Fuck.

I needed to put my fist through something. I need to break something.

Why the fuck did I go along with my mom’s stupid as fuck idea?

The look on her face. Broken tears and pain. That’s all I saw etched over her flawless skin. More pain that I had caused her.

I should leave. I should give her space, permanently, because all I did was fuck it up.

I started to walk towards the entrance, not caring about the fact that I’d brought someone with me. Ah well, Aly would be able to find a way home. That was what Uber was for.

“Danish.”

Did I hear that, or did I imagine I heard it?

“Please.”

I stopped. I wanted to turn around, but at the same time, I was afraid to. What if my mind was making shit up now?

Until I felt a soft hand on my arm, gently pulling me, silently asking me to turn around.

I complied and came face to face with my everything. She had no make-up left, and my heart broke knowing that I’d had any part in causing the tears that removed it. I reached up without thinking, and cupped her cheek with my hand, running my thumb across her soft skin gently, wiping away the tears that were long since gone.

“Hi.”

Her voice was still quiet. As if she was afraid to break this moment. I was fucking scared, too. I was afraid to open my heart up all the way to the possibilities, to the chance that this might be our opportunity to start over, the chance to fall again.

“Hey, you.”

She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine.

“You’re here.”

She pressed her hands on my chest, and raised up on her tiptoes to kiss me softly on the cheek. My skin buzzed as if there was static in the air.

“Always. I’ve always been here.”

I pulled her gently into my arms, amazed once again at how easily she fit with me. Amazed at how every bit of me that had shattered had suddenly pulled back together. With her head by my heart, where it belonged, I started speaking.

“My name is Dane McCallum. My dad slowly built McCallum properties over years, starting with small rental houses, and moving into buildings that had dual purpose, like where the QB2 is. You know, a business downstairs and an apartment or two up above. When you moved into the apartment, I didn’t know who you were. I’d not met you yet. The day you freaked out in the car thinking I was your landlord, my brain short circuited and I chose the wrong option. I should have said, no – I’m not your landlord, my dad is. Instead, I said we had the same landlord. It wasn’t a lie, because I was paying rent to my dad’s company. But, I knowingly withheld the full truth, and that was so wrong.”

Mari sighed against my chest, a sound I couldn’t quite figure out. Was it a happy sigh? A contented sigh? A disappointed sigh?

“I’m at fault, too, Dane. I said I wouldn’t run, but I did. I should have stayed and we could have worked it out, probably pretty easily. I should have, but I didn’t. I panicked. I freaked. I was so intent on letting my childish trust issues keep me from anything that could bruise me, that I allowed everything to break me.”

Hope filled me.

“Dane, I’m going to catch an Uber.”

My body stiffened at Alicia’s voice. I tightened my hold on Mari slightly, to keep her from running again.

“Alicia, thank you for everything.”

Nothing but warmth came from Mari. I looked to see Alicia point at me and give her the thumbs up.

“What the hell happened?”

Mari smirked and shrugged.

“Girl stuff, you couldn’t possibly understand. But you might want to send her a thank you gift.”

I walked us over to a small couch in the lobby, and pulled her on my lap. I wasn’t ready to stop touching her.

“So, what happens now?”

I asked her that question, letting her choose our path. Because it was us she was choosing for. It wasn’t just her.

“I think that you and I should try forever on for size.”

“Forever is a pretty long time, my love.”

I could feel her smile against my chest, and my heart swelled.

“Yup, it sure is. I’m not going to be the easiest person to love, Danish. I am seeing a therapist to deal with my issues. I’m going to keep seeing her, because I think she’s good for me. She’s a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but she’s good to me. Sometimes, I will break. Sometimes, I’ll shatter. Don’t give up on me, don’t let me run. Hold me tight until we fall back together. And when you break, when you shatter, I’ll hold you tight.”

Thank you, God.

I sent up a prayer. I would send up a thousand of them every day for the rest of my life, because there was no way I would ever thank the big guy upstairs enough.

“Sounds like a plan.”

She turned in my lap a little bit, so she could straddle me and capture my lips in a kiss filled with longing and missed opportunities.

“Uh, Mari, you may want to slow down a little bit. I mean, I’m only human and I’m not sure I could hold on even if I wanted to.”

The proof of my arousal was pressed hard and intimately against her heat, and she wiggled around to rub it against her while sitting there in the front lobby. She let out a sexy as fuck moan from the sensation that damn near had me blowing my load right then and there.

She leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

“I hear that there’s a broom closet nearby.”