Page 94 of Fall Over You

She nods with a sad smile. “I did too.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know this is weird.”

She’s so pretty lying here next to me in her little pajamas. We’re sealed away from the rest of the world, just the two of us in a wonderland of sheets.

“I want everything. Our businesses doing well. Ellie to feel safe and secure. To give you all the love you deserve.”

“And all the lovin’?” she suggests with a sweet, mischievous smile.

I can’t help but grin at her. “Yeah. That too.” I lick my lips and roll them between my teeth. “I’m afraid if I take my eye off the prize, I’ll lose focus and ruin things for Ellie.”

“I get that.” Her eyes follow her finger down the front of my shirt and back up again. “I’m not her mom, but I bet it’s good for her to see her dad happy too.”

The deeper doubts tug at my insides. What if Becca breaks my heart? What if being with Becca does what being with CJ did to me? Hardens me against the world? Makes me lose faith in myself, my judgment?

“I know,” I whisper. “I’m just afraid I can’t do it all.”

“Well,” she chuckles, “not sure I’ve ever been in one, but I think healthy relationships make life better. You work together to make it good for both of you.”

I run my tongue along my teeth. “I have trouble with that. I get too focused on everyone else and then get resentful.”

She smirks. “You? Resent me? Impossible.”

Looking at her like this, in my bed, stripped down, vulnerable, I don’t know how I ever resented her. Maybe she’s a different person than she once was, and so am I.

“Maybe we could just go slow,” she suggests.

I have to laugh at that. “You’ve never been slow a day in your life, Reba.”

She presses her lips together, then smiles. “I think I could be for the things that matter. Some things are worth the wait.”

“You’ll wait for me?”

“I won’t wait.”

I quirk a brow at her and she goes on.

“I’ll be right here with you along the way.”

My hand slides down her side to her waist and I pull her in tight to kiss her. This kiss is slow, thoughtful, just the two of us feeling each other. When we part, she giggles.

“You do have to communicate, though. I would have fucked the shit out of you on our wedding day if I knew you wanted it.”

“When? When you were out picking pumpkins in the middle of the night?”

She cocks her head. “Yeah, I’d fuck you in the pumpkin patch.” We laugh into a kiss, then she laughs harder. “I’d make you sit with a pumpkin stem up your ass.”

There’s a rustling next door and Becca flinches. “Make them go away. They’re probably running amok in there.”

I tuck her into my chest and kiss her forehead. “In the morning. I’ll call Jake and Dusty and we’ll evict ‘em.”

Becca nods and after a few deep breaths, she’s asleep in my arms.

THIRTY-SIX

BECCA