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“I never meant to hurt you like this,” he said in a tone loaded with self-derision. “I handled it badly. I handled us badly. And you’re right. I did run. But I couldn’t go far. You kept pulling me back. Always back to you. ”
She pulled her head away so she could look into his eyes. All she saw was a burning intensity. No deception. He didn’t look away. “What do you want, Max?” she asked softly.
“Haven’t you been listening? I want you. ”
She looked briefly away but then his fingers nudged at her chin and forced her to look back at him.
“For how long this time? What about when it’s time for you to leave? Or the next emergency happens? Or you decide you’re not
cut out for a relationship? This is my home, Max. I’m not fucking around with you or indulging in some hot fling where my family lives. They’re important to me. They’re everything to me. ”
He sighed and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “I know I have a lot of ground to regain. Your trust has been damaged. I get that. But give me a chance, Callie. You and me. Let’s do it right this time. ”
“Define right. ”
“I take you out to dinner. You take me to meet your family. We go out on dates. You show me your town. Show me the places you love. Show me what makes you you. ”
She sucked in a deep breath. Her heart was fluttering so madly that she had a hard time getting air in and out of her lungs.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
“No, not okay, like you’ve just received a death sentence. Do it because you want me like I want you. Show me that woman I fell head over ass for. The woman who doesn’t take shit off anyone. Who has so much fire she burns me with every touch. That’s the woman I want back. ”
Her lips slid slowly upward into a smile.
“I missed you, Max. ”
He crushed her to him, and it was then she could feel that his heart was every bit as out of control as hers. It thudded against her skin like the wings of a hummingbird.
“I missed you too. So damn much. There was a hole in my chest that was eating me alive. ”
Hope fluttered up, tentative but there. It was tempting to squash it back down. She’d already been hurt so much. But more than the hurt, something came alive inside her, bubbled up until it overwhelmed her. Joy. It had been so long since she’d felt remotely happy that the sensation was alien.
“Tell me yes, Callie. Tell me you’re in this thing with me. ”
She reached for him this time, the first time she’d made an overt gesture to touch him. She brushed her hands over his cheeks, felt the rasp of stubble on his jaw. Then she leaned in and kissed him softly.
“Yes. ”
He groaned but allowed her free rein. She could feel the tension flowing from his coiled muscles. How he remained so still when his very nature demanded that he dominate amazed her.
She pulled away, her fingers slowly falling from his face. He caught her hands and pulled them between them to rest against his stomach.
“There’s just one other thing we need to come to an understanding about. ”
She eyed him warily as his gaze roved possessively over her.
“We’re together. In every sense of the word. Which means you in my bed. Every night. No matter what. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to build us again but that includes us in the bedroom as well. ”
She inhaled sharply, her body automatically responding to the dominance in his voice.
“The words. I want the words. ”
She licked her lips nervously and then slowly nodded. “All right. ”
Chapter Seven
Callie stumbled from Max’s hotel room, her mind and senses reeling. He hadn’t wanted her to go. He’d wanted her to stay with him. But she needed time to process what had just happened. And her parents were expecting her. Lunch tomorrow. She’d told them she’d be back tonight. She hadn’t invited Max. Maybe that hurt him. But she simply wasn’t ready to introduce him to her family. She first had to come to terms with and resolve herself to the abrupt change that was her relationship with Max.
How could she go from deeply wounded to suddenly happy? Her family would smell a rat a mile away. Then they’d want an explanation, and she wasn’t ready to spill what had transpired between her and Max.
They would be angry. Understandably so, and their relationship with Max would forever be tarnished by the fact he’d hurt her so badly. They wouldn’t forgive so easily.
She got into her SUV and drove. No direction. No clear destination. She circled the small town and pulled up to the bar. Dillon would be working tonight since he’d ordered her to take the night off. Which meant that Lily was home with only Michael and Seth.
She’d promised her mom she’d be back, but she couldn’t go yet. Not without talking to Lily. Her mind was about to explode and she needed to unload. Lily was the only person who knew the whole story.
She backed out of the parking lot and turned in the direction of Dillon’s cabin. It wasn’t a far drive from town, but it was down a winding private road that dead-ended at his house.
Her hands shook on the steering wheel, and she took her time, not trusting herself not to wind up in a ditch. When she finally pulled up to the cabin, she breathed a sigh of relief and shut off the engine.
Before she was fully out of her truck, Seth appeared on the front porch and leaned against one of the posts, his gaze sharp as he watched her get out.
She smiled or at least she thought she did. Her entire face felt frozen and her lips were still swollen from Max’s kisses.
“I thought you were staying with Mom and the dads tonight. ”
