Page 118 of Reckless Devotion

He looks like he hasn’t slept in days, with black bruises beneath his eyes and stubble sprinkling the edges of a short beard that would usually be perfectly curated. But his eyes remain bright beacons of melted chocolate, smoldering as he takes me in with an expression akin to a man deprived of water faced with a mirage.

“What happened? Where have you been? How am I out?” Questions tumble from my lips one after the other, frantically trying to catch up.

“I’ll tell you everything, but first just let me feel you,” he rumbles, leaning his forehead down to press onto mine, squeezing me tighter in his grip.

I choke back emotion, still pinching myself that this is real.

“You’re here,” I whisper, a tear bubbling over and drifting down my cheek.

The dark slashes of his brows pinch and he sweeps away the tear with his thumb. “You doubted I would come?”

I nibble my lip, warmth flooding my cheeks. “It’s not…it’s not anything to do with you. I just—” I try to explain, but come up short.

How do I explain that no one has ever fought for me before?

He frowns at me contemplatively for a moment, placing me softly on my feet. I cling to the front of his suit, not ready to break the connection so soon. Instead of pulling away like I expected, however, he cups my face tenderly with big, warm bear paws, angling my face up to his.

“There is nothing on this earth that could keep me from the woman I love, Pepper.”

“What?” I blurt out, my eyes like saucers. “Like, as in…me?”

He grins, the corners of his eyes scrunching. “Yes, you.”

I open and close my mouth a few times before I find words. “As in, you know you love me, or you think you might?”

“I definitely know.” He tilts his head to the side in amusement, eyes sparkling.

“But like,lovelove, or…”

“For god’s sake woman, am I speaking French?” He chuckles, rubbing my jaw softly.

“But I’m weird,” is all I can think to reply.

“I actually happen to love that about you in particular.” He leans down to brush feather-soft lips across mine. “I’m completely in love with you, baby. Your big heart, your strength, that brain of yours that runs at a thousand miles per hour—even the way you make me the butt of most of your jokes.”

My breath catches in my throat, the words I’ve wanted to hear for so long but couldn’t admit to myself raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

“And most of all, I love all the jagged pieces that you try to hide from the world. The ones that make you fierce and loyal and so fucking beautiful it takes my breath away.”

I gaze at him in awe, a numb incredulity stealing over me. Not because he’s stupid-handsome, or rich, or eligible, orany of those silly things. But because he’s kind and smart and loving. He’s everything I used to hate, and somewhere along the way, somehow, he became the part of each day that lit my soul on fire.

“My heart recognized you long before I had the words for it, Pepper. And I’ll never stop fighting for you. In this life, or the next.”

“Oh.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “Oh? A guy pours his heart out to you and that’s all you have to say?”

“I mean, of course I love you too!” I rush to catch up, cursing myself for being such a floundering baboon. I cringe as the words come out clumsy, and so woefully unromantic after his poetic declaration.

His eyes light with a mixture of wonder and amusement, his grin becoming impossibly brighter. “Oh yeah?”

“Definitely.” I nod. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this.”

Truthfully, I have been in love with him for a long time. There was no defining moment when I realized, just a slow ascension over time as we collected all of the little tender moments between us along the way. His vulnerability as he confessed his demons, the way he embraced Sunny, the way he never made me apologize for who I am…the way he looks at me like I’m the sun. Like he is right now. Perhaps it was when I spent time with his family, or it could even have been when he first walked into that interrogation room all stormy and irritable. I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I know is that I love him. The big, gooey, heart-thumping kind.

“You’re right, but lucky for you I’m romantic enough for the both of us.” He grins, letting go of me and peeling my purse off my shoulder.

“I’m not sure if that’s your color.” I point at the purse, fighting a smile.