She started to pull back, but Cullen clutched her hand. “I told you once that your first time should be special. With the right guy.”
Elizabeth swallowed. But I’ve been in love with you forever, she wanted to tell him. Some remnant of pride, thank goodness, held her back.
“This isn’t the right time, Elizabeth.”
“I’m finally starting to get that message.” Her feelings for him were hopeless.
“I’m not sure you are, so let me spell it out for you.” One arm crept around her waist. Slowly, he drew her toward him. “The next time I carry you into my bedroom, you’ll have a ring on your finger that says your mine forever. Got it?”
Elizabeth stared up at him, stunned. “But you said…the way you’ve been avoiding me…I thought…”
“I’ve been avoiding you because I needed time to think. When I saw you on that table at the funeral home…when I thought about what could have happened to you…” He closed his eyes briefly. “It was like I’d been struck by lightning. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before.”
“Seen what?” Elizabeth asked in a trembly voice.
“How much you mean to me.” He gazed down at her. “No one’s ever looked at me the way you do, Elizabeth. No one’s ever cared about me before. I guess I was too scared to believe it could be real. That it could last.”
“But it is real,” she said. “I’ve loved you for a very long time, Cullen. That’s never going to change.”
His gaze turned tender. “It took almost losing you for me to come to my senses. For me to see what was right there in front of me. You’re an amazing woman, Elizabeth.”
“How come it took you so long to figure that out?” she teased. “It’s been days since you rescued me.”
He swallowed. “I know. But even after I realized how much…how I felt about you, I was still scared, I guess.”
“Scared of what?”
He shrugged. “This isn’t going to be easy. Let’s not kid ourselves.”
Unease fluttered inside Elizabeth. “What do you mean?”
He drew a long breath and released it. “I’m not like you. I’m not from your world. I’m a cop. A high-school dropout. The son of the town drunk.” He waved a hand. “Take a look around you, Elizabeth. This is who I am.”
“I know who you are, Cullen. I’ve always known. I may come from a privileged background, but you can’t imagine how lonely my life has been without you. I may have a high IQ, but you’re the smartest, most interesting person I’ve ever known. And as for my parents—” She shuddered. “They have their faults, just like yours did. But it’s who we are that matters. It’s what we’ve made of our lives. Don’t you see that?”
He smiled. “I’m beginning to.”
“Then why can’t you say it?”
“Say what?”
“That you love me.”
He wove his hands through her hair, tilting her face to his. “I love you, Elizabeth. I’m crazy about you. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. I’ve never wanted anything in my life as much as I want you at this moment.”
“Oh, wow,” Elizabeth whispered, and then she said nothing else because Cullen bent at that moment and kissed her. Tenderly at first, and then fiercely. With the promise of a passion that took her breath away.
“About that book you were reading…” Cullen murmured into her ear. “Where were we…?”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1583-6
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*The Kingsley Baby
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Secret Sanctuary Page 20
