Page 93 of Mountain Dreams

Her breath caught, and she eyed him closely, but she didn’t speak.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He simply had to touch her. He reached out and clasped her hands, and she glanced down with dismay. “They’re all soapy.”

“It’s okay.” He rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

“Cody…”

“Wait. I’m not done yet.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to know something. You moving in here was the best thing to happen to me in a long time.”

“I like being here too.”

“I don’t want you to leave, so you can get that idea out of your head right now.”

“I don’t want to leave.”

“Good, but I don’t just want you here as my roommate. I want you here as my friend, my lover, and my girlfriend.”

Her eyes went wide at that. “Girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Cody…”

“I’m not playing around, Maddie. I’m serious about you, and I need you to know that.”

She nodded slightly, but she still didn’t look convinced. He decided now was not the time to hold back, so he continued. “I know you’ve been hurt, and I understand if you’re reluctant to get involved with me, but—”

“I’m reluctant to get involved with you? You have it all backward.”

“Huh?”

“I thought you might be reluctant to get involved with me. That someday you’d wake up and realize this wasn’t what you wanted.”

He shook his head vehemently. “You’re wrong. You are exactly what I’ve wanted. I just never thought I’d be able to tell you that.”

She smiled for the first time since he’d come home. “I like hearing it.”

He decided to take his chances, and he hoped she’d like hearing the rest of it. “I don’t just want you for today, next week, or next month. I want you forever because…I love you, Maddie.”

He was met with dead silence and a blank stare. Uh-oh. I spoke too soon. “I might have jumped the gun a little. I tend to do that. Just forget I said it.”

The next thing he knew, she’d cupped his face in her soapy hands. “Forget you said it? Not on your life!”

“Oh.”

She kissed him, softly at first and then more urgently. He didn’t mind that her hands were wet or that he was sweating in his coat. She was in his arms, and she was happy, and that was all that mattered.

His arms went around her waist, and he deepened the kiss, pouring everything he had into it. He intended to back up his words with actions, and kissing was a good way to start since he was pretty good at it (if he said so himself).

She suddenly pulled back and gazed at him, her eyes sparkling. Even if she wasn’t ready to say she loved him, he felt it, and that was good enough for now.

“Ohmigod. I got soap on your face.” She quickly grabbed a hand towel from the counter and dabbed the suds off his cheeks.

“It’s okay. Whenever you’re touching me, it’s all good.”