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“I needed something to do after work while you were gone.”
Charlotte closed the gap between us and wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her head against my chest. “Thank you. You are incredible. I don’t deserve you.”
I pulled her away from me to look at her. “Why would you say that? I love you. We deserve each other.”
Her arms dropped at her sides. “We should talk.”
I sucked in a breath, bracing for her words. “Okay. Let’s talk.”
Charlotte’s eyes were watery, and she wore an expression I couldn’t read. “Now that everything is out in the open, I hope you can understand why I tried to keep it from you. A part of me always knew my past would catch up to me. I burned down the bakery—my mom’s bakery that she loved—and ran away with the insurance money like a criminal.
“But what was even worse, I left John to die in there. I saw him get knocked out, and I looked the other way to save myself. I’ve had to live with that guilt for a year. The guilt of killing a man. I was too scared to tell you. I didn’t want you to hate me.”
“I could never hate you. You did what you had to do to save your and your father’s lives. John would’ve killed you, Charlotte.”
She nodded as the tears ran down her cheeks. “I know. I get that. But it was so hard living with that guilt.”
I wiped her tears. “It’s okay, baby. Everything worked out in the end. We just had to go through some scary shit to get here. But we’re here.”
“I know it’s a big thing to ask, but I need you to be honest with me.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“I need to know if you can forgive me for everything I’ve done. For everything I thought I did in Florida. For everything I’ve done to put you in danger. All of it. Because I love you more than anything in this world, Tanner, and now that everything is out there for you to see, I need to know. I need to know if you can forgive me. I need to know if you still want to be with me.”
My heart swelled. I didn’t have to justify such a silly question with an answer. I gripped Charlotte’s face and slammed my lips against hers. She opened her mouth and our tongues found one another. We stripped each other down in the middle of the living room, our hands frantically searching for skin. I picked her up by her ass and carried her into our new bedroom. It was ours, whether she acknowledged it or not. Dropping her onto the bed, I climbed on top and pressed myself against her.
“Tell me you forgive me,” she breathed. “Tell me you want me to be yours again.”
I gazed into her eyes. “I forgive you. I love you more than life itself. You will always be mine because I will always be yours.”
Charlotte didn’t need me to forgive her. She needed to forgive herself. I could help her with that. The way she had helped me.
From day one, something had drawn me to Charlotte. I was never able to pinpoint exactly what it was. She was beautiful. Caring. Smart. But there was always something more. Something I saw whenever I looked into her eyes.
Now, after everything that had happened, I finally knew what it was. Charlotte wasn’t a damsel in distress. I’d had it all wrong. I’d defended her and tried to protect her, but she didn’t need my help. My girlfriend, the love of my life, was a fucking badass. She was an incredibly strong woman who fought for the people she loved.
Technically, I’m the damsel in distress here.
And that didn’t bother me one fucking bit.
Twenty-five
Charlotte
“What do you want for dinner?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t we order in?” I dug my car keys out of my purse and waited for Tanner to lock the garage.
“You’ve wanted to order in a lot lately. I think you like being at the apartment a lot more than you’re letting on.”
“I love the apartment. That was never in question.”
“You’re right.” Tanner grinned and wrapped his arms around me. “The question is, why don’t you want to live there with me?”
“I already told you, I—”
“Excuse me, Ms. Thompson.”
