Colt. I’m better off with you. Everything good that’s happened lately has been when we’re together. And I’m not willing to give that up. Not for any amount of money.”
Chapter Forty
Alexis
I clutch Colt’s fingers in my cold, trembling hands, holding my breath as I wait for him to respond. To say something or give some kind of reaction. Anything but the blank, blinking, guppy face I’m getting.
Finally his fingers tighten on mine. “What?” he repeats, sounding as dumbfounded as he looks. He blinks rapidly a few times, gives his head a rough shake, and sucks in a ragged breath. “I’m sorry, this is a lot for me to process. I thought … you’d been acting off since your last meeting with Delores, and then I found the papers. I thought you’d dropped them accidentally, and I wanted to see if they were something important that you needed to deal with. It seemed like the most likely explanation for what had been going on. You needed a divorce, but we’d already gotten so tangled up just like you always said you didn’t want, and you didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
His grip on my hands becomes almost painful. “But I don’t want to stand in your way. I don’t want to be the thing holding you back and keeping you down. Even if you said you wouldn’t take that contract because of me, someday you’ll resent me for it. I love you, too, Alexis. But we can’t keep kidding ourselves that you don’t deserve more than me.”
It’s my turn to look confused. “What are you talking about? Didn’t you hear what I just said? I don’t want to work with a company that tries to control every aspect of my life. They don’t get to tell me who to date or who to love. And you don’t either, for that matter. I get to decide that. Only me. And I pick you. You have helped me to boil down what’s most important to me. And music, relationships, and this”—I fling a hand toward the door, indicating the stage, the crowd, the performance—“this is what matters most. I’m going to take the other contract. And I’m going to live up to my end of our bargain. I’ll keep writing songs for you. I’ll help you pick songs from other writers if you want—and by the way, that new song you debuted tonight was killer. Where’d you get that from?” I wave that question away. “Tell me later. That’s not the point right now. The point is that I know what I want. I’ve already informed Delores. And I have every intention of continuing to perform with you and my label is on board. They love what we’re doing and are thrilled to be backing a new album, including at least one of the duets I wrote for us. You can keep building your audience as an indie, but I have a good feeling that unless you just decide you don’t want to bother with a label, you could get an offer before you know it.”
He blinks at me again, bewildered amazement taking over his face. “Are you serious?”
“Yes!” I thread my fingers through his and squeeze them in time with my words. “I. Love. You. Colt. I choose you. I choose us.”
Finally—finally—my words seem to make an impression. With his fingers still threaded through mine, he wraps his arms around me, trapping my hands behind my back, and bends to kiss me. “I love you too, Alexis,” he breathes against my lips before claiming then.
And then his lips crash into mine, the kiss bruising and fierce, his tongue delving into my mouth as though he can’t get inside me fast enough.
I completely agree.
I wriggle my hands out of his grip so I can wrap my arms around him, using my leverage on his shoulders to boost myself higher. He groans, his hands cupping my ass as he bounces me up so I can wrap my legs around his waist.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he says, breathing hard.
“Me too.” My hands grip his hair, and I hold him back from me for a second, studying his beautiful sweet face. This man was ready to sacrifice his own happiness for mine. I’m glad neither of us have to make that kind of choice, though. Because we’re both better off together.
“Alexis,” he growls. “I can’t—I don’t—Jesus Christ, I want inside you so bad, but I don’t have a condom with me.”