“I want that more than anything,” she whispered. Climbing into his lap, her lips collided with his as she molded her body against him.
He pulled back. There was so much he wanted—no needed—to tell her. “Before you decide, there’s something you need to know about me. It could change your mind about me…about us. I’m not—”
She pressed a finger to his lips, cutting him off. “Alec. No more confessions for today. You’ve had an intense day and whatever you want to say right now won’t change the way I feel about you or who you are. I know you, Alec. I don’t know every detail or dirty little fact, or even every beautiful thing about you, but I do know you, and that’s all that matters.”
Maybe it made him a jackass, but he wanted to take the out she gave him, at least for today. Being with her made him feel alive, and in that fragment of time, he didn’t want to risk losing her yet. Maybe it wouldn’t matter, like Violet suggested, because everything between them came down to one thing. He felt the words shape on his tongue and held back for a moment, weighing them, but in the end, he wanted her to know how he felt about her, only her. “I love you.”
Her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ and anxiety and uncertainty filled him, but he wanted her to hear what he had to say, and if she didn’t feel the same way, that was fine. He’d spend every day trying to change her mind. “I know neither of us went into this relationship wanting more than a few weeks, but somewhere along the way, I realized I wanted more, and that more was you. I love you. You’re it for me.”
She touched his face, her fingertips barely grazing his skin. “I love you, too.”
“You do?” He smiled, opening the car door and carrying her toward her house, one arm around her shoulder and the other beneath her knees.
“Faults and all. What are we going to do now?”
He set her down and she opened her door.
“To start, I’m going to kiss you here.” His lips whispered across hers. “And then here.” His lips skimmed the length of her neck. “And I’m going to touch you here.” His hands slipped under the bottom of her shirt and he felt a shiver race through her body. Damn, he loved this girl.
Chapter Twenty-One
She gasped as Alec draped her on top of her bed.
“Are you sure you don’t need to check in on the Foundation?” he asked, kneeling on the bed next to her, his fingers trailing softly up and down her legs.
“They won’t miss me, and Eve worked with me for a year before she quit. She knows what to do.” She twisted her hands into his t-shirt, trying to pull him closer.
“You’re wrong. I think the kids will miss you.”
“Well, they’ll have to fend for themselves for a few days because I want to spend time with you.”
“Think of Dean. I’m sure seeing you every afternoon is the best part of his day.”
“Hm,” she murmured, bracing herself on her elbows. “Are you really jealous of a seventeen-year-old?”
“Not even close.” He chuckled. “Well, maybe a little. I was seventeen once and I know what kind of thoughts are running through his mind.”
“So are you saying you don’t have those types of thoughts anymore?”
“Only with you, Little Violet.” His fingertips caressed the side of her face.
She couldn’t help it. Her whole body melted in response to the intensity burning from his eyes. His mercurial, deep blue eyes changed from intense to sinful in seconds. There were a million things they needed to discuss in order for this to work between them, but she didn’t want to spend the rest of the day dwelling on the unforeseen obstacles to having a committed, long distance relationship with him. She wanted today to be about the two of them and that moment in time where the look on his face made her believe they had a chance to make this work.
“I like that thought.” Leaning forward, she nibbled on his lip ring before sucking it into her mouth.
He groaned, shoving his hands into her hair, lightly tugging at the roots. The look on his face made her desperate for him. “You want me to share some of my thoughts?” he said, abducting both her mouth and her common sense with one of his mind-wilting kisses that were a little dark, always wild, and utterly consuming. She couldn’t get enough. Would she always feel this way? If the way she felt since she first saw him was any indication, she probably would. With every little piece of him he revealed, she only wanted him more.
“No,” she answered when he released her lips and her mind circled back to his question. “But maybe you could show me. That might be better. I’ve always been a hands on, get my hands dirty kind of girl.”