Page 69 of Let Me Show You

She furrows her brows. “You didn’t?”

I shrug. “It was a long time ago.”

“I had the time of my life dancing with you,” she says defensively. “I thought you⁠—”

“I did too,” I interrupt. “In fact, I almost got lost in the moment and kissed you. Was gonna spill the truth about how I felt until Gabe arrived and ruined it.”

She stares at me, speechless, and I feel bad that I’ve brought him up when this is supposed to be our time together. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said⁠—”

Katie stands, then pulls me to my feet in front of her. “Tell me now.”

I swallow hard, gazing into her gorgeous green eyes.

“Tell me what you wanted to say that night,” she demands. “I wanna know and hear you say it.”

Gripping her waist with one hand, I brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “I know this is the worst timing, and I apologize for that, but I can’t hold it in anymore.” I drag my fingers across her jawline, then pluck her bottom lip with my thumb. “I’m in love with you, Katie Walker, and if you give me a chance, I’ll spend every day proving how much you mean to me. If I were ever lucky enough to call you mine, I’d cherish you the way you deserve.”

I clear my throat as she’s seemingly frozen in place.

“Then I would’ve cupped your face like this…and so very slowly moved in…then brushed my lips against yours until⁠—”

Our mouths collide as she snakes her arms around my waist. When I slide my tongue between her soft lips, she whimpers and melts into me. My fingers slowly tangle in her hair.

The taste of her is something I’ll never get enough of, and I hope I never know what it’s like not to kiss her again.

Sliding my hands down to her ass, I quickly lift her, and she wraps her bare legs around my waist. There’s no denying she feels how hard I am, and when she presses into me, I release a deep throaty groan.

“Fuck, baby girl.” I walk to the loveseat and sit with her straddling me.

“Baby girl?” she whispers as she grinds against my cock. “I like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hmm.” She leans in. “I like it a lot, actually.”

I smirk and bring a hand to her cheek. “Now tell me what your response would’ve been.”

Katie leans back slightly. “Truthfully, I probably would’ve slapped you for deciding to finally tell me when I had a boyfriend…”

The sass in her tone has me rolling my eyes.

“But after the initial shock, I would’ve said, ‘Noah, it’s about damn time, but you’re too late.’”

My heart drops into my stomach as she smiles with amusement.

“Then I would’ve admitted that I’ve been in love with you for years, and it was the kind of love you don’t just ignore or walk away from.” She cups my face and stares into my eyes. “As hard as it is to admit, I would’ve left Gabe had I known. Even then, I knew I deserved better, but after I suffered a miscarriage, I felt tied to him.”

“You what?” My eyes widen in shock. “When?”

“The summer before my senior year. I took a test, and it was positive. By the time I went to my first doctor’s appointment, I had miscarried.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I planned to once it was confirmed, but after I lost it, Gabe made me promise to keep it between us. I’m not sure why, but he was adamant about it not being anyone’s business but ours and promised to make us a family. It’s why we got married so soon, and why I’d gotten pregnant again so quickly.”

“Wow…” I blink hard. “I wish I’d known, so I could’ve been there for you. It must’ve been an emotional roller coaster.”

“It was, but it was something I figured out on my own. You were working at the garage a lot, and we hadn’t been hanging out as much because of our schedules. It didn’t take much convincing from Gabe for me to stay quiet about it.”