I nodded.
"You're concerned I'm going to try something like that again."
I nodded again.
He pursed his lips. "I'm not sure anything I can say or do will ever make you believe me, but that was hands down the dumbest decision I've ever made in my stupidly long life. Not only was it disrespectful, it showed a callous disregard for our relationship, showed I didn't actually mean my apology and it was a way to manipulate you, showing both a tendency for abuse and control."
My mouth opened in surprise. He held a hand up to stop me from speaking. "I'm not quite finished."
"Okay.”
"If it helps, I was desperate to keep my secret. Never before had I ever taken an action so catastrophically dumb, only for it to backfire in such a spectacular fashion. Even if Morgana had not shown up and so handily pounded my face into the ground, I was already regretting it as I'd finally began to understand the ramifications of it. Plus I had my brothers there, too, all reminding me of how much of an idiot I was." He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture I was beginning to realize. "I can control people on my own. It isn't a power I use often because it makes me feel creepy. I bought the love spell as a way to keep you close to me and manipulate your feelings into preventing you from looking to closely at my future or what I was hiding. It was stupid and I will always be regretful of it. I hope one day you can forgive me for it. I knew you were a good person.Area good person. I knew you wouldn't read me if you cared about me." His lips curled in disgust. "Instead I totally misjudged and screwed it all up and basically reset our relationship back to negative thirty points."
I felt the corner of my mouth tilt up. "You're keeping score?"
"With you I started at zero and immediately went negative. I'm trying to get back into the positive, but I'm not sure I'm doing a great job of it."
"Just now. You were open, honest, and regretful." I held my wine glass up and clinked it against his own. "I forgive you. Though I do reserve the right to keep Morgana Comey on speed dial just in case she needs to beat the shit out of you again."
He shuddered. "I can't wait to hook her up with Colin."
I let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Oh. Oh my. That is going to be amazing!"
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Colin is not going to know what hit him."
I narrowed my gaze as I thought about it. "Those two are perfect for each other. Good eye."
With the tension broken, we finished our dinner and left a hefty tip. Within half an hour we were back in Midnight Cove and I was just about to slip out of his truck when he slid his hand behind my head. "Grace?"
"Mmm?"
"I'm going to kiss you."
He leaned in and swept a gentle kiss over my lips, setting the nerve endings on fire. He didn't press or push. Instead, he kept his hand in my hair and stroked through the length of it. "I like you. A lot. And I would really like to go out with you again."
I pressed my fingers against my lips and nodded.
A grin split his face. "Good."
I slid out of his truck and shut the door behind me and as soon as I got inside I leaned against the back of the door and slid down it, a goofy grin on my face.
