a shoulder. “Back… home,” I said, for lack of a better word, “pretty much everyone around me, all my friends and acquaintances, came from money. But I still worried about someone getting involved with me because of my family’s bank account. I don’t want someone to love me for selfish reasons. I want to be loved, for me, not for what I can give someone.”
Jared bent his head down, pressing his forehead against mine. He cupped my cheeks in his large hands. For a minute, he just looked into my eyes, not saying a thing. “Katy,” he finally said, “I love you, for you. I love that you care so much about your friends. I love that you’re strong and caring. I love that you came to the gym to learn how to defend yourself because you didn’t want to be helpless. I love that you brushed me off at first, because it only made me fight a hundred times harder to win your heart. I love that you love my sister. I love that you opened up to me and shared your past with me. I love that when you’re with me, you smile, and laugh because I know, that I’m the one that made you happy. I love you, Katy, because you are my everything. I don’t love you for what you can or can’t give me. I don’t love you for your bank account. None of that matters to me, Katy,” he stroked my cheek softly with the pad of his thumb. “I was in love with you before I knew you had money. I would never string you along like that. The love I feel for you is something I’ve never experienced. It’s a once in a lifetime feeling. It’s like, when I saw you, my soul recognized you and I couldn’t rest until I made you mine. So, never, ever believe that I love you for any other reason, except that you are you.” His lips pressed slightly against my forehead for a few seconds, before he pulled away. I swayed slightly and he grabbed my wrist to steady me.
“Whoa there, kitten,” he chuckled.
“I think I need to sit down,” I stuttered.
Jared led me over to the breakfast nook.
I plopped clumsily onto the bench.
“You okay?” He asked, bending down in front of me.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling slightly. “You always seem to make me feel lightheaded.”
Jared grinned crookedly. “Good.”
“You want to me feel dizzy?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” he chuckled. “It’s just… if I affect you that way then you must really care for me.”
I reached out, fingering the dimple in his chin. His stubble grated against my skin.
“I already told you that I love you. In fact, I said it first,” I let my hand fall back to my lap.
“True,” his eyes crinkled, “but most of the time you’re not affected by me, the way I am by you.”
I laughed. “You must be blind if you can’t see the way you affect me. You always manage to put my stomach in knots, good ones,” I added before he thought otherwise. “I’ve never had anyone make me feel the way you do, without you even saying anything. That night, at the club,” I swallowed, “when you grabbed my hand, for the first time in two years, I felt safe. You are my safe haven, Jared. It’s always been you that I’ve been searching for, even after I stopped looking.”
He closed his eyes as a smile spread across his face.
Opening them, he said, “I would go through every horrible thing in my life, over and over again, as long as I knew you’d be waiting for me on the other side.”
I took his hand in mine and smoothed my thumb across his knuckles.
“Neither of us is perfect, not by a long shot, but somehow, together, we are.”
~***~
“Karlie!” Jared yelled up the steps. “Hurry up! We have to go pick up Rollo!”
Karlie bound down the steps. “Rollo? Who’s Rollo? Do you have a dog?”
I laughed. “No, Rollo’s my best friend, he’s pretty much human, at least most of the time.”
Karlie laughed. “That’s a weird name.”
“His real name is Rolland,” I supplied.
Karlie’s mouth formed a perfect O. “Gotcha. Now I get it.”
“Have you called him to let him know we’re on our way?” Jared asked me.
“Yep, he’s ready,” I said, heading out the front door.
Karlie was already climbing in the backseat of Jared’s car.
Jared locked the front door and then helped me into the car.
“Ugh, Jared?” I said