My quivering jaw dropped. "You drove all the way here? Why?”
He gave me a slow nod and shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? I love you. I won’t let you go through this alone.” He lifted an eyebrow as he closed the distance between us. We were almost chest to heaving chest.
"But . . .” My mouth parched as I forgot what I was about to say. I took in a sharp breath through my nostrils and did the best I could to stand straight.
He inched a fraction of a centimeter closer, still not touching me, but holding my watery gaze with a dark, burning glare. Time stopped along with my heartbeat. Drew shook his head, as if he was reading my thoughts, and opened his arms. I once again collapsed onto his chest in choking sobs.
"I love you. I’ll keep saying it until it sinks in,” he rasped into my hair. “The rest, we’ll talk about later.”
I burrowed my head deep in his chest, breathing him in and praying this wasn’t a dream. He always seemed too good to be true.
“I’m Denise.” My sister rushed to Drew with an extended hand, giving me a quick side-glance. I nodded, answering her silent question that this was the ex-boyfriend I didn’t want to talk about.
“Drew.” He took her hand and gave it a shake with his other arm still wrapped around my waist. We still had a lot to talk about, but having him here and so close to me felt too good to question for the moment. Maybe I didn’t have to question it at all. The past couple of days were a painful reminder of how my family gave me shelter, but not a home. My home was Drew.
A hint of a smile danced across his mouth before he took my hand and laced our fingers together. Tears flooded my eyes as I squeezed back. I rested my head on his shoulder, letting my eyes shut as an odd peace wafted over me through the sadness. Even after everything, Drew was my someone. My person. He gave me something I never had before—unconditional love through the worst of circumstances.
I let my hand drift down the lapel of Drew’s jacket. “You clean up really well, Kostas.” He caught my hand and brought it to his lips.
“Always so gorgeous,” he whispered. His hand slid to the nape of my neck as his eyes searched mine.
A sad chuckle fell from my lips. My eyes were heavy, and I was sure circled with dark puffy bags.
“You’re delirious, Drew.”
He drew me into his side and rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Maybe. But I’m not going anywhere.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Whether you like it or not.”
Sara
THE PRAYERS WERE short and sweet as the priest didn’t know my parents personally. I wished them the peace in death they couldn’t find in life. They disowned me years ago, so my grief wasn’t about missing them. I mourned for what should have been. As I waited for my sister in the living room this morning, my eyes searched the room as I imagined all the moments we should have had: Victoria crawling over the carpet as a baby; her grandparents reveling in each milestone; congratulating me with pride in their eyes when I found a way to go back to school; the moment with my mother when I told her about falling in love for the first time with Drew. When we left my parents at the cemetery, the finality of what I never had sunk in, and I was sadder for them and their wasted years than I was for me.
The car dropped us back off at the funeral home and Drew drove us to the lawyer’s office—the air in the car thick with uncomfortable silence. I wished the lawyer hadn’t insisted on reading the will an hour after the funeral, but it was probably best to get it all over with. I worried about my sister. Yes, she was an adult, but a young one. The thought of her living in that house all alone didn’t sit right with me at all.
“Sara, Denise, come in.” A stocky man in a tight suit motioned to us to come into his office when we arrived. For a reason I couldn’t explain, my stomach twisted. The cemetery was our final goodbye, but this would be the permanent confirmation of how they felt about me—or how little they felt about me. I expected absolutely nothing and only came along to support my sister. My chest tightened again at all these big decisions about to fall into her lap before she was ready.
“I’ll wait out here,” Drew whispered.
“No, you’re coming in with me.” I rose from the chair and pulled him up by the hand. I didn’t want to experience the final “eff you” from my parents alone. We ambled into the office and sat down on the leather couch across from his desk.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” He looked between Denise and me as he unfolded the papers in his hand. “Your parents were very specific in their wishes, so this shouldn’t take very long.”
“I bet they were,” I huffed to Drew. He draped his arm around my shoulders and rubbed my back.
“The house and any savings are in a trust for Denise Marie Caldwell until her twenty-first birthday. She can sell the house at that time but not before. A trust of $50,000 was left to a Victoria Elizabeth Caldwell.”
“Wait.” I grabbed the edge of the desk, positive I heard that completely wrong. “They left a trust in my daughter’s name? Why?” I stammered as my body went rigid with shock.
He pushed the rim of his glasses up as he nodded. “Yes, and there is also an annuity in her name as well. Your parents knew how to invest, and your father had a great pension. Looks like you have a little help with college tuition.” He leaned over to hand me an envelope. “All the information is there.”
All these years, they never bothered with either of us or even opened up a Christmas card to see her picture. Is it possible they regretted cutting us out of their lives? I couldn’t describe how I was feeling. It was a cross between getting punched in the stomach and holding a winning lottery ticket.
“When did they set this up?” I whispered as I grabbed the envelope with a shaking hand. “This has to be a mistake.”
“They added this in January. I assure you these were their final wishes.”
This was a dream, right? A month after my mother hung up on me—on Christmas Eve—my parents set up a trust for my daughter. As much as my head ached from trying, I couldn’t connect the dots.
I draped my hand over my mouth in an attempt to control the myriad of emotions rushing through me. Help in paying for Victoria’s college tuition and whatever else she would need as she grew was a dream come true, but my bigger dream was having them be a part of her life. I’d never understood what was in my parents’ heads or hearts and never would.
I guessed some mysteries were never meant to be solved.
“Longest day ever, right?” A nervous laugh shook my sister’s shoulders as we shared a pizza at my parents’ kitchen table. Most of the afternoon was spent in stilted and awkward conversation after we arrived back from the lawyer’s office. Denise’s eyes darted between Drew and me, a thousand questions dangling between us—questions I had no clue how to answer. I loved him for what he did, for rushing all this way to be with me when I needed him the most, but nothing had changed. He was still a young man with the world at his fingertips, and I refused to be the woman who got in the way.
“Are you staying, Drew? I can get you some pillows and blankets for the couch. It’s actually pretty comfortable.”
“That would be great. I thought I could stay with my aunt, but I forgot they’re all away. I could use some sleep before the drive back up. Thanks, Denise,” he answered as his eyes caught mine.
“I’m looking at an apartment tomorrow,” I said to my sister while ignoring the heat of Drew’s stare. Not the best thing to bring up in front of him, but in my desperation to divert attention from the discomfiture in the room, it was all I had. “And I’m seeing Victoria tomorrow. Would you like to come?”
She gasped and fell back into the seat. “I . . . you’ll let me meet her?” She nodded with a quivering chin.
“I always wanted you to meet her.” I dropped my eyes to the table. “All of you,” I whispered to myself.
“Do you think she’ll, you know, be weirded out by an aunt she doesn’t know?” My sister’s pleading eyes begged me to say no.
/> “She wasn’t weirded out by a father she didn’t know,” I chuckled. “You’ll be fine.” I dropped a hand to her forearm and squeezed.
“She’s pretty lovable,” Drew added. “In fact, she’s impossible not to love. Knows her comics, too.” He regarded us with a sad smile before rising from the table and tossing his paper plate into the trash. “Bathroom is upstairs?”
My throat was too thick to utter a reply. I motioned toward the stairs with my chin.
“What’s going on with you guys?” Denise’s whisper tore me out of my thoughts.
“It’s complicated, DeDe.” I stood to clean off the table.
“Doesn’t look so complicated. I’ve known him less than a day, and it’s obvious he adores you. Hasn’t today taught you anything about waste?” She clucked her tongue before storming out of the kitchen.
That talk needed to happen tonight, but I didn’t know how I could let him go a second time.
Sara
I TIPTOED INTO the living room after I lingered upstairs, taking much longer than usual to get ready for bed and face Drew. I rested against the banister and watched him fuss with the pillows and sheets my sister gave him, and as I did when we first met, ogled him from afar. His tie was undone under the collar of his shirt. My eyes drifted over his torso and the crisp, white fabric stretching across the lean muscles of his back I’d memorized with my hands and my lips. I rubbed at the ache in my chest as I shook my head. I’d always be his, but he couldn’t be mine anymore. It wasn’t fair.
“Are you going to come talk to me or keep staring at my ass?” His head swiveled to where I was frozen in place. “You have many talents, but being stealthy isn’t one of them.”
I fought the twitch at the corners of my mouth before I ambled into the living room and sat on the far end of the couch.
“Thank you for . . . everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here today.”
“Why didn’t you call me when it happened?” He sat on the edge of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees.
“I wanted to, believe me. But I couldn’t . . . it wouldn’t be fair.”
He took in a long breath and exhaled on a groan.
“You have a screwed-up vision of what’s fair and what’s right. You wanted me there, I wanted to be here for you, but you went alone because you thought that was the fair and right thing to do. You make no sense lately, Caldwell.”
“It doesn’t matter how I feel; you can’t throw a huge opportunity away because of me—”
“What does this say?” Drew whispered as he pressed his fingers into my chest, right over my heart. It sped up at his touch and hammered against my rib cage. I lifted my head and our eyes locked, the heat and love in his eyes pinning me to the couch cushion. “Your heart, what does it say right now?’
“I love you.” I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to hold in the tears.
The side of his mouth quirked up. “I know that, Gorgeous. What else does it say?”
“I can’t be the reason you don’t take that—”
“Stop. That’s your head running interference.” He tapped my temple and shook his head. “Not interested in that. This . . .” The pads of his fingertips delved deeper into my skin. I prickled with goose bumps at their proximity to my breast. Combined with how much I missed him and all he’d done for me today, the sight of him was enough to make heat pool in my belly and drip lower. He had to stop touching me before I lost myself and gave in.
“Well,” he rasped as he lifted an eyebrow. “Tell me what you want. Not what you think is right or what’s best for me. What. You. Want.”
“I don’t want you to go,” I blurted in one hysterical breath. “Not to Seattle or upstate. I want you here. With me. I want you to move in with us. I know it was only for a few days but when I was with you and Victoria, I was . . . happy. Purely fucking happy.” I sniffled while Drew’s expression didn’t change. “And it’s all too soon and you’re young and having a kid around all the time isn’t something you planned for right now. I want you to not end up hating me for tying you down so early. But if you want to know what I want or what my heart wants, it’s you. But I can’t have—”
“How do you know you can’t or that’s not what I want? Or that I wasn’t just as happy when you and Victoria stayed with me? You remember what you overheard me say when Victoria asked me if I’d marry you? I said ‘yes,’ and I meant it. You’re it for me, Sara. Maybe I’m twenty-five and you always dismiss whatever I’m feeling for you as temporary, but I can assure you it’s not.” He grabbed my hand and held it with both of his.
“You’re not a sacrifice or a burden. I’m sorry it came out so wrong that night.” He lifted our joined hands and pressed a kiss on the inside of my palm. “I’d never see you or Victoria like that. You’re the love of my whole damn life and I’d be miserable away from you—like I’ve been the past few days. Maybe now, I could get that through your thick skull.”
“Drew—” He pressed his thumb over my lips and shook his head.
“You didn’t get the love you deserved in this house. But from me, you have it. Always. You have it without asking because it’s yours. I want what you want. All of it. So this time we wasted being apart is all pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?”
A sob bubbled out followed by another and before I knew it I was bawling. Drew inched closer and slid me onto his lap.
“Believe it or not, I’m not a crier. Like, at all.” I laughed as the tears cascaded down my cheeks. I’d always been well-versed in channeling tears into anger or general abrasiveness. I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand. “Before you, I never felt loved before. And every time you would say something or do something that made me feel . . . everything about you is a beautiful gift, and the thought of the day I’d have to give it all back turns me into a blubbering idiot.”
He swiped away my tears with his thumbs as he shook his head. “You never have to give me back, same as I’m sure as hell never giving you back.”
“This is crazy,” I croaked as I snaked my arms around his neck, resting my forehead against his. “You really want to move in with me? With us?”
“Ask me,” he whispered, my tears slowing from the heat flooding my chest, and other places. I cupped his cheek, feathering my hand down the cropped bristles along his jaw.
“You shaved.” My thumb glided across his chin, skating around the outline of those plump lips that tasted every bit as delicious as they looked. Jesus, Sara. Focus.
“I needed to look presentable. Plus, lately I haven’t given a shit what I looked like, so the beard became scraggly anyway.” He shifted underneath me, the steel of his erection pressing into my hip. “Want me to grow it back?”
“Yes,” I hissed, embarrassing need dripping off the word.
Drew laughed and pulled me closer. “Maybe. Now ask me, Gorgeous.” A shiver rippled down my spine as he cupped my neck.
“Do you want to move in with us?”
He tapped his chin as if he was mulling it over. “I probably need a job. It’s a good thing I have an offer in the city already.”
“You what?” The sexy moment was over as my jaw dropped. “Where? How?”
“A company about two blocks away from Blystone. Pretty much the same salary as Ontech, too.” His arm looped around my waist to pull me back. “I told you to trust me, didn’t I? I had a plan, and it always included a life with you. The only regret I'd ever have would be losing you." He backed away and lifted my chin with the tap of his knuckle. "And that is not happening, Caldwell. Ever."
I grabbed his face, peppering kisses across his cheek before he covered my mouth with his. I exhaled against his lips—relief and happiness filtering through me.
“So, yes. I would love to move in with the both of you. It’s not sudden. It’s right. That’s what we are, Sara. Nothing we do could be wrong if we’re together. Numbers don’t matter, not in time or age. What we have is timeless.”
I crushed my lips to his, f
isting the edges of his tie before I yanked it off and threw it behind me. My fingers dove for the buttons of his shirt as our kiss became hungry and sloppy. All the sadness and all the longing came rushing to the surface as we grabbed at each other’s clothes.
“Upstairs,” I murmured against his lips. I’d never even had a boy over for dinner, but I was about to have sex in my old bedroom. There was something disrespectful about that, but it wasn’t enough to make me hesitate. My last memory here would be a happy one, without one bit of guilt.
I rushed up the stairs, pulling Drew behind me. The door wasn’t all the way closed before his lips were back on mine.
“I missed you so fucking much.” Drew grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and peeled it over my head, muttering a “fuck” when he found me braless underneath.
“You’re trying to kill me,” he growled against my mouth. Heat flared in his hooded eyes as he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my pajama pants and inched them down my legs.
“My Sara,” he breathed in between long, open-mouthed kisses along the inside of my thigh. My balance wavered as he ascended higher. My fingers dug into his shoulder as I tried not to fall over.
“I told you,” he rasped as he lifted his head, offering a sexy curl of his lips as he hooked my leg over his shoulder. “I’ve got you.”
A guttural whimper escaped me when he sucked my clit into his mouth. I was drenched, swollen, and two seconds from coming apart on his tongue. Drew always liked to tease me when his head was between my legs, but this time he dove right in, kissing me long and deep while digging his fingers into my ass. He wouldn’t let me move as he devoured every inch of me.
I leaned into him, my legs shaking from the tremors pulsing down my spine and through my core. I’d never been afraid of an orgasm before, but I feared this one would tear me in half. It was the need radiating from Drew, the muffled grunts and groans he made—that alone made my head spin. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself as I tipped over the edge.
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