Two spots appeared on her cheeks as she stared at me, her mouth falling open slightly. Otherwise she was quiet.
“And I thought you were knew that. I thought you knew you were too good for me. But I saw you today. You looked hurt.”
“I was hurt.”
“And I hated that I hurt you,” I pushed on. “Hated that. I should’ve said something then, but I didn’t want to force you to go public—with me.”
“Jacob, I thought you were ashamed of me.”
My head snapped up. “What?” That didn’t make any sense. Why would I be ashamed of Lia? She was fucking beautiful, sexy, adorable, smart, funny, clever. She was in a whole different league than me.
“I thought I wasn’t cool enough,” she explained. “I thought you wanted to keep me a secret from your girls.”
“I want my girls to know.” I frowned. “I think my girls do know.”
She laughed and my heart swelled at the sound. “Did you say,” she began, “that you loved me?”
I moved closer so my chest was flush with hers. She tilted her head back to look at me. “I did.”
She smiled and my heart did a million cartwheels in my chest. I was taken back to that moment weeks ago, when I first saw her in the bar. I’d wanted to make her smile then, too. I just hadn’t realized where that journey would take me.
She shook her head. “No. It makes me happy. So fucking happy because I feel the same. I love you, too, Jacob.”
Now my heart was doing somersaults. I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, sliding my mouth over hers and kissing her more passionately than I’d ever kissed anyone. She responded, as I knew she would, matching my passion with her own.
When I pulled back and gazed down at her, I felt so fucking happy I wanted to punch a hole in the wall.
“It won’t be easy dating someone like me,” I told her.
“I don’t care.”
“I come with baggage. A shitbag full of baggage.”
“I don’t care.”
“I have no money.”
“I have my own money. I don’t need yours.”
“I have a sick mom.”
I snorted. Yeah. Right.
“I have two daughters.”
“Whom I already adore.”
“You want to see them?” I asked.
Her eyes went wide. “Yes.”
“You hungry?”
“Starving.”
I looped my fingers into hers. “Come on. We’ll get some pizza. There are two girls there who I can’t wait to introduce you to.”
And I pulled Lia into my world.
The End
If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:
Rock Hard by Sam Crescent
Love on the Line by Laura M. Baird
On the Ropes by Dania Voss
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com