“I did.”
She shook her head vehemently. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she said, “No. You showed me my room. You wanted me there but in separate rooms. All I could think of was that you didn’t see me as a lover anymore. I thought you couldn’t see me as anything other than a mother.” She took a long breath and let it out. “I’m more than that.”
“Oh, Jen!” He pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to feel like that. I wanted you more than I could handle. I fought so hard not to show anything, I didn’t think you were ready. I kept thinking about Mitch and what he did to you, and I didn’t want you to think I was anything like him.”
A sheen of tears spread over Jennifer’s eyelashes. “That day, I tried to show you I wanted you, but you didn’t seem to be paying attention at all, at first. And then when you did, you...” She couldn’t finish.
Mark reached down and kissed the tears away. “I wasn’t prepared for that.”
“Prepared?”
She watched a stain of red cover his entire face and work its way down his neck.
“I don’t date.” His voice sounded husky. “I hadn’t been with a girl since the last time I was with you. At Ruth’s. I...” He stopped.
“What?”
“I’m embarrassed.” He hurried through it. “I don’t keep anything around for those situations.”
Jennifer watched as the red turned almost purple. She felt a smile tug the edge of her lips. “You went to get protection?”
Mark closed his eyes.
He was embarrassed, and she couldn’t help but enjoy it after what he’d put her through.
“Well, you could have said something before you ran out of the apartment.”
“I—” He stopped again. “I’m not very good with girls. I don’t always think things through.” Then he captured her lips with his.
Possibly to stop the taunting, but as the kiss grew more intimate, Jennifer didn’t care. Turning around, she knelt on the stairs, facing him. “How are you with protection now?”
He groaned. “Set.”
Her lips grazed his ear as she whispered, “I love you so much. Do you know that?”
He pulled her into a tight embrace. “I love you, too. I’ve loved you all along.”
“Had to one up me, huh?”
He bit her lip before the kissing resumed. They kissed passionately as Mark took her by the hand and led her up the stairs. She couldn’t wait to make love. Not like the first time, when they’d been drunk and careless. She wanted to feel his body move against hers, and know she would remember every detail of their union .
In the bedroom, she took his hand and led him to her bed. He sat down as she stood between his legs, held his face and kissed him. A marvelous feeling ran down her spine as he ran his fingers through her hair.
She reached over to turn out the light but Mark turned it back on. “I want to see you. I want to watch you as we come together.”
Heat infused her cheeks at his statement, but this was her Mark. The man she’d wanted to be with all along. Sexy, smart, loving. And he was finally hers. As they kissed, she never wanted to stop. She’d never let go of him again.