She wraps her arms around herself standing in my hall.
“Where’s London?”
“With Carl.”
She spins toward me, fire in her eyes. “I waited for you. I waited, and all that time, I thought you didn’t come back. All these years, I hated you. I hated what you did to me, and what I hated the most was the fact that I loved you. I never stopped.”
I stand mutely, wanting nothing more than to wrap my arms around her.
“Hayley, I—”
“No, let me finish.” She raises a hand. “Even when I was engaged to Logan, I never stopped wishing he was you. I could never give my all to anyone because everything I am belongs to you, and now you’re here, and you just lost your wife, and I don’t want to be a feel-good fuck. I don’t want to be the one you seek solace in and then walk the fuck off.”
“I would never do that!” I close the distance between us, holding her slender shoulders in my hands.
“You say that now, but you’ve never been willing to fight for me. You’ve never chosen me.” She swipes a tear angrily. “And now, now I have London to think about, and I cannot — no — I will not disappoint her.”
“I’m in it for the long haul.”
She sneers. “Yeah, you said that before.”
“Hayley, I don’t know what to say to make you believe me. Just hear me out. Can we go into the living room?” She nods, and I lead her into the darkened living room by the small of her back.
“Urgh, this is just a huge mess,” she says when we’re seated. “Just a big fucking mess.”
She stands and starts to pace the room.
I walk up behind her, and she spins on her heels.
I know I shouldn’t, but I cannot resist pulling her close to me. She’s so beautiful with her hair in a messy bun, and her cheeks flushed with anger.
I do the unthinkable. I crash my lips to hers, and I feel like if I don't get her closer, I’ll lose her, and she’ll slip from my fingers forever. She smells of something floral, lavender perhaps. It’s new, yet familiar.
I taste her lips, and she relents. I pick her up and bring her to the couch, seating her so she’s straddling in my lap. I wrap my hands around her head, drawing her closer to me, letting my tongue explore her mouth.
I cup her face in my hands and stare at her. In the dim light, she looks like an angelic creature, her golden hair shining like a halo. She’s so much light when my life before was filled with darkness.
I remove her jacket, pulling her top over her head. My eyes travel up the contours of her body, in awe of how perfect she is. She’s changed, but in all the right ways. She’s no longer that little girl next door. She’s a woman with curves for days and skin that's soft to the touch.
I place my hands on her breasts, grinning. “These have sure grown.”
She laughs and leans in to capture my mouth. “Just get me naked.”
She doesn’t have to ask me twice as I start to shift her yoga pants down. She lifts herself up and pushes them off, along with her panties. The sensation of her wet core on my thighs makes me groan.
She leans in and places her hands on my bare chest, her fingers entangling in the hair there.
She kisses a trail from my lips to my neck, chest, and all the way down to my boxers, gripping the elastic waistband in her lips and pulling it slightly. It stung . . . and she grins at me wickedly.
I push off my boxers and flip her, so she’s under me. I want to savor this, but I want to be inside her.
“Don’t ask me why, or if I’m sure. Just fuck me,” Hayley demands.
I let my hands travel over her stomach and down to her clean-shaven pussy. I tease and tickle her there, until she gasps, her legs falling open. “Touch me, Wyatt. Now.”
I want to tease her, please every inch of her body, but there’s no denying once my finger enters her that she’s ready for me.
“I need you in me.”
