Page 77 of The Through Duet
After a few seconds, she whispered, “I don’t know how to believe you.”
I deserved that.
I deserved that, and it was clear that I was going to have my work cut out for me, but I was okay with that.After all, anything worth having was worth whatever it took to get it, and I wanted Leandra Rollins, and I’d wanted her for way too fucking long.
“Then how do I make you believe me?”I asked, willing her to take pity on me.
“Kiss me,” she answered.“I’ll know it by the way that you kiss me.”
Looking into her eyes, I said, “Baby, you know it now.”
Leandra shook her head.“No...no, not at all.Right now, all I know is that I don’t want to be made a fool of.”
That was legitimate, but what she didn’t realize was that we all had that fear.Male or female, no one wanted to experience a broken heart.No one wanted to give the deepest parts of themselves to someone who wasn’t going to guard those secrets with their life.No one wanted to love someone and not be loved back.Now, while I could honestly say that I’d never been in love before, I didn’t have to experience heartbreak to know that it’d suck.
My hand moved from the collar of her shirt to wrap around the side of her neck, and her soft skin felt perfect against my palm.Leandra felt as delicate as I’d always suspected that she would.
Her pulse was also beating like a sonofabitch against my hand, and that was definitely a good sign.It meant that she was just as excited for this new development as I was, and even though I didn’t deserve it, I was still going to take advantage of it.
“The only fool in this room is me, baby,” I told her, meaning every goddamn word.
Chapter 13
Leandra~
I was probably making the biggest mistake of my life, but I just couldn’t make myself turn away from him.He was looking at me like I’d always hoped, and his voice sounded sincere and serious.He was also touching me, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was making it hard to think with the way that his thumb kept running up and down the front of my throat.
I was probably also giving in too easily.I mean, the guy’s been treating me like crap for years, yet here I was, ready to give in after only a few sweet words from his lips.Christ, how starved for real love was I that I’d fall at Dalton Summit’s feet so easily and readily?
“Then why do I feel like you’re going to break my heart, Dalton Summit?”I asked, the warmth of his palm making it so hard to concentrate.
“Oh, I’m going to piss you off a lot over the years,” he smirked.“But I’ll never break your heart, Leandra.Why in the fuck would I ever do that to myself?”
“Yourself?”
“Baby, you’ve been avoiding me for weeks,” he said.“So, now that I know what it’s like to go days without seeing that fucking stunning face of yours, you really think that I’m going to do anything to fuck this up?You are straight out of your mind if you think that I’d ever hurt you.”
“Our history proves otherwise,” I pointed out, and while I hadn’t done it to be a bitch, Dalton needed to understand the magnitude of trust that I was placing in him right now.
I felt his other hand slide underneath my shirt as he said, “Well, I’m not that asshole anymore.”
That got a laugh out of me.“Liar.”
“I’m not an assholeto youanymore,” he clarified, a sexy grin on his face.
Now, even though I knew that my feelings for Dalton were real, the fact that he was stalling was beginning to make me worry.“Why haven’t you kissed me yet?”
“Because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to stop once I do,” he admitted.“And I really, really, really don’t want to fuck this up, baby.”
“Who said that you’d have to stop?”I asked, my lungs tight in my chest.
Dalton’s dark gaze flashed, and I could feel my heart begin beating rapidly in my chest, this moment one that I had fantasized about for years.I wanted Dalton’s hands on me, and when he was finished exploring, I wanted to feel the weight of his body covering mine, taking me somewhere that I hadn’t ever thought possible.
“Be certain, Leandra,” he said, his voice low and rough.“There’ll be no changing your mind in the morning if we do this.”
“Why would I change my mind?”I asked, my voice sounding needy.“I’ve wanted you for years, Dalton.”
He let out a deep groan.“Christ, I really am a fucking idiot.”
