Slowly, I reached for her hand. It felt small and warm, and I fought the urge to pull her closer. "Ever," I said. "So when I thought you were just playing me, pretending to be something you weren't, well, I guess I went a little nuts. But I swear to God, it will never, ever happen again."
At this, she squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment. But she still wasn't pulling away. I held my breath and watched her in the quiet car.
When she opened her eyes, I saw something new, a look of resolve that caught me off guard. "You need to know something too," she said. "That house in your neighborhood? It's not mine. I'm just staying there, that's all." She looked down. "I don't really belong there."
She was wrong. Shedidbelong there, because she belonged with me. The other stuff – it didn't matter, as long as we were together.
"Baby," I said. "I know it's not your house, remember?"
She gave a hesitant nod.
I squeezed her hand. "And you wanna know where you belong?"
"Where?" she asked.
"With me."
At this she smiled, a real smile, and that's when I knew. She'd be mine again before the night was over.
First things first. I needed to get us the hell out of here, so we could talk in peace – where I could keep both eyes on her, not on whoever might be watching.
"Now c'mon," I said. "No more serious talk. Whatever's going on, we'll work it out, alright?"
She nodded.
I leaned closer. "First, I just have a question."
"What?"
"Do you love me?"
Her voice was only a whisper, but somehow, the single word seemed to fill the entire car. "Yes."
I leaned a fraction closer. "Say it."
Her eyes met mine, and she finally said the words I was dying to hear. "I love you."
Over the last couple of days, the weight of everything – my epic screw-up, the stuff with Brittney, the thought of never holding Chloe again – all of it had been weighing on me, maybe even more than I knew. Because suddenly, all that weight was gone, and I felt like I was floating on air.
I grinned over at her. "Baby, I love you too. More than life itself. I mean it."
And then, I couldn’t stop myself. I kissed her, long and hard, keeping my eyes open, and my senses on high alert. When she gave a breathless moan, it was half heaven, half hell, because this wasn't the place to be losing control.
I forced myself to pull away and take a good look around. "We'd better go," I said.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.
"Nothing yet. But it'll be dark soon." I settled back into my seat and turned the key in the ignition. "And trust me, the farther away we get, the better."
As we pulled away from the curb, Chloe asked, "So, this car? Is it really bullet-proof?"
"Pretty much."
"But why?"
I dodged the question. "Why not? Haven't you ever wanted a bullet-proof car?"
"No." She laughed. "Not particularly."
