“Baby, this is your room, too, so why wouldn’t I make sure it would be what you want? Me, I don’t give a shit about the color of the duvet as long as you’re under it with me. Speaking of which…”
His lips are on mine before I can take my next breath, and I lean into him with a sigh, spearing my hands through his hair to pull his head down and closer.
“Make love to me, Wyatt,” I gasp, pulling my mouth away and moaning when his hands skate up and under my shirt, his fingers finding my breasts without pause.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.”
***
Wyatt
The idyllic peace of the last few days is shattered when I get a call four days later letting me know that Aunt Lynn is on her way, ready and rearing to meet the woman who brought me to my knees.
I love Aunt Lynn, don’t get me wrong, but the thought of having her anywhere near Ellie while that piece of garbage she’s married to has free access to our home through her makes my skin crawl.
“Tell her no, Pop. I don’t want her near Ellie till her husband is safely behind bars,” I snarl, pacing the study with long strides and agitation.
“Wyatt, we knew this would happen sooner or later. Lynn is my sister, and she has a right to be part of the family and you know it. Now settle down and talk to me, boy.”
Talk about what? The fact that for the last four days and nights I’ve been making love to Ellie and doing everything in my power to earn her trust along with that last scarp of her love.
It’s unreasonable to even think this, but I’m pissed that she doesn’t love me yet. Think of what I’ve gone through to get to this point we’re at. I haven’t made love to another woman in two years since I finally decided to go after Ellie.
That was my penance and the way I kept myself pure for her, because no matter how many times I told myself to leave her alone, I knew I would always want her.
I’ve spent so long watching her while also trying to bury myself in work and chasing that perfect deal that to say I had a life at that stage would have been laughable.
I won’t lie to her and pretend to be someone I’m not. I’ve always been a take-charge, go-after-what-I-want-till-I-get-it kind of guy, and this patience shit is not my natural state.
On one hand, I keep berating myself for my anger over her not taking one look at me and loving me. On the other, I still wonder how she can be so great that she’d break down so much of her walls and actually let me anywhere near her.
Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but a large chunk of my already lost heart is thinking that she knows that we are meant to be together.
That’s the part of me that gets annoyed when I say something like “I want a quick wedding” and she takes three steps back and away from me. I shouldn’t be rushing her and overwhelming her, but the fear that she’ll soon find it all out despite my family’s promise not to say anything before I’m ready…it’s always there, driving me harder, faster, demanding more, more, more.
“Pop, listen, I know I’m being unreasonable here, but I know Aunt Lynn. She won’t hesitate to say something if she thinks she should, and half the time she’s so innocent of the undercurrents, she’s bound to let too much slip without even knowing,” I mutter, dropping down into a seat at his desk.
“Boy, you’re walking on eggshells right now and part of me feels for you, I really do, but I warned you not to leave things going this long without speaking to Ellie. If the girl didn’t feel something for you, she wouldn’t be here with us right now and you know it.”
That’s true, but I’m a greedy man. I want the whole enchilada and the side order of salad, too. Ellie has to love me without reserve, and so much that when she knows everything, it won’t hurt her.
And end up hurting me when she turns and walks away.
“She’s not ready. No, Pop, she isn’t. I know it because I hold her at night when she’s having nightmares and shedding silent tears in her sleep. I get the job of knowing that her dreams are back, because I’ve stirred up that can of worms. It’s all too raw.”
He shakes his head at me and gets that bullish expression on his face that reminds me so much of Jared, I don’t even want to be here to hear what the old fart has to say.
“For you. Yeah I said it, boy, and I won’t take it back because it’s a long time coming. This is all still too fresh for you! Ellie is doing just fine here with the way your mama and brothers pamper her to death. And that’s without you trying to run around after the poor girl twenty-four hours. She is fine and she’s told you that a hundred times. It’s your own misplaced guilt that’s fucking everything up, and if I were you, I’d think about getting help and letting that stuff go.”