Frayed (Connections, #4)(113)

I press the DOWN button at the only elevator servicing the rooftop. We enter along with two other couples. I stand behind her, and heat fills the large gap between us.

“You did a beautiful job planning the wedding,” one woman compliments Bell.

“It was breathtaking,” the other throws in.

“Thank you,” is all she says, and I notice her hands are trembling.

I grab one and then the other as I stand behind her. She doesn’t flinch or pull away until the doors open. When they do, the four older people in front of us vacate the space quickly, calling good-bye over their shoulders. I follow right behind them, taking the lead in front of her, and finally feeling my stride, I slink back to grab her hand.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

“I want to show you something.”

“I thought you wanted to talk.”

“I do,” I say.

Pulling S’belle to my side, I reach over the valet stand and grab my keys. “I’ll bring them right back.”

“But, sir, you can’t do that,” the valet calls.

S’belle turns. “He locked his keys in his car.”

I laugh and bend to whisper in her ear, “They’re in my hand. How could I have locked them in my car?”

She shrugs. “I know that, but he’s still trying to figure it out.”

“Silver tongue,” I joke. God, I missed her.

A slight giggle escapes her and when I stop at the car I have to take a moment to admire her. This girl has occupied so much space in my mind for so long and I had no idea why. But I do now. It’s because she’s perfect for me—we are perfect for each other. I just hope she feels the same way.

I pop my trunk and pull out the large red box that I loaded before I left my house. “This is a little late, but Merry Christmas.”

Her expression falls. “I can’t take this.”

“Please, S’belle, just open it. It will help me explain.”

She sighs and sets it on the ledge of the hatch. “Ben, I think we need to talk.”

“And we will as soon as you open this.” I push it toward her.

Her hands hang at her sides.

I lift her chin and stare at her with an intensity that I hope conveys just a little bit of how much I care about her. “Please.”

She looks down at the box and then back up to me.

I nod, my eyes pleading with her.

With resignation she pulls the box toward her and lifts the lid.

I breathe deep as she stares inside the box and pulls out its contents one after the other—red, black, white, green, gold. Cloth napkins from every restaurant I’ve eaten at since I saw her stash in the parking lot of the Biltmore Hotel.

She glances up at me with a puzzled look on her face.

I pull her closer to me. “You said you wanted more than just tomorrow. I’m shit with explaining my feelings, but I had this gift ready for you weeks ago. I want you to see that I never only thought of you in terms of just the next day. To me there was always more. I just didn’t know how to tell you. S’belle, I think about you all the time. Everywhere I go, everything I do. Fuck, I even steal napkins because they remind me of you. Look, I know I can be an *, but I can promise you more than just tomorrow if you let me.”

She crushes her lips to mine.

I close my eyes and savor the sensation of her body pressed against mine—soft, warm, and tender. Then I wrap my arms around her and pull her as close as I can so I can feel all of her—every single inch. When we’re both breathless I lean back. “There’s more in the box.”

She reaches for it and removes the rest of the napkins before pulling out the shiny key from the bottom. She looks up at me. “A key?”

I nod. “To my house. I want you to move in with me. That’s what I was talking to Kale about that day you overheard us. How to ask you.”

Her mouth drops open in shock. “I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“I—I—I’ve never lived with a guy,” she stammers.

I grin at her. At how f*cking adorable she is. I open her hand and place the key in her palm before closing her fingers one by one. “Lucky for you I’m not just any guy. I love you and I want you to live with me. Say yes?”

My breath stops as I look down at the myriad of emotions crossing her face.

Her hand slides up my chest to my cheek. Tears glisten in her eyes and she closes them tightly.

“S’belle, open your eyes. Did you hear me? I know I’m really shitty at this relationship stuff. I’m nowhere near perfect and I never will be. I’m not a heart-and-flowers kind of guy. I don’t even know how to be one . . . but I’m the guy who will love you with everything I have.

“I can’t bear to be away from you. I want you near me all the time. Not just in my bed but I want you sitting across from me at dinner, I want to go to the market with you, I want to do everything with you. I want to be the one who makes you smile for no reason. I want to be the one you can’t stop thinking about. I want to be the one who rocks your world.”

She opens her eyes. A shiver passes through her before she finally speaks. “Ben Covington, you’ve rocked my world from the first time I laid eyes on you. I love you too,” she says, her words hoarse and soft.