Chapter 14
Grey fought back a smile at the way Evie’s cheeks flushed a deep crimson. Sure, his arrival surprised her, but he liked surprising her. The sweetness in her expression, the happiness that someone cared enough to surprise her. Fuck yeah, he’d chase down the opportunity to see this look on her again. And for the first time in days, he finally felt steady again.
While he’d listened to her talk to herself, he had regarded her house a little. He never imaged a house suiting a person completely, but hers did, and he guessed that was because she was an interior designer. All the little touches, like the pillows with the hearts on the swing, to the Home Sweet Home welcome mat at the front door, held an Evie flair. He liked this house. A lot. Though he liked the gaping woman sitting motionless on the swing even more.
After taking a moment to obviously recover, she cleared her throat. “Um, you weren’t supposed to hear that conversation.”
“I beg to differ,” he said with an arched brow. “Those thoughts were about me. Who better to hear them?”
She blinked twice. “Why are you here?”
“To talk to you, if that’s all right.”
She paused, then gave a sweet smile and a little shrug. “Well, you came all this way, so I guess so.”
All the tension in his chest faded just that easily. It was in her smile, in the warmth of her eyes, in all of her, he found his comfort. Keeping his eyes fixed on her, he moved to where he wanted to go. To her.
As he climbed her porch steps, she sat up a little straighter on the swing, bending her legs, bringing her knees to her chest. He took his time and then dropped next to her, needing to get this right. Staring out at the road, he used his feet to push the swing back and forth, but finally, with her near, his mind calmed.
“I’m sorry that I hurt you, Evie,” he started, tackling the most important thing first. “Keeping how Seth felt from you was because of my own insecurity.” He turned to her, her gaze locked onto his. “I knew I only had that one weekend with you, and I didn’t want to taint what we had going. Of course, my plan backfired.” He liked how softly she stared at him, any anger she had for him was clearly gone now, so he added, “My intention was never to hurt you. In fact, I wanted to make you happy.”
“You did make me happy,” she said, resting her cheek on her knee. “But I also don’t think you’re the only one who needs to apologize. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have left you like that, and that was my insecurity. You had no obligation to tell me about what Seth said to you. And, honestly, I’m not even upset about that anymore. It was a knee-jerk reaction.”
“It was an honest response,” he retorted, knowing that mistake on his part could never be corrected. “I should have done more than just told you about him. I should have laid him out, staking my claim to you right then and there.”
She lifted her brows. “And what would that have accomplished?”
“It would have told him that you’re mine. It would have shown you that I wanted you. That I’d fight for you. That I’d be all that you need and more.”
She paused, her eyes searching his. “Is that what I am…yours?”
“Well, you see,” he said with a smile, pushing his feet again, sending the swing rocking back and forth. “That’s what brings me here.” He drew in a long, deep breath, collecting his thoughts before addressing her again. “You have to understand, Evie, that it’s just been me for thirty-five years. I formed habits, I guess. I’ve gotten used to the way things are in my life.”
After another gentle push of the swing, he added, “I think along the way, it was a conscious choice I made. To be and stay single. I liked my life that way. It became simplified, comfortable, uncomplicated.” He smiled then, and using his free hand, he brushed his knuckles across her jawline. “Then you came along and turned my simple world upside down.” He liked how her eyes fluttered shut when he cupped her cheek, and how she leaned into his touch. It made him know he was right where he should be. “Those three days with you were the best days of my life.”
She gave her sweet smile. “For me, too.”
With those few words, his world realigned, making him feel centered again. Yet this new world revolved around the woman before him. “It’s been six days since I came home. Six painful fucking days that I haven’t had you in my arms. I can’t endure another moment of it.”
Whether it was his words or his expression, he didn’t know, but it made her act. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her in close to straddle his waist. Dropping his head into her neck, he inhaled, taking in her flowery perfume, keeping hold of her in a way he’d never needed to grasp onto anything before.
He stayed there, time passing them by, and him not counting the minutes. These past days had broken him. Ruined him. And now, having her back, nice and close, was all that he needed and more.
Eventually, though, she moved away, and he slid his hands up and down her arms, keeping that connection. Her smile returned, tears in her eyes, when she said, “You’re not alone in feeling like you came back to Seattle a different person.”
“Explain.”
Staying on his lap, facing him, she threaded her fingers with his. “You have to understand, Grey,” she cleverly used his words back on him. “I thought I had it all figured out. I’ve always been the bigger person. I’m the one who forgives first. I’m the one who takes hit after hit because I’m strong enough to take it and survive. Then you came along and turned my world upside down.”
The strength…the sparkle…Christ, she was his. “How did I change things?” he asked, stroking his finger across her thumb.
“You made me run,” she said softly. “I never run, not from anyone. You made me worry about giving you my heart, and I know that’s because you could devastate me in ways that Seth never could, because with you…it’s real.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he murmured, squeezing her fingers.
“That’s a promise you can’t make,” she retorted, squeezing his hand back. “No matter how hard you try, people get hurt. It happens. But we can promise each other that we’ll always try and make sure we remember the other person’s feelings. That we’ll stay and do everything we can to work out the hard stuff. That we’ll protect each other. That we’ll always choose love.”
“I can do that,” he told her. “Can you?”
“I can.” She hesitated again, this time longer, and when she spoke again, her voice was thick with emotion. “I want you to know that I felt more loved by you in three days than I felt in years with Seth. I don’t want to pretend that doesn’t mean anything. It’s been awful without you.”
“Now that, angel, is something I completely understand.” His chest constricted, and his throat tightened too, but he pushed through it all, keeping his feet planted on the floorboards to stop the swing from moving. “And that’s probably the perfect lead-in to what I have to ask next.”
Her eyebrows winged up, curiosity filling her expression.
He began, “First, I didn’t understand how you could forgive Holly and Seth. It simply didn’t make sense to me, but I know now that’s because I didn’t see that you honestly have no control over who you fall in love with. I always thought it was a choice, and I chose not to elect that with anyone.” He paused, knowing he had to get this right, “Then you came along, and I realized I don’t control shit. I still can’t say I’ll be perfect at this, or that I won’t fuck up along the way, but all I know is that I hate not being with you. So, Evie, shall we continue what we started in the tropics?”
Her mouth twitched. “Are you asking me to be your first girlfriend, Greyson Crawford?”
“I am.”
She hesitated for a long moment, her eyes searching his before she smiled. “Yes, Grey, I’ll be your first girlfriend.” Another pause then laughed softly, eyes twinkling unlike anything he’d seen from her before. “Oh my, God, I’m popping your relationship cherry.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, watching her gaze flare with desire. “That sounds like you don’t think I’ll stick.”
“No, I think you’ll stick, but I am going to have to teach you a lot.”
He released her hands and dragged his thumb across her bottom lip, infatuated with that damn mouth. “Dare I say that sounds like a challenge.”
She grinned sensually. “Maybe it is.”
“Well, angel, I happen to like challenges. Particularly when they involve getting naked.”