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She also said Ben and I were fighting over her. That wasn’t right. I was fighting for her. Perhaps Ben was too, but since I hadn’t seen him in years, I couldn’t say if we were fighting each other. But if he was pissed at me, perhaps that was how she saw it. Whatever was going on, I couldn’t let her leave without trying to fix it or at least understand it. I hated that she looked so pained. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her.
I stood, grabbing my wallet and tossing a c-note on the table. I hurried toward the door to catch her.
I finally caught up to her on the sidewalk as she made her way back home. I reached out and took her arm to slow her down.
“Beth, please wait.”
She tugged her arm out of my hand, but stopped and stared up at me with those pretty blue eyes, blazing with anger.
“You’re not a pawn. Not an object. Not to me.”
She shook her head, a clear sign I was still missing the point.
“No, I’m your mistake.”
What? Finally? the pieces fell into place. I cradled her face in the palms of my hands. “Being with you was never a mistake.”
“You said—”
“Walking away from you, Beth. That was my mistake.” Hadn’t I said this before? “I told you, I’ve never forgotten you.”
“But you wanted to make it up to Ben that you’d slept with his sister.”
“My mistake with him was in not telling him how I felt about you.” I inhaled a deep breath. “How I still feel about you.” Taking a chance, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers in a soft kiss. It was New York, the city that never sleeps. So people walked by as I kissed this beautiful woman.
“Yeah man,” I heard along with clapping.
Beth pulled back, and for a moment, I thought I’d lost the connection again, but she took my hand and led me up the steps to her townhome.
As the door shut, she whirled on me. “Let’s get something straight.”
“Okay.”
“What happened six years ago was something we both wanted.”
I nodded. “Agreed.”
“Regardless of your friendship with Ben or that he’s my brother.”
“Also agreed.”
“Ben wasn’t a factor in any of it.”
I let out a breath feeling some tension dissipate. She wasn’t talking like she was about to walk away again. “I wanted you more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life, Beth.”
Her eyes widened like she hadn’t expected me to be so honest, which didn’t make sense. Hadn’t I been saying this stuff practically since I’d first seen her again?
“Then why did you leave?”
I sighed. “I told you. I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to our fathers. I’d do it now in a heartbeat, Beth.” Hunter had been right on that point. I couldn’t let my father stand in my way. “Whatever they could heap on me now to try to make me leave you, I’d take it just to be with you.”
“That’s it?”
I stared at her, wondering what I could tell her that would make her understand. The only thing I could give her was the truth.
“I won’t deny that I was afraid of my feelings back then. I wanted to make you mine, forever, and that scared the shit out of me.”
She gasped at the word forever.
“I was young and you were even younger. Our fathers could have been right. Maybe you just had a teenage crush that wouldn’t last—”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently.
“I was ready to admit to Ben how I felt about you that last night, but I was torn about taking away his dream of the club especially if our dads were right and this was just a summer fling. And then your dad said he’d disinherit you and I couldn’t take that from you, Beth.”
Her eyes studied me and I hoped she saw the truth of what I was saying.
“I’ve regretted being away from you every day,” I added, just in case she still wasn’t sure about my feelings.
It must have been the right thing to say, because she was in my arms, and her lips were on mine in a fierce, hot kiss that sent liquid fire surging through my blood. I groaned and pulled her tighter against me, wanting to claim her, finally.
I didn’t know the layout of the house. I knew there were five bedrooms but I wouldn’t know where to find them. So I steered her out of the foyer into the living room where I saw a large couch. I tumbled with her, maneuvering her so that I was over her. My blood was raging, but I had to show her how I felt about her. I had to make her feel cherished and valued. She needed to know that this wasn’t just sex. It was never just sex.
