How could she?
How could she reconcile herself to being in a relationship with a man she didn’t trust? And it was clear to him now that she still didn’t trust him. If he were honest, he’d have to say that she probably hadn’t forgiven him for hurting her all the times he had in the past.
And he knew that he didn’t have the words to convince her that he was a changed man. Hell.
Hell and damn.
He walked over to her and she blinked even more rapidly. He knew she was trying to hold back tears, but a few leaked out and started to fall down her cheeks. He didn’t care that she was mad at him or about anything but comforting her because she needed it.
He reached for her, but she stepped back, putting her hand up. “Don’t. I’ll lose it if you touch me.”
He hated that, hated that the one thing he felt like he could do had been taken from him. From them.
“Come on. Let’s go to my suite and we can talk.”
She nodded. He reached out to put his hand on the small of her back but then dropped it before he touched her. He wasn’t sure if one innocent touch was going to push past the fragile control she was using to hold herself together.
He used his card to access the concierge level where his suite was located and then led the way down the hall to his room. Alec had left earlier, and the room was empty.
“Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
“No,” she said. Her voice had the husky lower timbre it only had when she was biting back tears.
“Let me say again, it wasn’t me with that woman.”
She nodded. “I know. I believe you, Mo.”
He nodded. “So, what’s the problem?”
She shrugged, then turned her back to him and walked toward the window. She stood in front of it with her head bent, and he wished he couldn’t see her reflection in the glass. Couldn’t see that lost look on her face.
“I just realized a few things today. Well, first I thought it was you. And you know that really floored me because what does that say about us as a couple that I thought you couldn’t go to one party without hooking up?”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know. Not anything good.”
She turned around.
And he wished she hadn’t. If he thought she looked lost in the reflection from the window, seeing the expression on her face directly was a thousand times worse.
“Exactly. That photo made me face something that I wasn’t aware I was ignoring,” she admitted. “I’m not sure I ever really forgave you for anything.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “But now that we know there’s a problem, we can work it out and move past it.”
Please, God, let us be able to do that.
She chewed her lower lip and wrapped her arms around her waist, and he knew.
They were never going to be able to move past this.
Fucking hell.
A litany of curses all directed at himself rained through his mind. He’d tried so hard to fix the problems his quick temper and selfish behavior had created. He’d fooled himself into believing that he could fix everything but now he knew. He saw on her face that he was never going to be able to fix the wounds he’d carved so deeply on her soul.
“I guess that’s a no.”
She shook her head as she started to cry, and he saw her throat work as she swallowed.
“I want to say yes,” she said in that voice that made him feel like the worst sort of monster, because he was the one responsible for her hurt and her tears.
“Then say yes. I’m different, Had. You know I am,” he said, coming over to her because his arms were starting to ache from not holding her. “I’ve made huge leaps in the last few months. Losing you showed me all the things about myself that I didn’t really like, the stuff I needed to change.”
She nodded, and he reached for her. She let him hug her, but she was stiff and the embrace wasn’t enough. He didn’t know how to get through to her.
She had to at least meet him halfway. Or be open to meeting him.
She rested her forehead on his chest, and he felt her arms snake around his waist, holding him tightly to her. Then she let her arms drop and stepped back.
“I wish I were a different woman, but I’m not. I don’t think I can be what you need because of our past. I wish that we’d waited to get together until now, but we didn’t, and I can’t forget how you hurt me before. I thought I could. I thought I’d moved past it and forgiven you, but then I woke up to that photo and knew I hadn’t.
“This is on me, Mo. The man you are becoming is so much stronger than the guy you used to be, and I wish you nothing but happiness in your life,” she said.
Then she moved past him, heading toward the door.
* * *
Mauricio knew that if she walked out that door, she wasn’t going to come back, and he couldn’t just let her go. He thought of the ring in his pocket and the plan he’d developed last night in the bar but all of that meant nothing.
“Hadley!”
She stopped but didn’t turn around. She just stood there, shoulders bowed, and he knew that whatever he did next was going to be the difference between having her by his side for the rest of his life and living with regret and pain.
“I love you.”
The words weren’t what he had planned to say but there they were, hanging in the room between the two of them. Dammit. He’d never felt so defenseless before. He’d never felt so scared of anything as he was of that she wouldn’t respond and just keep walking away.
She turned to face him.
“What did you say?” she asked, but her voice was different now. Not that deep timbre that scraped across his soul and made him feel like he was going to break.
“I love you,” he repeated, meeting her eyes and standing up taller.
He was proud of the affection he had for her. She’d made him realize that life wasn’t just a race to have the biggest bank account or beat everyone else to the top. That life was sweeter with her in it.
Tipping her head to the side, she asked, “Why?”
“Hell, woman. I don’t know why. If I did, then I wouldn’t feel like this. I’m a mess thinking that you might leave, and I’ll never be whole again. All I know is I love you,” he said.
She nodded and then started walking toward him. “I love you too, Mo. I don’t know how to stop this. When I saw that picture, I was broken, not angry. There was no anger because you own my heart and my soul, and I didn’t want to believe that I could feel that deeply about you and it would mean nothing to you.”
“It means everything to me,” he said. “I’ll do whatever you need me to in order to make this right.”
“Loving me is all I need,” she said.
“Well, then, we’re good, woman, because I love you so damned much,” he said, closing the gap between them and lifting her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he stared down into her eyes.
He saw the truth of her emotions and knew that they’d have to sort out the photo and how to handle it with the wider world, but the two of them—the people who really mattered—knew the truth and they were together.
He’d never felt so relieved or happy in his life. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I love you so much.”
He laughed as joy coursed through his blood. He spun them around in the middle of the suite, holding her to him.
“Me too, darling.”
* * *
He carried her into the bedroom and set her on her feet. Blood rushed through his veins, pooling in his groin and hardening him as she started unbuttoning his shirt. Her fingers were cool against his skin as she worked her way down his body. When she finished unbuttoning the shirt, she pushed it open and he shrugged out of it.
He growled deep in his throat when she leaned forw
ard to brush kisses against his chest. Her lips were sweet and not shy as she explored his torso. Then he felt the edge of her teeth as she nibbled at his pecs.
He watched her, his eyes narrowing. His pants were feeling damned uncomfortable about now. Her tongue darted out and brushed against his nipple. He angled his hips forward and put his hand on the back of her head, urging her to stay where she was.
“I missed you,” she said.
She had one hand braced on his chest as she leaned over him. He shifted under her and lifted her in his arms so that she straddled him. He leaned up and kissed her lips. “I missed you too. I thought I lost you.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in his neck. “I can’t believe how much I love you.”
“Me too.”
He tugged at the hem of her blouse, pulling it up over her head and tossing it aside. She was wearing some kind of bralette thing; when he couldn’t figure out how to get it off, she laughed, pulling it over her head but not all the way off. Her breasts fell free and he cupped them, rubbing his fingers over her nipples. His cock, which had been hard since she’d jumped in his arms, strained against his trousers.
She shivered in his arms and rocked against him. His cock responded by twitching against her core. He rubbed his hands over the length of her naked back. He enjoyed the feel of Hadley in his arms and it was especially poignant now since he’d almost lost her forever.
She put her hands on his shoulders and eased her way down his chest. She traced each of the muscles of his stomach and then slowly made her way lower. He could feel his heartbeat in his erection and he knew he was going to lose it if he didn’t take control.
When she reached the waistband of his pants, she stopped and glanced up into his eyes.
Her hand went to his erection, brushing over his straining length. He reached up and removed the bra she still wore and then lifted her slightly so that her nipples brushed his chest.
She nibbled on her lips as he rotated his shoulders so that his chest rubbed against her breasts.
Blood roared in his ear. He was so hard, so full right now, that he needed to be inside her.
Impatient with her leggings, he lifted her off his lap and tugged them down her legs. She bent over to take them off and he couldn’t resist moving around behind her. He caressed her ass and then let his hands move down her thighs. He positioned her so she could lean on the side of the bed. She moaned as he touched her center and then sighed when he brushed his fingertips across the crotch of her panties.
The lace was warm and wet. He slipped one finger under the material and hesitated for a second. She looked over her shoulder at him.
Her eyes were heavy-lidded. He felt the minute movements of her hips as she tried to move his touch where she needed it.
He pushed the fabric of her panties aside and lightly traced the opening of her body. She was warm and wet and so ready for him. It was only the fact that he wanted her to come at least once before he entered her that enabled him to keep his own needs in check.
She shifted against him and he thrust into her with just the tip of one finger. He teased them both with a few short thrusts.
“Mo...” she said, her voice breathless and airy.
“Yes, darling?” he asked, pushing his finger deep inside of her.
Her hips rocked against his finger for a few strokes before she was once again caught on the edge and needing more. He reached for a condom and put it on.
“Take me, Mo.”
He pulled his finger from her body and traced it around her clit. She rocked her hips frantically against him. Her hips pushed back toward him and he reached around her to take the tip of one breast in his hand.
He lowered his mouth to the base of her spine and then slowly licked his way up her back, kissing the nape of her neck and biting it. She shuddered in his arms, her hips pushing back against him again. He swiveled his hips and found the opening of her body. She moaned as he brushed the tip of his cock against her humid center.
He scraped his fingernail down her back as he thrust into her. He took her hard and deep, thrusting into her again and again until she called out his name. Then he felt his orgasm rock through him. He drove into her until he was empty and then wrapped his arm around her waist and fell to the bed, drawing her with him.
She curled against his side, her hand moving over his chest as their breath slowed and he looked over at her.
She was his.
Now and forever.
“I have something for you,” he said, shifting around to reach for his pants.
“You just gave me something,” she said, wriggling her eyebrows at him.
“I’m going to give it to you again after I recover,” he said, “But I have something else for you right now.”
He took the box out of his pocket and shifted to his side so he could look down into her eyes.
“You know I love you more than life itself, Hadley, and you might need more time. But I want you to be my wife. I want to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me?”
She sat up as he held out the box. He realized he might have planned this better, but if he’d learned anything in his relationship with her, it was that he couldn’t wait for perfection. He had to seize the moment when it came along.
He opened the box and took the ring out of it, while he waited for her answer.
“Had?”
“Yes, Mo. Yes, I will marry you. I love you.”
He put the ring on her finger and then made love to her again.
Having Hadley in his arms made him realize that all the posturing and fighting he’d done his entire life had been to hide the pain of not feeling complete. He’d been so afraid to let his guard down and let her in but he knew he was better for having her by his side.
Epilogue
Helena and Hadley were waiting outside of the Jaqs Veerland Bridal Studio for their fiancés and Hadley couldn’t help smiling at her sister. “I can’t believe we’re both getting married in the next nine months.”
“Me neither,” Helena said. “Malcolm is really doing so much better and I’m almost afraid to believe how happy we are at this moment.”
“I know what you mean. After that photo of Scarlet and Alec appeared, I wasn’t sure that Mo and I would ever be here. But I love him so much, Helena. I never thought I would.”
“I know, sweetie. It’s hard to believe that we both have found true love.”
“Is it?” Hadley asked. “I think we both found what we were looking for, or at least I did. Mauricio has turned into the man I always knew he could be.”
“Well, we were all ready to tar and feather him when that photo showed up online, but once we saw him with you, well, even Mom said there is no way that he could kiss someone else and look at you the way he does.”
“Of course, there isn’t,” Mauricio said, coming up behind them and hugging Hadley. “She owns me body and soul.”
* * *
Will there be consequences
for Alec Velasquez’s indiscretion?
Find out in
One Night, Two Secrets
by USA TODAY bestselling author
Katherine Garbera.
Available November 2019
from Harlequin Desire.
Keep reading for an excerpt from Seductive Secrets by Cat Schield.
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Seductive Secrets
by Cat Schield
One
Paul Watts entered the hospital elevator and jabbed the button for the fourth floor with more force than necessary. In two hours he was leaving Charleston to attend a week-long cybersecurity conference. His gut told him this was a mistake. His eighty-five-year-old grandfather’s medical situation wasn’t improving. Grady had been hospitalized six days earlier with cerebral edema, a complication arising from the massive stroke he’d suffered three months earlier that had affected his speech and left one side of his body paralyzed. In the midst of this latest medical crisis, the family worried that Grady wouldn’t last much longer. Which was why Paul was rethinking his trip.
Despite the excellent care he was receiving from the doctors, the Watts family patriarch was failing to rally. At first the doctors and physical therapists had agreed that the likelihood of Grady making a full recovery was better than average given his excellent health before the stroke and his impossibly strong will. But he hadn’t mended. And he hadn’t fought. The stroke had stolen more than his voice and muscle control. It had broken Grady Watts.
One Night with His Ex Page 16
