Page 136 of Wish I Might
He shook his head.“I never lied.”
She jabbed a finger at him.“We said we were going to be honest, remember?Total transparency.”
He grimaced, then nodded.“I remember.”
“You didn’t tell me you were still in love with me.”
“No, I didn’t.”He sighed.“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
He lifted a hand to drag through his hair, the only sign of agitation he’d shown since she’d arrived.“Because you weren’t ready to hear it.”
“But I was ready to hear it while sucking another man’s dick?”
“I got caught up in the moment,” he admitted sheepishly.“It just slipped out.”
She scrubbed her hands over her face and, tired of standing, lowered herself to sit on the porch.“One day I’m going to look back on this, and it’ll be hilarious.”
“I’m sorry for when I said it,” he said quietly.“But I’m not sorry you know.I do love you, Bailey.I have from the first moment I saw you, and I always will.”
She kept her head down.“I love you, too.”
There was a beat of silence, then, “What?”
“I said, I love you, too.”She looked up.“I don’t think I ever stopped.I told myself I did.I had to.”
His eyes were so warm, love and a cautious sort of joy making them glow.“I know, baby.”
“And I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“That you’ll break my heart again.”
Hope leapt into his eyes, wild and bright.“I won’t.”
“How can I trust that?”
“You can’t,” he acknowledged.“Not yet.I’d have to show you, prove it to you.You’d have to give me a chance to.”
She threw up her hands, frustration and hope a tangled mess in her already unstable stomach.“I don’t even know what that would look like.It’s not like we can just pick up where we left off.”
“No, we can’t,” he agreed.
“It’s been eight years,” she went on.“We’re different people now.I own a house and a business.You own a suit.”
His dimple winked.“Just the one, though.”
“Would we start dating again?”
“We could,” he allowed.“That’s up to you, too.Whatever you want, Bailey.”
She stared at him, torn.She wanted to protect her heart, shield it from more pain.But she wanted him more.“We’d have to go slow.”
“I’ll be a snail,” he vowed, eyes glowing.
Her lips twitched in spite of the pounding of her heart.“Maybe not that slow.But I need time, Nash, to trust you.To trust us.”
