by J. S. Cooper
“Oh, Henry.” Lacey’s eyes were full of tears and my heart stopped. I felt defeated. She didn’t love me. I’d lost her. I’d ruined it all.
“It’s okay. It’s my own fault. You don’t have to explain. You’re a princess and you deserve better than me.”
“Henry.” She grabbed my face and looked at me. “Are you being honest with me right now?”
“Yes.” I pulled her into my arms. “Yes.”
“I love you,” she said softly and kissed me on the lips. “But what about Claudia?”
“She’s going to go to a facility. Her dependency isn’t healthy. I’ve known that for a while, but it has always made me feel guilty. But I’ve come to realize that it’s not a good situation for either of us to be in.”
“You chose her over me.” Lacey’s voice was sad. “You made me leave that night.”
“I’m sorry.” I nodded. “I know it seemed that way. I know how that must have hurt. Please know that that was not my intention. She was in a really bad place and I was angry at her. And my anger made me feel guiltier. And my feelings for you were confusing me. I just needed space. I needed to think. I didn’t want to acknowledge and appreciate that I was in love with you and that made me defensive and scared. I’m sorry about that.”
“You really hurt me.” She blinked up at me. “You really broke my heart. And the words you said to me, they tore me apart. You tore me apart and you didn’t care.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t know that I can ever forgive you for that.”
“I see.” I wanted to throw up. I didn’t know what to say. The pain I felt inside was killing me. I’d lost her. And it was my own fault.
“Do you really see, though, Henry?” She grabbed my hands. “Do you know how you made me feel? Do you know how you crushed me? I still love you. Of course, I love you, but I’m scared. I’m so scared that you’ll get scared again and you’ll leave me, or drop me, or run away, or stop loving me. I couldn’t live with that. I couldn’t live with that pain. Of having you and then losing you. I’ve barely held on these last two months. I’ve barely survived. I couldn’t survive going through something even worse. You were cruel to me, Henry.”
“There will never be a day that goes by that I won’t regret the things I said to you and how cold and unfeeling I’ve been. There’s nothing I can say that will take that pain away or excuse my behavior. I know that. Trust me, I know that. But I’m willing to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me and how badly I regret my harsh words. I didn’t mean them. I know that you might not believe me now. But I didn’t. I’m not sure why I didn’t want to acknowledge my feelings. Maybe because I didn’t want to believe that I loved you. Maybe because I knew that you were the one and if I believed in that and in us, I would fall, too hard, harder than I’d ever fallen before.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It scares the shit out of me, Lacey. You mean more to me than anything. If, I ever lost you, I wouldn’t, couldn’t survive. And that’s the scariest thing I’ve ever had to face. To know that you’re the one thing in my life that makes sense. That I want. I don’t understand it. And when I don’t understand something, it makes things really hard for me.”
“So, this is too hard for you?” Lacey looked worried and I grabbed her hand and placed it on my heart.
“I don’t care how hard it is or what you want me to do to prove my love to you. I will spend my life showing you how much you mean to me. Feel my heart beating? It’s beating for you. I live for you. Every breath I take is for you. Every time I open my eyes, it’s in the hope of seeing your beautiful face. Every minute of every day, I want to be with you.” I felt myself choking up. “I want to marry you, Lacey. I want you to be my wife. I’ve been such a fool. Such a big big fool. I just want to make it up to you. I just want you to know that this, us, you, me, it’s all I want from life. It’s all I need. Please tell me that you can find it in your heart to give me a fresh start? A chance to make it better. A way to show you that I’m a better man than I’ve proven myself to be.”
“Okay,” she said simply. “It’s always been you, Henry. It’s always been you. I could never say no. I love you.”
In that moment, I felt like my heart was going to explode. This was why I loved this woman. This was why I was going to spend the rest of my life showering her with love and affection. She was perfect. She was mine. She was the reason I was born. She was the reason for everything!
Thank you for reading Falling for the Billionaire. I hope you enjoyed it. Please sign up for my MAILING LIST to be notified of all of my new releases and to receive a special sneak peek of my upcoming book, The Hookup.
Here’s the synopsis for my upcoming book The Hookup
How far would you go for true love?
He was the devil in disguise
I met Dylan and fell for him in a weekend. That's all it took. He swept me off of my feet and my heart became his in an instant. He was a charmer, a rogue, a devious manipulator. I didn't care. Our hookup was the stuff of dreams, fantasies, epic tales and I was caught up in his web. Until the truth came out. And I fled.
He was a Knight in shining armor
First there came a letter. Then the gifts. Then Nate showed up on my doorstep. He was Dylan's brother and he had a message for me. He became my confidante and my best friend. Then the anonymous emails started. And secrets from the past started to flood my life. All of a sudden I wasn't sure if Nate was that much different from Dylan.
What if the truth you thought you knew was wrong? What if the love of your life was someone you didn't really know after all?
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