Page 61 of Passing Notes
“So you climbed up to my balcony in the pouring rain just to check on me?” That was the takeaway. Everything else he’d said flew by the wayside, even the teasing. My heart—and my lady bits—swooned.
He shrugged at this like it was no big deal. “Well, yeah.”
“Gotcha.” This man had no idea. I looked up at him from hooded eyelids and purred, “Take your clothes off and get in my bed. We’re having sex right now.”
He laughed, but it didn’t stop him from throwing his jacket across the room and yanking his shirt over his head. “I have zero problems with that. We can head to my place after for dinner if you want. I was going to suggest it before, but you’ve got me all worked up now and I’m not hungry anymore.”
I pressed myself against his body and wrapped my arms around his neck. “No need. We can stay here. I have leftover spaghetti so dinner is covered. Everett made it, not me,” I clarified. “You’ll love it.”
His hand slipped between my legs, curving around as he pulled me close. “You know what I love to eat more?”
I inhaled a sharp breath. “Oh god. Some things never change, do they?”
He shook his head and slipped his other hand under the front of my silk nightgown to enter me with a finger. “Once I got a taste of you again...”
“Far be it for me to stop you from taking your fill.”
He drew his hand out, sucking his finger into his mouth with a dirty grin. “I’ll never let you get away. You know that don’t you? You have me addicted all over again.”
All I could do was nod as he grabbed my hips, digging his fingers into my ass as he walked me toward my bed.
Thunder crashed and I jumped out of his arms with a squeal. “Oh my god!”
He paused, searching my face. “Maybe now isn’t the time for this.”
“No, no, no. Let’s get that straight right now. It’s always the time to go down on me.”
Another jolt of thunder struck with a huge boom—this time it was closer—and I hurled myself back into his arms and bumped my forehead against his chin.
“It’s okay, I got you, baby, shh.”
“I’m so sorry!” I pulled away to kiss his chin, then pepper little kisses to his cheeks and lips. “Did I hurt you? On second thought, maybe you have a point about now not being the time. I don’t want to injure this gorgeous face any further, especially with my vagina. I’d feel so guilty if I broke your jaw or banged you up.” I looked at him with wide eyes. “Seriously, what would you tell the kids?”
“New plan,” he declared with a grin. “It’s blanket-fort and living-room-picnic time. Let’s go downstairs, throw on a movie, and heat up that spaghetti.”
“Like a grown-up slumber party?”
“Sure,” he answered, the laughter in his tone making me smile. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
“How fun! My god, I love you,” I blurted. My cheeks heated. I was on fire, and I figured it likely I’d spontaneously combust and drop dead.
If I was honest with myself, I’d admit it was the truth. But letting it out unplanned like I had was not only mortifying but made me acutely aware that I’d said it first—again. I’d said it first when we were together back in high school, too. “Oh my god. I?—”
“Clara, I love you too.” His voice was low, a sexy velvet murmur. I watched, mesmerized, as his eyes darkened with emotion.
“Just like that?” I breathed.
“Just like that,” he confirmed, as if it hadn’t taken fifteen-ish years and us moving mountains of hurt to the side to get here.
“Okay,” I whispered. “So we’re in love again.”
He placed his palm in the center of my chest and mine on his. “The love has always been right here, Clara. It just took a minute for us to grow up and make it ours again.”
“It makes so much sense when you say it like that. We didn’t know what we had. How could we? But now we know.”
“Now we know, and we’ll never let it get away again. Damn, Clara. Sasha and Ethan are going to love you so much. I can’t wait to tell them.”
My heart felt full to bursting. “I’ll love them too, like they were my own children. I swear I will.”
