One More Step

by Colleen Hoover

  She was utterly alone.

  What had I been thinking?

  “Get in the truck.”

  Surprise twisted her face before she frowned. “I…no. I couldn’t do that. You’ve already done too much.”

  “Just get in the truck.”

  She sniffled, shook her head, looked down.

  In a second flat, I was kneeling in front of her, angling down so I could look at her face. I found her full-on crying, the girl choking back tears.

  My heart fisted, doing crazy, manic things. “Get in the truck, Tessa. Please. You know I can’t leave you here. You think you’re doing me a favor by refusing? Believe me when I tell you I won’t be able to sleep until I’m sure you have a roof over your head. A safe place to stay.”

  She looked up, pleading in her voice. “You don’t want my mess.”

  “Try me.”

  “You don’t even know me.”

  “I know everything I need to.”

  Disbelief puffed from her nose, but in it was surrender, too. Satisfaction pulsed, and I wound her dog out of her arms and into mine. I extended my hand. She hesitated, glancing between my face and my hand, before she took it.

  Intensity boomed. That same feeling buzzing through my veins as it had the first time I’d touched her. This connection I didn’t get.

  It rushed, feeding the need which I’d tried to shun that night.

  Her throat wobbled as she swallowed, and I knew she felt it, too.

  She pulled her hand away. “Okay…just for a night—until I find another place to stay. As long as it’s not an imposition. I-I…do you have a family? A wife? Kids? I can’t just barge into your life.”

  “The only thing I have at home is an empty guest room. It’s yours for as long as you want it.”

  Bleary eyes gazed up at me. “Why would you do this for me?”

  “Because it feels like what I’m supposed to do.”

  Purpose resonating. Boiling in my blood.

  She nodded, then ducked her head and moved over to my truck. She opened the door and climbed inside, and I handed over Gigi, who wagged her tail and licked her face and seemed really damned keen on the idea of the two of them coming to my place.

  Me, too, Gigi. Me, too.

  Contentment burned as I rushed back around to the driver’s side and got in, this feeling like I was edging up on the cusp of something significant.

  Something that was meant to be.

  I didn’t drive straight home. I detoured to the nearest Target so she could pick up some necessities.

  I pulled into a parking spot. “Come on, let’s get you some things that you might need.”

  “I can’t take your charity. You’ve already done too much,” she said, refusing to budge.

  Surprise, surprise.

  “I’m not leaving this store until you have the things you need.”

  “Why are you so stubborn?” Exasperated, she stared across at me.

  “Not the type to give up on what I want.”

  The statement flooded the cab.

  Underlying meaning blatant.

  Couldn’t help it.

  She finally tore her attention away from the severity of my gaze. “I will find a way to pay you back. I promise.”

  Couldn’t help the smile.

  Yeah. I was definitely not one to give up on what I wanted.

  An hour later, we pulled into the driveway of my small house. Was probably about the same size as hers had been except on the opposite side of town. I killed the engine, and she just sat there, staring through the windshield.

  “This isn’t right,” she whispered again. I could feel the rumble of her nerves.

  Uncertainty and questions and unease.

  Still holding onto the steering wheel, I swung my attention fully to her.

  Gripping her with the want I could feel radiating from my stare. “I’m not sure I’ve ever done anything that felt so right.”

  THREE

  Tessa

  WATER BOILED ON the stove, and I added the pasta to the pot while I glanced at the clock for what had to have been the thousandth time in the last ten minutes.

  Three more minutes.

  Nerves scattered, excitement slithering across my flesh and tickling my mind.

  Oh man, I was getting carried away. Swept up. But it seemed impossible not to do with a man like Derrick invading my life the way that he had. Filling my spirit with his concerned, overprotective smiles and the unending sweet gestures that continually knocked the breath from my lungs.

  Okay. Fine.

  It didn’t hurt that he looked like he could be one of those firemen in the yearly calendars my grandmother used to keep hidden in her kitchen pantry.

  God. The man was gorgeous. But he was so much more than a muscled body and a pretty face. He was too beautiful and too kind. Too generous and too right. My mind kept warning me that a man like him couldn’t be real.

  Maybe I’d died in that fire after all and he was my afterlife. A gift I didn’t deserve.

  Gigi and I had been here for the last three weeks. Held within the walls of his home that sang of safety and warmth.

  I wanted to tap into it. Hold it for myself. Let it soothe away the fear that I couldn’t shake.

  Worst of all? It was the attachment that kept coming on stronger, growing each day.

  I should know better.

  Apparently, I didn’t, because excitement went blazing when I heard a truck engine echo up the street. Headlights blazed through the living room window as he pulled into the drive.

  Butterflies swarmed, and my blood burned hot at the thought of seeing him walk through the door after his 24-hour shift.

  Missing him like crazy which was insanity itself.

  Gigi’s ears perked up, and she trotted across the room, her nails clicking on the hardwood floor and tail wagging like crazy as she headed for the door.

  She did circles on the rug and whined at the wood.

  Anxious for him to return.

  I understood the affliction.

  “Don’t get too used to it, Gigi,” I mumbled under my breath. The warning was really for myself, considering I was just setting myself up to get my heart broken. I’d known it that night, when I’d come to consciousness and the first thing I’d seen were those concerned, dark eyes staring down at me—filled with something I felt all the way down to my soul.

  Something indescribable.

  As if the man had been written in the fabric of my being.

  A thread that had been missing and now was perfectly sewn through the middle of me.

  A key slipped into the lock, and my breaths were turning shallow, and I was doing my best to pull myself together but failing miserably when he stepped through the door and sent me this smile that left me nothing but a sticky, messy puddle.

  God, he was beautiful. Full lips stretched in joy. Eyes dark and kind and taking me in like there was a possibility that he’d missed me as much as I’d missed him.

  “You really are tryin’ to wreck me, aren’t you, Tessa?”

  He scooped Gigi up into his arms where she’d been pawing at his leg.

  “Wreck you?”

  “It smells delicious in here.”

  “Oh, um…well…it’s nothing. Just spaghetti. It’s the least I can do.”

  His smile widened, and he started my way, roughing his hands over Gigi’s needy head. My stomach tightened. So maybe I wanted a little of that petting for myself.

  Each step he took sent a tsunami of energy crashing through the space. Something potent and secure. Warm and fierce.

  A shiver raced down my spine, and I had to avert my attention to heaping noodles onto a plate to keep him from seeing the need I was sure was written all over my face.

  He just kept coming closer, until he was right behind me, leaning over to murmur in my ear, “Spaghetti made by you. For me. Like I said, wrecking me.”

  Sparks flew.

  I wondered if he could see them crackling in the air. />
  I gulped and tried to keep my cool. “Well, I would go crazy if I didn’t do something. I need to get back to work and find a place to live.”

  I really must have been hallucinating because I thought I felt a pulse of disappointment vibrate from that beautiful body that towered over me from behind.

  “You can stay here as long as you like, Tessa. You don’t need to rush into anything.”

  “Aren’t you sick of me yet?” I tried to tease as I turned around, only to stumble with how close he was.

  Dark eyes flaring, he touched my chin. “Not even close. Not sure that’s even a possibility when it comes to you.”

  Oh, my poor heart. If I stayed here much longer, I was going to be done for. And I knew this was only this man doing his duty. Generosity overflowing. Offering everything he had was just who he was.

  Swallowing hard, I grabbed our plates. “Let’s eat.”

  Nothing like a distraction.

  He grinned. “Put me out of my misery, woman.”

  Oh yeah, he needed to stop that, too.

  He sat down and started scarfing down his food. “Oh God…so good…Tessa…wrecked,” he mumbled around the food he was stuffing into his mouth.

  A giggle slipped free, satisfaction riding through my veins. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “You’re a savior.”

  I didn’t even try to keep the sincerity out of my voice. “No, Derrick. You’re the savior.”

  Sobering, he lifted his head to fully look at me where I sat across the small table from him. Something hard flashed through his kind eyes, his lips slanting down at the side. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it down.

  The mood shifted in a flash.

  “Need to tell you something, Tessa.”

  Dread bottled in my chest. “What is it?”

  He hesitated, roughing a frustrated hand through his hair before he forced out, “Got word from the Captain today. It was confirmed the fire at your house was arson. It was probably teens or some punks out being stupid and not thinking about the conse—”

  The words sliding off my tongue silenced the logic he was trying to find. “He always said I was nothing without him. I guess now we know exactly what he meant.”

  Anger surged. In an instant, the man was a vat of rage.

  Boiling.

  Churning.

  But I wasn’t afraid. Not of him.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Like hell, it doesn’t matter. Tell me, Tessa.”

  Anguish gusted through me, and moisture clouded my eyes. “I thought I could get away, but I should have known better.”

  I should have known he would hunt me down.

  I had to get out of here before I put Derrick in danger. I’d warned him he didn’t want my mess, that he didn’t deserve it.

  “Who?” he demanded.

  “I…I need to go.”

  I stood from the table, intending to pack my things and leave. Before I could make it a step, Derrick was on his feet. He flew around the table and boxed me in. “Tell me who you’re talking about.”

  Tears fell, and I wanted to give it to him. Let him hold it. But how was that fair? “Just let me go, Derrick. I told you this wasn’t your concern.”

  He inched forward, blocking me in. “No.”

  I pushed his chest. “Please.”

  He grabbed me by both wrists, hauling me close, his nose brushing mine. “No, Tessa. Not until you tell me what the hell is happening.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “And I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  It was a promise.

  A promise carved in stone.

  And I was having the hardest time breathing, my lungs heaving in my chest, filled with the strength of this man.

  Dizziness spun my head, and my knees felt weak.

  “Derrick.” It was a whimper.

  He wrapped me up, his mouth at my cheek. “Tell me. Let me take care of you.”

  There was nothing I could do…nothing but trust him with my truth.

  “My ex. I…I left three months ago. In the middle of the night. I just wanted to start a new life. Get out from under his hand. I should have known he would find me.”

  Memories flashed. The five years I’d spent little more than a servant and a prisoner. I’d refused to live it a day longer.

  “He hurt you?” Derrick’s voice was gravel, scraping across my flesh.

  Hostility vibrated his bones.

  “In every way that didn’t leave a physical scar,” I whispered back.

  His big hands spread out across my back, and he was growling a low sound of restraint, the man’s forehead rocking against mine in his own agony. “I won’t let him get near you.”

  He pulled back and splayed his hand out on my cheek. “I want to protect you, Tessa. I want to take care of you. I…I don’t know what this is. I just know I can’t let it go.”

  Emotion throbbed. Overwhelming. Coming at me in waves. “I can’t, either, Derrick. I know I should walk away, but I don’t know how to do it. Not when you make me feel this way.”

  He groaned, and his mouth was on mine in a desperate, possessive kiss.

  Need spiraled.

  Bliss sped.

  His tongue tangled with mine, one hand coming to the back of my head to control the angle, his promises whispered through the connection. “I found you, Tessa. I knew something was missing, and I found you.”

  FOUR

  Derrick

  I SHOVED THE plate to the side and hoisted her onto the table. Pulse raging, dick hard, the same way it’d been since the second she’d started staying with me.

  This woman who’d driven me mad.

  Stolen my heart and my soul with each passing second. With each timid smile. With each hopeful glance.

  I was hers.

  Now she was going to be mine.

  “You are so beautiful,” I told her.

  Tessa panted as she leaned back on the table with her legs wrapped around my waist.

  I ran my hands up and down her thighs. The girl wore these skimpy sleep shorts that she’d basically been living in and which had steadily driven me out of my mind with need.

  Shivers raced across her flesh.

  Tentatively, she reached out and ran a trembling hand down my chest. “You are the most beautiful man I have ever seen. Too good to be real.”

  I took her hand and pressed it over the thunder of my heart. “I’m real, baby. So real. I’m about to prove it to you.”

  A blush spread over her chest and up to her cheeks, and I couldn’t help the chuckle that bled free.

  She had no idea—no idea what she did to me.

  And the fucker that made her believe that she was less was going to pay. The piece of shit who would set fire to her home. Hurt her.

  Rage bristled, and I shoved it down where it could fester and grow, so it’d be ready for the moment I got up tomorrow and hunted him down.

  “If you’re ready for that?” I quirked a brow, and she was surging forward, pushing my shirt up as a rush of words left her mouth. “Yes. Please. Now. I need you…I need to feel you. Show me, Derrick. Show me what it’s like to be adored by you.”

  I was all too happy to oblige.

  I dragged my shirt the rest of the way over my head, and Tessa gasped, her eyes raking over me.

  Desire.

  Hope.

  Delight.

  I was going to spend the rest of my life proving to her that she deserved it.

  I dove in, kissing her sweet, sweet mouth before I wandered, my mouth roving across her jaw and down her throat that trembled and shook.

  I kept moving south, kissing across the rampage going down in her chest, her heart beating for me. She whimpered when I dragged the neckline of her shirt down.

  Girl wearing no bra.

  Exposing one perfect, pebbled nipple.

  I swirled my tongue around it, groan riding free, lust taking m
e hostage.

  Her hands fisted in my hair. “Derrick. Please. God…I need you.”

  She writhed on the table, and I knew there was no taking this slow.

  This girl needed to know and she needed to know right then.

  I curled my fingers in the waistband of her shorts and dragged them down, taking her underwear with them. I edged back, holding onto her knees, searching for some kind of restraint.

  None.

  When it came to her, there was none.

  I leaned down and feasted on her pussy as I held on to the outside of her thighs.

  She moaned and whimpered and cried my name, and poor Gigi was whining at my feet.

  Laughing against Tessa’s clit, I gave her one last lick before I scooped her up into my arms, kissing her while I muttered, “We’re going to give poor Gigi a complex.”

  I carried her into my room and shut the door to keep Gigi out, and I tossed Tessa to my bed.

  She bounced on the mattress. Giggles rippled free, and this woman was grinning up at me like the shroud had been ripped from her spirit.

  Joy.

  It streaked between us.

  Filling the room.

  Banging against the walls.

  “Take your shirt off, baby. Want to see you.”

  She didn’t hesitate. She tore the tank off and tossed it to the floor.

  And there was my perfection—my completion—laid out on my bed.

  Naked.

  Bare.

  Trusting me.

  “I never thought I would find someone like you,” she said.

  I kicked off my shoes and ticked through the buttons of my jeans. I shoved them down and kicked them off my ankles.

  She trembled.

  Slowly, I crawled onto the bed. Hovering an inch over her, I cradled her face in my hands. “And you are exactly what I was waiting for. I knew you were out there—somewhere. I refused to give up faith believing in you. And here you are…right where you belong. Not goin’ to let you go, Tessa. As long as you’ll have me, I will be right here, protecting you like the treasure you are.”

  Those eyes roved over my face. Searching. Pleading. “You hardly even know me.”

  I splayed my hand over the battering at her chest. “And this tells me everything I need to know.”

  She turned and did the same to me, her delicate hand laid across the beating of my heart. “You feel me the same way as I feel you?”