Page 48 of Ask for Moore
“Yeah, and I guess they never thought that it would happen to a twelve-year-old.” My vision became unfocused as I remembered how the foster mom had screamed at me not to tell her husband as she shoved me into the bedroom that they’d given me before slamming the door shut and locking it from the outside. “At first, I thought I was just going to be confined to my room. I was freaking out because I’d bled through my panties onto my pants, and I didn’t have a lot of clothes. But then it got so much worse.”
Ryland cradled me against his chest, running his fingers through my hair, waiting patiently until I was ready to continue my story.
“When my foster dad came home from work, he yanked everything out of the closet and forced me inside. I was stuck in there for three days. It was so dark and smelly. By the time they let me out, I was as unclean as they accused me of being,” I admitted softly.
“You might’ve needed a shower, but there wasn’t a damn thing unclean about you,” he growled.
“I know, although it took me a while to believe that.” I heaved a deep sigh, feeling lighter than I had in years. “Taking a shower was my first priority, and calling my social worker was the second. She was on their doorstep in less than an hour, along with two police officers.”
“I’m glad she finally did her damn job.”
I rubbed my cheek against his chest. “At least after what happened to me, they lost their license to be foster parents.”
“Is it any wonder that I love you when it’s so like you to minimize what you went through by thinking about the positive impact on other foster kids?”
My head jerked up at his question. After sharing that story and seeing how angry he was on my behalf, saying the three little words that I knew I felt didn’t seem so hard. “I love you.”
“My brave little queenie.” He rolled us over so he was on top of me. Then he crashed his mouth over mine, his tongue swiping against my lips until they parted to let him inside. He kissed me breathless, and when he finally lifted his head again, the love shining from his dark eyes was impossible to miss. “I love you so fucking much.”
“What are we going to do?” I planted my face against his chest. “I live in Chicago, and you’re here.”
He stroked his hand up and down my arm while I tried to get my emotions under control. After a few minutes, he tilted my head back and searched my face. “I know you were just offered partnership track at a big firm, and it’s what you’ve worked toward for years. But there’s a job waiting for you at the law offices of Ryland Moore if you want it. A partnership too, if that’s what you want.”
I pressed my fingers against my lips as they curved into a smile. “You’ve only been running your own firm for a year. Are you sure you’re ready to take on another lawyer?”
“If you’re worried about me manufacturing a job just because I want you to stay in Mooreville, I could actually use your help,” he assured me. “Baxter is a billionaire who owns enough investment property to keep a lawyer busy year-round. Since you have so much experience in real estate law, you could take over his workload and leave me open for everything else.”
I appreciated that it sounded as though he’d put some thought into this. I never wanted him to regret making the offer…since I was going to take him up on it. “I never left the studio apartment I moved into when I started law school, so I don’t have a lot of stuff to move. My lease is close to being up for renewal anyway, but I’d definitely need to buy furniture.”
“Or you could just move in here.” He jerked his chin toward the empty cat bed in the corner of the room. “Gracie already likes my house, so you wouldn’t need to worry about her getting used to a new place.”
“Ryland Moore”—I swatted at his bare chest with a gasp—“are you trying to leverage my kitten as a reason I should move in with you?”
His lips curved into a sexy smirk. “That’s the first time you’ve called Gracie your kitten. You’ve always been incredibly careful to stress that you were only fostering her until the case was over.”
“Well, things were different then,” I drawled with a grin.
“How so?” he asked as he pinned me to the mattress with his muscular body.
“Because I couldn’t picture her being happy with me in Chicago.”
He nudged my legs open and settled between them. “And now?”
“Like you said…she already likes your house. So I don’t need to worry if she’ll be happy here when I move in with you.”
“Soon,” he whispered against my lips. “I want it to be soon.”
“How does next weekend sound?” I asked. “There’s no way the firm will keep me on once I tender my resignation, and it won’t take me long to pack up my apartment.”
“Next weekend sounds perfect.” He nipped at my bottom lip. “Thank you, Waverly.”
“My decision is as much for you as it is for me.” I rubbed my hand against his beard, enjoying the scrape of his hair against my palm.
“Except you’re the one who’s making the sacrifices for us to be together. I want you to know that I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you never regret them.” He pressed his mouth against mine for a quick, hard kiss. “And if things go how I expect, someday we can rename the firm to Moore & Moore.”
His suggestion—hinting that he could see us married in the future—stunned me. We hadn’t known each other long, and most people would probably say we were rushing into things by declaring our love for each other so soon, let alone speaking about marriage.
I felt a sense of weightlessness as warmth infused my body. My heart raced, and my stomach fluttered. It took me a moment to realize that I was feeling true joy for the first time I could remember.
