Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
This time she lifts the glass with a shaking hand and takes a larger gulp of wine. It’s so damn tempting to reach out and wrap my fingers around hers to steady them.
But I’ve waited this long for the right time.
I can wait just a bit longer.
When I’m done with this woman, there’s nowhere else she’ll want to be and no one else she’ll want touching her.
I’ll make damn sure of it.
She stares down at her nearly empty glass and says quietly, “Would you just… do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
When she tries to avoid my gaze, I slip my fingers beneath her chin, angling her face up until her eyes meet mine.
I need her to see me.
Really see me.
If we’re going to do this, if I’m going to give her every damn thing she deserves, she needs to understand I mean it.
Her lips part, and when her tongue flicks out to wet them, my self-control wavers. It would be so easy to lean in, close that last inch, and taste her.
Instead, her words slice through the haze.
“I know you think this is what you want, but trust me, it isn’t. Give it a couple of weeks and you’ll be over it. You’ll get bored, change your mind, and want us gone. Just… give me a little notice so I have time to find another place to live.”
I shake my head, my gaze dropping to those plush lips I haven’t stopped thinking about since the day we met. “That’s not going to happen, Callie. Not in a few weeks. Not in a few months. Or years. Not ever.”
Her brows snap together. “How can you say that? You live alone and are free to do whatever you want. You don’t know what it’s like to take care of a little kid. Just like takeout, it’ll get old. Trust me, it didn’t take long for Zane to get bored. And just like him, you’ll want us out.”
The thin, bitter waver in her tone nearly guts me.
In that moment, I want to find Zane Holloway and wring his damn neck with my bare hands for making her doubt her worth, for turning love into something that left scars she still feels. He didn’t just break her heart. He ripped away her sense of security. Her belief someone could choose her and stay.
With my fingers beneath her chin, my thumb glides across her lower lip. It’s such a small touch, but the tenderness I find there has everything inside me stilling.
“I’m not him,” I say. “I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep. And I don’t walk away when things get hard.”
Her eyes flash, something fragile sparking in them, but she reins it in. She wants to believe me.
She just can’t.
Not yet.
“You weren’t with a man before,” I continue. “You were with a selfish little boy who didn’t know how to value what he had. You gave him your heart, your loyalty, a family, and he threw it away. But I see you, Callie. I see everything you are. Everything you’ve built. Everything you carry. And I want it. All of it.”
She goes motionless, the silence between us thick with things that have been left unsaid.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I add. “So don’t ever confuse me with the kind of guy who would.”
Her lips part on a shaky exhale. “What is this to you, River?”
I don’t hesitate.
“This,” I say, pressing my forehead to hers, “is everything I’ve ever wanted. You. Nora. This life.”
She swallows hard. “I don’t believe you.”
Even though I’m disappointed by the response, I’m not surprised.
A slow nod follows as I continue to hold her face. “That’s okay. You don’t have to. Not yet. Zane did a number on you, and I get that. Just know I’m going to prove it every single day until the only thing you believe is me.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears, but she doesn’t pull away.
It’s a small thing, her staying still and letting me in even just this tiny bit.
But right now, it feels like everything.
17
Callie
“I see you, Callie. I see everything you are. Everything you’ve built. Everything you carry. And I want it. All of it.”
As much as I want to believe him, I just… don’t.
Can’t.
The thought of opening myself up to the same kind of pain as before is too scary. I’m not even sure this living arrangement will survive a week.
Two, tops.
This man has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.
From the corner of my eye, I watch as River strips down to his boxer briefs like it’s routine and we’ve been doing this for years. All the fangirling on Railers Rumors about River Thompson being one of the sexiest hockey players in the league is one hundred percent accurate. The guy has more in common with a Greek statue than a flesh and blood man.