Page 110 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
I felt emotion begin to well up in me. I tried to blink it away, but tears pooled in my lower lids. I wasn’t sure if I was feeling so overwhelmed because he’d thought of me during his vacation or if it was because I’d missed him so much and he was actually here. Just being this close to him again felt so good, it scared me. Because I knew that he was going to disappear from my life again, and I’d once again be immersed in the cold, dark emptiness that he left in his wake.
“You don’t like them?” he asked, and I could hear the uncertainty in his tone.
“No.” I sniffed and looked up at him. “Sorry, I love them. I’ve always wanted a pair. This is…thank you.” I tried to put on a brave smile. The last thing Alex needed was to deal with my existential crisis. Or any crisis for that matter.
“Sadie?” The concern that was dripping in his voice was what broke me. I felt a single tear slip down my face.
This time, he did lift his hand and cup my face. His thumb brushed the rogue drop away. Unable to help myself, I tilted my head into his touch, loving the sensation of his palm cradling me. But I couldn’t let myself get carried away without getting the answers I’d needed for a long time. “I just need to know why did you do this, Alex?”
“I got Lexi and Mia a pair and I don’t know…I just… it felt wrong to not get you a pair too."
I smiled and opened my eyes. “No, not the ears.” Now that I’d seen him again, any question I had that he’d been the one behind it was squashed. I didn’t have to ask him if he did it, just why. “Why did you do all this?” I fanned my arm around the room. “My apartment. The bakery.”
“To keep you safe.”
It wasn’t lost on me that both my dad and Alex only seemed to focus on the security system that Alex had installed instead of the rest of the renovation.
“This is a lot more than keeping me safe. I can’t accept this.” I felt myself shaking my head. I wasn’t sure how I was going to return it. And honestly, I wasn’t sure about anything. At the moment, all I could think about was that Alex Vaughn was in front of me and all I wanted to do was kiss him. Well, maybe a little more than kiss him. “I don’t know how but Iwillpay you back.”
“No, you won’t.” His voice was firm as if his decision was final, and it sent a thrill racing down my spine; I felt my body tremble with suppressed arousal.
This bad boy dominant thing was really working for me.
“Yes, I will. I didn’t do anything to earn this. I don’t deserve any of this.”
“Yes, you do.” He stepped closer to me, and the mouse ears slipped from my fingers as I lifted my chin to keep eye contact with him. “You deserve a lot more than this.”
My body didn’t think he was talking about the renovation anymore. He’d said the same thing to me before. He’d said that he couldn’t give me what I deserved.
Every single cell in my being was alive with awareness. I tried to tell all those tiny suckers nothing was going to happen. Being with Alex again would be a mistake.
My head knew that. My heart and hormones had a different take on the situation. They were both team Sex Now Consequences Later.
