Shattered Edge(50)

“Yeah. I’m really glad you’re here.” She put her arms around my neck and pulled my head down so she could kiss me. I knew now wasn’t the time, but damn, that girl always had me kicking it in reaction to her touch.

“Hmm. Not nearly as glad as I,” I said against her soft lips. “We better go or I can’t promise I’ll take you anywhere.”

She let it all out over dinner and I barely said a word. It was her catharsis and I didn’t want to take that away from her. My girl was in pain and I was there to help her in every way I knew how. I wanted to pull her in my arms and hold her, but I couldn’t. She was tough as nails though. I saw her lip tremble several times but she never cried. She held it together and vowed she was going to come out of this mess in a better situation than ever.

What concerned us both was the real estate market in Charleston had taken a nosedive with the downturn of the economy. Terri had made a strong name for herself and had a good referral base. Hopefully, that would pull her through the tough times.

Later that night, after we were back at her house, we turned her third bedroom into an office. She would use her house as her place of business until she had everything set up and then she’d look for an office to rent. We took down the bed and stored it in her other bedroom closet for the time being. I did most of the work because I didn’t want her to take a chance with hurting her leg.

“I can help,” she insisted.

“You are helping. Make sure I don’t hit anything crucial. I don’t want to break anything.”

When we were done, she looked at me and smiled. “Thanks Justin. You’ve really been helpful.”

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

She laughed and it made me feel good all over to hear that sound again.

“Look, I have an early morning, so...”

“You’re not staying?” she asked. My heart leaped and did a damn cartwheel. I was hoping she wanted me to, but I didn’t want to assume.

“You sure you want me to?”

“You’re kidding right?”

I bit down on the knuckle of my index finger for a second, thinking over how I wanted to say this.

“Look Terri, I know this has been a really bad day for you. A shit of a day actually. Sometimes we need our space and I want you to know that when you feel like that, all you have to do is let me know. Of course I want to stay with you. I always want to stay with you. I love you and want to sleep next to you every night. But I also want to do the right thing where you’re concerned.”

“Stay. Don’t leave Justin.”

I grabbed her and she jumped into my arms.

“Just where you need to be babe.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“I’d be shocked if you weren’t. You’ve had a lot to take in the last two days. It would be abnormal if you weren’t scared.”

“What if I fail?”

“Then you learn from your mistakes, you pick up the pieces and move on.”

She looked at me, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, and confessed, “I can’t afford to fail. I don’t have to means to fix it if I do.”

“Honey, you’re getting way ahead of yourself here. Someone once told me that the only way to eat an elephant was a bite at a time. That’s how you’re gonna have to look at this. Take it a piece at a time. Anything more than that gets too overwhelming.”

“And then there’s Alana.”

“Who’s going to be a very valuable asset to you.”

“How is it that you always know what to say?”

“I don’t. I only know what’s obvious right now.”

“Thank you...for being here.”

“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here.”

I’d finally figured out what that thing poking on my chest from the inside was...it was my heart letting me know I was in the right place, with the right girl.

“Have I told you today how lovely you are and how much I love you?”

She slowly smiled and those eyes turned all soft on me. I felt myself twitch in response as I ran my tongue along my lower lip. All I wanted to do was taste her lovely skin, feel those soft lips beneath my own and let my tongue dance with hers. She must’ve read my mind because I heard her soft intake of breath and then her lips slightly parted. I turned and walked us into her bedroom, watching her expression the whole time.

Her chest rose and fell, her hand moved to her throat and her eyes became heavy lidded. She wanted me. I could tell. I set her down on the bed and stripped her clothes off. Then I removed all of mine as she watched.

“I’ve wanted nothing more all day long than to lay with you and run my tongue all over your body...to show you how much I love you. I want to do things to you Terri, that will make you scream my name.”