by LENA DIAZ,
Tears glistened on her lashes.
He kissed them away.
“Sweetheart, do you love me?”
She squeezed her eyes shut as if in pain. “I can’t love you. I’m not made for white picket fences and baking cookies.”
“I never asked you to bake me cookies, although I wouldn’t mind. But I can buy those just as easily, or make them myself. As for picket fences, I’m more partial to iron, with a great security system. And maybe a Doberman.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Bailey, I love you. To hell with vacations together. I want a real future with you, something far more permanent. But if you’re not sure yet about me, we can slow it down. Enjoy each other. Do the vacation thing. And then you’ll see that we can be a couple, that if there’s a question of someone not being good enough for someone, it’s me who’s not good enough for you.”
He framed her face in his hands. “But I’m too selfish to let that matter. Because I can’t imagine my life without you. All I ask is that you try hard to look past my faults, and accept the imperfect man that I am. Give me a chance. Give us a chance.”
She sniffled. “I’ve never had a job except with EXIT. I don’t even know what to do for a living now.”
“I’ll get a job. I’ll take care of you.”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “I don’t need to be taken care of.”
“Maybe you can let me think I’m taking care of you now and then, just to boost my ego.” He smiled. “I’ll let you stay at my house until you get a job and get back on your feet. We can keep a tab. You can pay me back later.”
She rolled her eyes again. “I have plenty of money. Probably more than you. I’m a good investor.”
“You haven’t seen the size of my 401K.” He winked.
“I may want to go back to college.”
“Sounds like a great idea.”
She moved her hands to the top of his shoulders. “I suppose I could maybe stay at your place while I’m in school. Wait, you don’t live in the suburbs, do you?”
The look of horror on her face had him laughing again and he put his arms around her waist, ignoring how the gearshift dug into his abdomen.
“My house isn’t in the mountains,” he said. “But maybe you can get used to the beach. At least, until we figure something else out.”
“Don’t expect me to clean it. I don’t do housework.”
He shrugged. “I know how to run a vacuum.” He pressed a kiss against her cheek.
“I don’t cook either.”
“You make a mean bowl of soup.”
She seemed to consider that a moment, then nodded. “True.”
“I don’t judge prospective mates based on their cooking and cleaning abilities,” he teased. The way she stiffened had him immediately regretting his word choice. “Not that I’m asking you to marry me. I’m just asking you to—”
“Move in together?”
He studied her face, looking for signs of flight or fear. “Yes?” he said, hoping he was giving the right answer.
She relaxed in his arms.
Right answer then.
“Okay, move in together. I can handle that. No sense in dating when we’ve already rounded all the bases.”
He coughed to keep from laughing again. “Um, yeah. Exactly.”
“And once I graduate, then we’ll talk about next steps. Maybe.”
“Once you graduate?” He hated the note of panic that seeped into his voice. But having to wait to make Bailey his for four years? That might very well kill him. He already knew that he wanted her, now and forever. He just needed a little time to convince her, but not four years’ worth.
“Are we talking an AA degree?”
She shook her head. “Oh, please. Anyone can get a two-year degree. I want the whole enchilada.”
“A bachelor’s?” Maybe he could survive four years of waiting. Maybe.
She shook her head again. “Nah, I’m talking going all the way.” She slid her arms around his neck. Her breasts pressed against his chest, making sweat pop out on his forehead as he tried to ignore the pleasure-pain of his body’s immediate response and focus on the conversation that would decide his fate.
“What does all the way mean?”
“A master’s degree. Or maybe, hey maybe I could go for a doctorate. That would pretty much guarantee me a career anywhere.”
“What would that take? Ten years?” he choked. “And we . . . wait . . . that whole time . . . to move forward with our relationship?”
“I think you can take your master’s and doctorate programs simultaneously. It might not be quite that long.”
His mouth had gone dry. He didn’t even know what to say. One thing was for sure, the part of his body that had been straining for release a few minutes ago was no longer at attention. He was too damn depressed to be excited anymore.
She framed his face in her hands this time. “Can you wait for me that long, Kade? Can you wait ten years?”
“Yes. It would kill me, but I would wait. I will wait. However long you need me to. I love you, Bailey. Nothing is ever going to change that.”
Her eyes widened, and then the tears started up again, spilling down her cheeks.
Ah hell.
“What did I do wrong this time?” he asked.
“Nothing. You did everything right. You really do love me, don’t you? With all my faults.”
She didn’t wait for his answer. She plastered her body against him, and kissed him like she’d never kissed him before. By the time she stopped, his body was standing at attention again, so hard it brought tears to his eyes.
She was laughing when she pulled back, her hands moving to his shoulders. “Is that a gearshift or are you happy to see me?”
“Both.”
She laughed again, then tugged on his earlobe with her teeth, her warm breath making him shudder, both with longing and misery in thinking about how long he’d have to wait for her.
“Kade?” she whispered, before moving her lips to his neck, and sucking.
He shuddered, really wishing her lips were somewhere else when she did that. His arms tightened around her. “Yes?” Had he just whimpered? He sure as hell hoped not.
“Did I ever tell you how much I hated school growing up? And that just the thought of going to college makes me want to curl up and die?”
It took a few seconds for her words to sink in.
“Wait, then you were—”
“Teasing you?” She grinned, then grew serious. “Yes and no. I honestly couldn’t believe that you could really care about me with all my faults, my past, the horrible things that I’ve done.”
“Bailey—”
“No, wait. Let me say it. Everything has happened so fast—in my career, my life, and now, with us. I didn’t trust it. Couldn’t let myself trust it. Because I’ve lost so much that I was afraid that if I really let myself go, if I let myself believe that whatever this is, this thing that’s happening between us, is real, that I’d lose that, too. But if the only way to protect my heart is to never let myself share it, then that’s not really living. I want to live, to love. I want to love you, Kade. I love you. Now. Forever. No matter what happens.”
His hands shook as he feathered them across her face. “I love you so much.”
She smiled through her tears. “I’ve got you. Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of you.”
About the Author
Originally from Kentucky, romantic suspense author LENA DIAZ has called sunny northeast Florida her home for most of her life. But after being traumatized by the movie Jaws when she was a little girl, she prefers to do her frolicking in the beautiful Tennessee Smoky Mountains every chance she gets. A former Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® finalist, she has won the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence in mystery and suspense as well as the Booksellers’ Best Award. She has a huge weakness for action movies and the occasional spaghetti Western (John Wayne, anyone?). Throw in a Criminal Mind
s marathon and she’s in heaven. You can contact Lena through her website, www.LenaDiaz.com.
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By Lena Diaz
EXIT Inc. series
Final Exit
No Exit
Exit Strategy
Deadly Games series
Take the Key and Lock Her Up
Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Dead
Simon Says Die
He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
final exit. Copyright © 2017 by Lena Diaz. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
EPub Edition FEBRUARY 2017 ISBN: 9780062349149
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062349132
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