Page 73 of Score Her Heart

“I wanted to be your knight in shining armor. I thought if we stayed married, you would come to love me like I love you. Like I have always loved you.”

I laughed. “Oh my God, we suck at communicating.”

“Truly,” he remarked. He fingered the ring on his own finger. “I only take my ring off when I have to play.”

“C’mere,” I urged and pulled his face back down to my lips, easing myself on my back on the carpeted floor. Riley hovered over me, his hands on the side of my head and an amused look on his face.

“Right here?” he asked. “You want to have sex on the floor? When we have a perfectly good bed two feet away?”

I already threw my shirt over my head and pulled his suit jacket off his broad shoulders. “Uh huh,” I answered and unclasped my bra behind me. I grinned as the fire lit into his eyes at the sight of my naked chest beneath him.

“Seriously?” he asked again, but he undid his tie and rushed to get the buttons undone on his dress shirt. “Wait.”

“What?”

“Why did you get drunk with Dinah yesterday? And why were you crying and apologizing to me this morning?”

“Fuck, baby, I’m sorry. I got drunk with Dinah because I was scared.”

“Aw, Fiona. You’re the love of my life; I would never leave you.”

“The love of your life?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Fiona, I’ve loved you since we were seventeen years old hooking up in your parents’ basement.”

“Really?” I asked, my voice hitching up an octave in surprise.

He nodded. “Okay, maybe before that, but that was when I knew.”

“C’mere, big guy, and show me just how much you love me,” I urged and started to peel my underwear off.

“Oh, fuck yes,” he breathed as we shed the rest of our clothes, and he did what he was told.

* * *

“Hey, I’m still hungry,” Riley mused later as we laid side-by-side naked and sweaty after having moved to the bed for a second love-making session. That phrase used to make me gag and roll my eyes, but the sex today had been slow and gentle. I usually liked it rough, but there was something nice about the way he cradled me softly and repeatedly told me how much he loved me. No wonder the sex was so good with him; it was because I was madly in love with this man. I regretted not realizing it earlier.

“Oh yeah, I guess I could eat,” I replied and smiled at him sleepily.

He pulled me towards his side and wrapped his big arm around me. I sighed and snuggled into his chest. I didn’t understand how it took me so long to realize that I was in love with this man.

“Never thought you’d ever be my wife,” he said under his breath.

“Me neither, but I’m glad Eric never showed up. It was a blessing in disguise.”

He stroked my hair gently. “Yeah, me too.”

“I should have never told you to ask out Stacey Graves. I should have kept you all to myself.”

He chuckled into my hair. “I wished you did too because that girl was a drama queen. Nothing like my calm and collected best friend.”

I pulled away from him reluctantly and swung my legs over the bed. I surveyed the room; it was kind of a mess with clothes everywhere and all the drawers in the dresser opened wide. I was still kind of mad that I had lost my ring.

“Sweetheart,” Riley stated flatly with annoyance in his voice. “What’s this?”

I turned to look over at him and saw he was holding my ring in-between his fingers. “Oh my God! Where did you find it?”

“In the sheets!”