Chapter Thirteen
ON THE DRIVE back to her apartment, Max gazed out the window into the darkness, clutching Treat’s hand and feeling like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She wasn’t rid of her ghosts, because she had no doubt that she still harbored a grudge, but at least now Treat knew the truth. Even though it was late and they were both tired, they’d gotten so close she didn’t want their night to end. She wanted to be in his safe, loving arms.
When they arrived at her apartment she could see by the set of his jaw and the fierceness of his eyes that he was still stewing over her confession.
As he unlocked her apartment door, she grasped for something to break the tension and said, “Thank you for sharing Hope with me.” He nodded absently, and she knew he was still mired in darkness. “I shouldn’t have told you what happened. I’m sorry.”
He pulled her into his arms, embracing her so tightly it was hard to breathe. “That’s not it, baby. I just want to be with you. I don’t want to leave you tonight.”
“Then don’t.”
Hope and worry brimmed in his eyes just like the nervousness whipping around inside her, but she had to follow her heart.
She took his hand and led him inside, walking toward the bedroom. “Stay with me.”
He drew her into his arms again. His lips were warm and loving on hers, and she drank in the sweetness of his kiss.
“I didn’t say that so we could fool around,” he said tenderly. “I just want to be with you, to hold you and know that you’re okay after reliving those memories. I can wait as long as you need to before doing anything more than kissing you.”
“I know, but maybe I can’t,” she said honestly. “I trust you, Treat. That’s why I felt safe telling you my secret.”
“You can always trust me, baby.”
He cupped her cheek, and she leaned into his palm, reveling in his touch. She knew he could feel her trembling, but she didn’t want him to hold back.
“I’m nervous,” she admitted. “But please don’t back off. Just be patient with me. I’ve only been with two other men. The man I just told you about and one other during my senior year of high school. I thought I loved him and that we’d be together forever, but you know how that goes. What do you know at eighteen? We went to separate colleges, he cheated on me, which broke my heart, and I got the inevitable Dear Jane letter a month later.”
“I wish I’d known you then. I’d have stayed with you forever.”
The honesty in his eyes made her heart beat even faster. “No, you wouldn’t have. As I told you, I was weak. Not the strong, self-sufficient person I am now.”
“You weren’t weak, baby. You were inexperienced and thrust into a situation you didn’t expect. But you got out of it and made an incredible life for yourself. You took care of you, Max, and that makes you supremely strong. But no matter what you might have been like back then, I know I would have been attracted to you. It’s your very essence that draws me in, your strength and your softness. If we were together back then, I would have wanted to hear your thoughts and dreams, your insights and inspirations, and of course your fears and worries, so I could help alleviate them. I would have listened to your criticisms of me and tried to better myself to become the man you needed me to be. That’s how we grow as people and in relationships. We would have helped each other become the best we could be, and now we’ve got a chance to do just that.”
“Oh, Treat.” Max tried to speak past the emotions clogging her throat. “Now I wish we would have known each other back then.”
He brushed his lips over hers and said, “I didn’t think I’d ever feel as strongly about anyone as I do about my own family, but the magnitude of what I feel for you puts those feelings to shame. Can you feel it, the energy between us?”
“Yes. I knew it in Nassau. All the defenses I’d worked so hard to erect came crumbling down, and I felt that softer side of me that I had hidden away reemerging. I wanted you to take care of me—and that, more than anything, scared me.” She’d never met anyone so loving and patient or so strong and sure of himself. “It was overwhelming, which was why I didn’t spend that first night with you when you invited me back to your room. I mean, how could I feel so much after a few romantic hours?”
“I don’t have the answers, but I felt the exact same way. I wanted to be with you, to take care of you, yes, but also to experience you. To talk and spend time together, get to know you, and learn about what makes you tick. That’s why I was such a jerk when I saw you with Justin. I thought after our night together that connection was mutual. I made a stupid assumption about the two of you, and it threw me right back to the situation with Mary Jane and my brother Dane.”
“We’ve both been betrayed,” she said.
“And now we’ll help each other heal.”
She clung to his arms as he held her and exposed the very heart of her. “I might get scared.”
“I’ll make you feel safe.”
“I’m not easy, Treat. My defenses go up when my feathers are ruffled, I’m stubborn, and I can be savagely strong when I need to be, but like earlier today, sometimes it’s easier to hide than to face the truth.”
“I admire your strength and your stubbornness, and as you’ve seen, when you hide, I’ll come find you.”
Her heart opened further with each of his responses. “I need to know that if that happens, if I get scared and my walls go up, you’ll be patient with me and help me through it. Don’t let me turn my back on us out of fear of my past.”
“I’ll love you through anything, Max.”
Love? Her heart soared. He gazed into her eyes with so many emotions in his it made her even dizzier than his promise.
“I will love you through the good and the bad.” He kissed her softly. “The fights and the…” His gaze darted to her bed, then back to her, soft and alluring, making her heart sprint in her chest. “The frisky nights.” He took her in a passionate, bone-melting kiss. “I want you to be strong and tell me I’m full of crap. I want you to call me on anything I do that’s hurtful or uncalled for. Max, I was brought up by a man’s man who was also the most gentlemanly person I know. I don’t want to be any less than he is, and you deserve everything I have to give.”
“Love me, Treat. Love me with your whole heart.”
She went up on her toes, and he met her halfway in a kiss full of promises, of hopes and dreams, and of soothing, unconditional love.
He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “I want every piece of you, but after all we’ve gone through, are you sure? Do you want to sleep on it and see if you still feel the same tomorrow?”
“No,” she said, and began unbuttoning his shirt. “I want you to love me into tomorrow.”
Moonlight basked them in a romantic glow as he carefully undressed her, pressing tender kisses to each body part as it was revealed. She was shaking by the time her panties slid to the floor, but it wasn’t from fear or old ghosts pushing their way in. She was adrift in a sea of emotions as he touched and loved her. Lost in his exquisite beauty as he stripped off his own clothes and came down over her. She expected his strength to overpower her, his muscles to squeeze her too tight. Instead, his grasp was gentle, his weight safe and enticing, and when he cradled her in his loving arms and their bodies became one, her nerves fell away.
“I’m going to love you far longer than tomorrow, Max. I’m going to love you forever.”