you pout.”

I glared at him, and his snort of laughter almost made me smile back.

Outside the front door I realized I was faced with his newest monster car, another SUV from hell.

“Okay,” I sighed, shoving my hands into my pockets. “So, it was good to see you.”

His scowl could not have been any darker. “I was serious inside. I wanna take you home.”

I shrugged. “Well, I was serious too, so…no.”

We stood there staring at each other, and when he finally took a step toward me, I took one back.

“I can make you if I want.”

“Sure,” I agreed, “but I know you better than that.”

The muscles in his jaw corded tight. “Can I just say something before you walk away?”

I stared into the smoky-blue eyes, and he stepped closer, his hand rising, going to my chest, and settling over my heart.

“I want you, only you, and not just for tonight.”

I was silent.

“Did you hear me?” he asked, his hand sliding around behind my neck as he stepped in against me, staring down into my eyes. “I want you.”

“But—”

“I did what I said I would. I made sure you were safe and then I came back. I figured out what I can do, what I can’t, and it took a while longer than I thought.”

“Sam, you⁠—”

“But now I’m done. I’ve got everything I want except the most important part. For the record, that’s you.”

“But you’ve been back, Sam, and you never came to⁠—”

“I came as soon as I possibly could.”

“Bullshit.” I tried to step back, but even though I was bigger than I used to be, more muscular, I was still no match for his strength. His grip was like steel, and he had me.

“I did. Everything had to be settled, and now it is.”

I shook my head and tried to pull back again.

“My life had to be completely ready for you to step back into.”

“No.”

“And I’m lucky ’cause that guy Aaron pushed too fast too hard and you ran.”

My head snapped up. “No, that was just because it was⁠—”

“Don’t say it was too soon, J. We both know you’ve got no problem with too soon when you know something’s right. You didn’t love him, so you didn’t move in. Simple as that.”

I just stared up into his eyes.