Page 56 of Yours, Finally

I gazed down at her and smirked. "That's one way to ask. I had feelings for you first, then I wanted you."

Her smile stretched, glorious in the dim light of night. "Since when, then?"

"End of third year of college. You had just finished your first, and we all went to the old lake house. Gabe, you, and I. Youdropped your bags on the floor by the door and took your bathing suit out, declaring that you needed the cold lake water on your skin stat."

"I don't remember any of this."

"Oh, I do, very clearly. You came out of the bathroom in your two-piece, grabbed a towel, and went out into the old dock. I gazed at you the whole time, until you disappeared into the water and came out again with a smile just like the one you have right now. And this pang in my chest, demanding that I joined you, that I got more of you, see if you would let me hold you… it never went away."

With the smile in place, she stretched up to kiss me. "I love that. Even if it means I had feelings for you first. I've been pining for longer, Jake."

I arched an eyebrow. "You have? Tell me."

"I told you it started in high school for me."

"Tell me more."

"You were a senior. I had just started and I knew no one. We crossed paths in a hallway and you smiled at me…" she sighed. "I was done."

I gave her a slow nod. "Yep. That feels good to hear."

"I bet it does." She lifted herself to an elbow. "You didn't even notice I had a crush on you."

"I didn't, not back then. And not after I wanted you to have a crush on me, either. For the longest time I thought it would be impossible."

"Maybe you didn't want to see the signs."

"What signs, Vi? You dated, you smiled that smile with everyone— you treated me like everyone else. Like you treated Gabe."

"I tried to make the feelings stop. It didn't work." She gave me a soft kiss.

When I could gaze into her eyes again, I dropped more of the walls I'd kept up for a decade. "Pushing the feelings away— it never worked. Even after we said we'd try to move on… there's a flame in my heart that has burnt for you for most of my adult life."

"Why did you kiss me that day, Jake? That first gala. It was the wrong time for us."

I shrugged and lifted my free hand to caress her face. "I broke."

"To see a man like you, who keeps himself under wraps, falling to his knees…" She bit her lip. "That's sexy."

My fingers twitched where they touched her. "How do you know I keep myself under wraps?"

"I've suspected it for a long time. Then that first gala kiss told me I was probably right. The last two months, though?" She brought her free hand to run two nails over my lips. "I saw you almost break."

"I could break now, Vi."

She kissed me, then talked softly into my ear. "I want you to break."

I got instantly hard. My heart didn't run, but it knocked hard against my chest. A deep, rumbling bell tower ringing in my ears, telling me it was finally time.

The soft hip under one of my hands fit perfectly, and I grabbed a handful. She kissed the tender skin between my ear and my beard, lower into my neck, my cheek. The fingers around her face twitched.

I swallowed, hard. "Not here, Vi. Not now."

Her sigh was deep, and she put her forehead down on my temple. My fingers dug into her hair.

"Of course I'll respect that." She lifted her head and gave me a placid smile. "But I hope the jury takes notice that you can, in fact, tell me no."

I snorted and quieted the noise fast. The point was to avoid being caught.