She nods. “Yes. You make me forget everything.”
“How about for tonight, you do forget everything outside of this room?”
“I can do that.”
“So, what do you want to do, Daisy Mae?”
“I want you to love me,” she says simply.
I already do, baby. I already do.I don’t say the words out loud, but they’re true nonetheless.
“You sure?”
She nods, her green eyes glittering with fear and need.
“I can do that.”
She takes a deep breath and when she looks at me again, there’s resolve in her gaze. “Then love me, Hutch. Make me forget everything outside of this room, even if it’s just for tonight.”
Smiling, I say, “As you wish.”
CHAPTER 30
Daisy
I laugh,unable to help myself. Even when he’s serious, he makes me laugh. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing or not, but for tonight, I don’t care. I just want to feel happy and if nothing else, Hutch always makes me feel safe and happy.
My laughter dries up when he rolls, pinning me beneath him. His gray eyes are glowing with warmth, and they have that sleepy look to them that hums with desire. No one’s ever looked at me like that, not even Joseph. This is about more than sex with Hutch and with Joe, it was always about sex. The difference is stark and telling now that I know the difference.
“Are you sure about this, sweetheart?”
He’s giving me another chance to say no.
“It’s not sex I’m afraid of.”
His nose rubs along mine. “I know.”
And that’s why he makes me feel so safe. He understands me in ways I don’t understand myself. He understands my fears, why I have so many layers of protection built around myself.
“I’m sure.” I reach up and pull his head to mine. “I’m sure.”
He smiles lazily and my heart stutters ever so slightly. This man is going to be either my salvation or the death of me. Not literally the death of me, but he could so easily destroy me. Yet, I don’t think he will.
When his lips finally descend upon mine, it’s a relief, like they’ve been parched for days, and his is the water they’ve been craving. His lips are not soft, but they are gentle. He’s always so very gentle with me, like he thinks I’ll break. Maybe I would have when I first met him, but he’s shown me I can trust him, and I’m not so easily broken when I’m around him.
He pulls back and looks at me, his gaze searching.
Smiling, I trace his lips with my fingers. “Thank you.”
“For what, baby?”
“For always being so gentle with me, even when I did everything in my power to push you way.”
“Takes more than a little grumpiness to push me away. I’m more stubborn than you are.”
God’s truth that.
“Move.” I push him and he rolls over instantly, freeing me from beneath him. There’s no disappointment on his face and I know he must be if he thinks I’m calling this quits.
