When I'm Gone (Rosemary Beach #11)(62)

“Reese?” I asked, afraid that if I touched her, I’d wake up.

“I’m sorry. I . . . seeing you . . . I was going to be strong and tell you I love you and I messed up and I love you and—”

Fuck the dream. I reached for her and pulled her into my arms.

She was here. She was here. She was here.

Her arms wrapped around me and held on tightly. Just the way I remembered. The sweet cinnamon met my nose, and I knew my imagination wasn’t that good. I’d tried to imagine her smell more than once and couldn’t. This was my Reese.

“I love you. I won’t leave. I’m here to make you take me back. I’m empty without you.” She sobbed in my arms.

Was she trying to persuade me to let her stay with me? Did she seriously think she had to beg for me to keep her?

“Reese, I—”

She pulled back and looked up at me with wide, panicked eyes. “No. Don’t say anything. Just listen to me. I was wrong. You’re worth fighting for. I was . . . I am a mess. I have to overcome a lot, but I will make it worth it. I will love you more than she ever could. More than anyone ever could. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I’m worth the hassle. I won’t let a day go by without showing you how much I love you. I’ll move here. I’ll get a place and a job. I will cook you meals, and I’ll—”

I covered her mouth with mine and stopped her adorable, rambling argument. Her surprised cry was followed by a whimper, and she kissed me like she needed the taste of me to live. Her sweetness seeped into me, as those plump lips pressed against mine. I cupped her face and pulled her back so that I could look into her eyes.

They were still watery from her instant breakdown when she saw me. But they were beautiful. My beautiful baby-blues. The ones that I dreamed about. The ones that would always hold me.

“I’m worth fighting for?” I asked, wanting to hear her say that one more time. She had looked so damn determined when she’d said it the first time.

“Yes!” she said, the fierceness coming back.

“And who do you think you have to fight against for me?”

Pain flickered in her eyes. I didn’t want that. I started to assure her that there was no one, but she spoke first. “Anyone . . . I’ll fight anyone,” she said finally.

She was talking about Cordelia. That motherf*cking text.

“Baby. From the moment those lips of yours touched mine, I was yours. No, scratch that. From the moment I walked out of the bedroom and saw your sweet ass in the air and heard you singing off key, I was yours. No one else. Ever. Before you, yes, there were others. And there was one girl I had a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship with. Nothing else. But the moment you walked into my life, that ended. She didn’t take it well, and she tried to get me to change my mind. But all I saw, all my heart saw, was you. No one else.”

“Cordelia,” she said softly.

“Yes. But the text you saw from Major was because I came home from work to find her in my bed. I ordered her out and threatened to call my momma if she didn’t get out of my bed. I even washed my sheets to get rid of her smell. Hell, I’ve even bought a new mattress since then and new sheets. I didn’t want to sleep on anything that had anyone but you on it. Ever.”

“She left her panties that day,” she said softly, her eyes shining with new tears. “That was what the text meant.”

I nodded. I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “If I’d known that was what had you looking at me like I was a monster, I would have stayed and fought for you. But I thought it was the past, the demons that haunt you. I thought I had pushed too hard and you needed space.” I stopped and took a deep breath. “I thought you would call. I waited. I was waiting. I was going to wait forever.”

She puckered up again, and I started kissing her face. I didn’t want her to cry. I had her here. With me.

“I’m not letting you go back. You’re staying with me. I can’t let you leave me. I’ll go crazy,” I told her, as I kissed her cheeks and nose, then pressed a chaste kiss to her mouth.

“I don’t want to leave,” she said.

God, I loved her. “Come inside,” I said, slipping my hand over hers and leading her into the house. “Lie down with me. I want to hold you.”

Reese stopped, and I looked back at her. “No. Tonight I want to hold you,” she said, her face once again determined.

“If that’s what you want,” I agreed.

I took off her boots and pulled down her jeans. She let me undress her without question. When I unhooked her bra, I didn’t touch or look, I just grabbed my discarded T-shirt and slipped it over her head.

She buried her nose in it and inhaled, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. I loved it when she cuddled with my clothing as if it were me.

Then she crawled up onto my new king-size bed and put her back against the headboard and held out her arms to me.

Emotion battling with amusement, I was able to keep the tears burning my eyes from breaking free. I moved over her and laid my head against her chest so I could listen to her heartbeat.

She ran her fingers through my hair as we lay there like that. I wrapped my arms around her waist and basked in her scent. The sound of her heart sped up every time I slid my hand down toward her bottom, then back up again.