Page 35 of Marriage & Mockery

“I needed to see it for myself. That she’s not me. And I did.” I flashed him a shaky smile. “The character you created was so exaggerated that the woman on the screen doesn’t feel like me at all.”

Some of the tension eased from his shoulders, and his hands flattened against his hips. “Then I’m glad you watched it.”

“I was always going to have that last little doubt until I looked,” I explained. “Now I have.”

“And?”

There was a wealth of hope in that one word.

“And I think I’m ready to stop living in the guest room.” As he took two quick steps toward me, I added, “I’m not saying everything is fixed and I’m all the way back to where we were. But I think we’re ready to get to an even better place now.”

He closed the remaining distance between us. “I’ll take whatever you’re ready to give.”

“Good.” I held his gaze. “Because there is one thing that has to be nonnegotiable going forward.”

“Name it.”

“No secrets. You don’t get to decide that something is harmless enough not to mention. You don’t get to blindside me ever again.”

“I won’t.” The words were immediate but filled with certainty. “Never again.”

“Okay then. I’ll trust you to keep your word.”

He lifted a hand, then went to drop it to his side again, but I closed the last inch myself and pressed his palm against my cheek. His smile was blinding and reminded me of the young man I fell in love with so many years ago.

“I will never give you reason to doubt me again.”

Judging by the determined gleam in his eyes, I knew how much he meant it, which washed away the tiniest threads of remaining doubt. I finally believed we were going to make it, and I didn’t think I could be happier until he pulled me close and captured my mouth in a deep kiss.

19

BENNETT

Ikissed her like a man who knew he had almost lost the only thing that ever made the rest of his life matter. Pouring every apology I still hadn’t found the right words for into the way my mouth moved over hers.

She made a soft sound in the back of her throat and fisted her free hand in the front of my shirt, holding me there. I had spent a month feeling every inch of space she needed. Now she was the one closing the distance, her body leaning into mine.

When I finally lifted my head, we were both breathing harder. Her brown eyes had none of the pain they’d held for weeks. In its place was a warmth I had been afraid I would never see directed at me again.

“I love you.”

The words came out rough, scraped raw by everything it had taken to get back to this moment.

She didn’t hesitate to give them right back to me. “I love you too.”

Awed by her ability to forgive, I rested my forehead against hers and closed my eyes for a moment, letting the overwhelming relief settle into the cracked places the past month had left behind.

We were going to make it. Because she had looked at all of the damage I’d caused and still chosen to stay. “I’m the luckiest bastard in Hollywood, having you for my wife. Thank you.”

She patted my chest with a cheeky grin. “And don’t you forget it.”

“Never.” I kissed her again. “Want you in our bed. Now.”

Her bottom lip puffed out in a sexy pout. “Too bad you have to get back to the studio for the table read.”

“Fuck the table read.” I pulled my cell from my pocket and sent a quick text to Jordan.

Me