He had the decency to wince. Then he took her hands with his and held on. “I need you to understand,” he said, “that I let you go because I was scared. I haven’t felt what I feel for you in so long, it terrified me. But not as much as the thought of not having you in my life terrified me, once that really started to sink in. I’m sorry it took me so long.”
She blinked back tears, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “If you’re going to do the calendar, I’m going to need you to take off your shirt.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He dropped her hands and took a step back. “I could just call Liam…”
She shook her head, unsure if he was serious. She didn’t deny him. If he was going to be there, it wouldn’t be because she’d begged. “Lose the shirt. And the shoes and socks. I don’t know if we’ll use a full-body shot, but if we do, bare feet are sexy.”
“Noted,” he said wryly. But he shrugged out of his shirt, and her heart leapt.
Not that she’d let him off the hook and tell him that just yet.
“Are you sure I have to do this picture?” he asked.
She ignored the teasing tone. “No. You can leave.”
She turned away from him, but he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “I don’t want to.” She looked at him for a moment, but he still hadn’t completely revealed what his intentions were, and she was too bruised to make it easy for him. She got back down to business, adjusting the lighting.
For the most part, he behaved himself as she tousled his hair and told him where to stand.
She left him then and scooped up a kitten. The effect was what she’d hoped for. The tousled hair was a nice offset to eyes hooded with unchecked desire, and he even had a hint of stubble on his jaw that made her crazy with need. He was raw. Feral. Aroused. Against the white backdrop, his green eyes were electric. What woman wouldn’t want him storming her bedroom? She handed him a tiny blue-eyed kitten and practically swooned.
It didn’t take long to get the perfect shot.
“I guess that’s it,” she said. “All done here.”
His face fell, and she realized her words could have been taken a couple different ways.
“But,” she added quickly. “I do have one question.”
“Anything.” His open sincerity made her believe it. Ethan had come back. Ethan had said he loved her.
“What made you change your mind?” she asked.
He tugged on his shirt, immediately drying most of the wet look she’d painstakingly accomplished. “About you or the calendar?”
“The calendar,” she said because she wasn’t sure she could handle the other part. What if seeing her again wasn’t what he thought it would be?
“Because you are life,” he said gently. “You live it. You embrace it. And considering I’ve never even posted a picture of myself to social media, let alone shared one with a rumored thousands of single women, I hope this proves to you that I’m ready to get out there. With you.” He brushed back a lock of her hair, his fingertips caressing her cheek. “I’m in, sweetheart. All the way in. All of it. Everything you’ve got to give. I’ve got a lot to figure out and probably have no business being here, but—”
She stood on her toes and silenced him with a kiss. She’d only wanted to shut him up, but he quickly took over. Instead of a frantic, needy pace, he wrecked her with a tender exploration. Sweet and quietly demanding, he kissed her until her knees gave out—holy cliché, batman—but he had her.
He had her.
“I want you,” he murmured against her lips. “I want you however you are and wherever you are. As long as you want me, too, there’s nowhere too far.”
“I won the internship,” she said, hoping it wouldn’t change anything. But if it would, they both needed to know.
“I knew you would,” he said. He sounded proud. Of her. “And after that you’re going to play with the sharks, and then the seals. And then a dozen more adventures, and a dozen more after that. I got that. I love that. All I ask is that you let me join you for a few days here and there. I want to be part of your world. I want to tell you I love you and not feel as if I’m holding you back.”