“Hey,” he said softly.
He reached across the seat and gently brushed away a tear I hadn’t realized was rolling down my face. His fingers lingered against my cheek as his eyes held mine.
“What’s wrong?”
How did I tell him I was crying over a piece of cake because I’d spent the last four years thinking the most important person in my world had forgotten about me? That this small gesture meant more to me than I could put into words?
“Why?” I asked in a small voice. “Why did you never come back?”
I hadn’t meant to ask that question, but as soon as it came out, I knew it was the one I desperately needed him to answer. All he’d told me was that he’d left because it was for the best. What did that mean? And why had he stayed away?
Sadness and regret darkened his eyes, and his hand left my cheek to hold one of mine. He entwined our fingers as if he was afraid I’d run away.
“That day you came to see me at my apartment, I almost didn’t recognize you when I opened the door. I’d gone home expecting to see my sweet little Dove, and I found a beautiful, desirable young woman instead.”
My breathing faltered.
“I thought there was something wrong with me,” he said roughly. “You were sixteen, at that place between a girl and a woman, and nowhere near ready for what I was feeling for you. Just having those thoughts about you made me ashamed.
“I left because I couldn’t face you, feeling like I did. I planned to clear my head, get it out of my system, and then go back.”
He looked out the windshield and back at me as if he was trying to find the right words.
“But I never got you out of my system. I never stopped wanting you.”
I inhaled sharply.
“I kept in touch with Rachel, and she let me know how you were doing. You seemed happy and I didn’t want to confuse or upset you, so I stayed away.” He let out a ragged breath. “I missed you, but I told myself I was doing what was best for you.”
I found my voice. “You wanted me?”
His green eyes blazed with need so raw it stole my breath.
“Since that day, I’ve never wanted anyone but you.”
My throat worked. “But those other women –”
“Meant nothing to me,” he declared. “I enjoyed their company as they enjoyed mine, but I used them to try to forget the one I really wanted.”
My head spun from his confession. He’d left to protect me from him. He had to have known I’d never say no if he’d given in to his desire, not after I’d professed my love for him.
“Why didn’t you call me? I thought you forgot me.” I tried to keep the quiver out of my voice and failed.
“God, Beth. I could never forget you. I thought if I heard your voice, I’d give in and go home to see you. I was weak when it came to you, and you were so young.”
“But I became an adult, and you still didn’t come,” I said accusingly as the old doubts and hurts resurfaced.
“I wanted to. I planned to go so many times.” He let out a harsh laugh full of self-recrimination. “Something always came up to stop me. I think a part of me was afraid you wouldn’t want to see me after all that time.”
I stared at the street and tried to process everything he’d told me. All this time I’d believed he’d left because he didn’t want me in his life anymore. Yes, he’d sent me presents for my birthday and Christmas, but I’d thought he did that out of obligation, nothing more.
“Do you think our Mori always knew we were mates?” I asked without looking at him.
His fingers flexed around mine. “Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
I closed my eyes. “If you’d known, would you have come back?”
“Beth.” He tugged on my hand until I turned to look at him again. “If I’d known that what I felt for you was a natural reaction to my mate, nothing would have kept me from you.”
Emotion welled beneath my breastbone, and I released it in a long, shuddering breath. In its wake, I felt lighter as I let go of most of the pain I’d been carrying all these years.
Chris released my hand and leaned over to pull me into his embrace. I pressed my face into the crook of his neck, wishing the console wasn’t in the way. All I wanted to do was climb into his lap and start making up for all the lost days.
Chris let me go and said, “Slide your seat back.”
I did as he’d said, and I was rewarded when he hoisted his body over the console. Before I could protest that we wouldn’t fit, he lifted me and slid into my seat, lowering me sideways onto his lap. It was still a tight fit, but neither of us was complaining.
He wrapped one arm around my waist and used his other hand to turn my face toward his.
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to hold you like this?” he asked huskily, sending a shiver of pleasure through me.
He trailed a finger down my throat to my collarbone.
“To touch you like this.”
His mouth was so close I could feel his warm breath.
“To kiss you like this.”
“Oh,” I breathed.
He brushed his lips chastely against mine, once, twice, before he captured my mouth in a hungry kiss. My lips parted for his demanding tongue, and I clutched his shoulders as he explored my mouth until my entire body buzzed from the sensual assault.
He broke the kiss so his lips could blaze a trail along my jaw. Needing more, I tilted my face up, exposing the column of my throat to him. He let out a low groan that made my toes curl, and he kissed his way down my throat to the collar of my button-up shirt.
My heart began to pound when he tugged the material down and pressed his lips to the swell of my breast. I burned with a need I’d never felt before, but things were moving so fast. The few boys I’d dated at home hadn’t gone beyond kissing. But Chris was a man, and he wouldn’t want to stop there.
He lifted his head and kissed me again with a reverence that made tears prick my eyes. When he finally ended the kiss, I curled against him with my head on his shoulder and his arms around me. I didn’t know why I felt so emotional and needy, but all I wanted was for him to hold me like he’d never let me go.
He sighed as he toyed with the end of my ponytail. I could feel reality about to burst our happy little bubble.
“You make it very hard to think about work.”
“But we have a job to do,” I murmured.
I reached over and opened the passenger door. As I moved to get out, Chris’s arms tightened around me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded playfully.
I swatted at his arm. “You need to get back into your seat, and this is a lot easier than climbing over the console. Not to mention we have garbage everywhere after your little maneuver.”
He laughed and let me go. I got out of the SUV, and he followed me. Looking at the mess we’d created, I made a face when I spotted a flattened foil container on the floor.
“I don’t think the cheesecake made it.”
Chris nuzzled the back of my neck. “I’ll buy you a whole cake tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I squeaked.
I heard his chuckle as he walked around to the driver’s door. Shaking my head, I picked up our garbage and stuffed it all in the takeout bag. He’d bought dinner, so it was only fair that I cleaned up.
“Beth,” Chris said in a low voice that no longer held a trace of amusement.
I looked up from reaching for the cheesecake container to see him staring intently out the windshield. I peered over the dash, but saw nothing out of place.
“What?” I whispered.
“We have company. Four houses down on the other side of the street.”
I followed his gaze to a dark sedan parked on the street. Sharpening my vision, I made out the shapes of two people in the front seat.
“How do you know it’s them?” I asked, feeling my pulse speed up.
Chris reached for his phone. “They pulled up a few minutes ago, and they haven’t moved since.”
“Maybe they’re waiting for someone at the party.”
“I’m sure they are,” he said, shooting off a text.