Gavin studied her face and kissed the spot on her face he’d rubbed raw with his whiskers. “I need to shave for you before I touch you again.”
“I love your scruff. Don’t shave.”
“I love your soft skin and don’t want to mark it.”
“You have to let me up so I can make myself presentable for your parents.”
He pressed his hard cock against her one more time and kissed her. “There,” he said. “Now I might be prepared to get through dinner.” Rolling off her, he stared up at the ceiling as he throbbed with unspent desire. How there could be any more after what they’d done last night amazed him, but there seemed to be an endless supply where she was concerned.
She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to restore some order. “You must be so tired.”
“I’ll sleep good tonight. We won’t stay late at my parents’. Don’t worry.”
“I hope neither of us falls over at the table.”
“It would give them something to talk about for days.” He followed her with his gaze as she went into the bathroom. After spending this time with her, he wondered how he’d ever been able to resist her for as long as he had. He regretted that now. It felt so damned good to be with her that he wished he’d given in a long time ago. Maybe he could’ve avoided some of the recent disquiet if he’d let her in sooner.
No matter. She was here now, and he planned to do everything within his power to keep her.
A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom looking fresh-faced and put together.
He pulled himself up and out of her comfortable bed and then let her tug him along behind her as they headed for the door. “If I fall asleep in my mashed potatoes, will you rescue me?”
“Of course I will. I’m your ICE, after all.”
Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he nuzzled her neck. “Yes, you are.”
Ella turned and looked up at him. “Why did you make me your ICE anyway?”
“Because I knew you’d come no matter what. You’re always there for me when I need you most, even when I was pushing you away.”
She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Thank you for having such faith in me.”
“I do have faith in you, and I want you to be able to have faith in me.”
“I do, Gavin. Why do you think I never gave up on you, even when I probably should have?”
“Thanks for not giving up. I would’ve hated to miss out on this.”
Her warm, sweet smile filled the darkness inside him with badly needed light. It also filled him with even more determination to be what she needed, to not let her down. If he ever hurt her . . . He couldn’t even think about what it might feel like to have her look at him with disappointment rather than adoration. The fear of that sent a shudder through him as he followed her down the stairs.
CHAPTER 11
A whole stack of memories never
equal one little hope.
—Charles M. Schulz
As Gavin drove them to his parents’ home in his truck, Ella thought about what he’d said about why he’d made her his emergency contact and how he’d known he could count on her. It was humbling to think that while she’d been nursing her broken heart, he’d been clinging to her like a life raft in a storm.
Ella wanted to be his safe harbor, to lead him from the darkness back into the light. She burned with love for him—the forever kind of love that wouldn’t end until the heart inside her chest stopped beating. Even then, well into her next life, Ella would still love Gavin. It was just an irrefutable fact of her life.
They pulled into the driveway at his parents’ well-kept home, and an attack of nerves assailed her. Of course she knew Bob and Amelia Guthrie well and had for years, but she was coming here tonight as Gavin’s girlfriend or whatever she was now. It was different.