Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,172

Torrio’s. Trying to look inconspicuous waiting for Hannah, Victoria, and Reed. His back is to the brick building, his hands on my hips, our lips attached.

Ever since this afternoon, I can’t seem to get enough of him.

“I wanted to clear something up,” he says, his hands sliding up and down my hips.

I rest my chin on his chest. “What?”

“This afternoon, I said I love you.”

“Oh.” My heart speeds up in my chest.

He shakes his head before I can say anything. “I just want you to know I meant it.” One hand tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “It wasn’t some declaration after an orgasm that I didn’t mean. I’ve never stopped loving you. I know we’re taking this slow and I don’t want to rush, but I didn’t want you thinking I said it just because my mind was in overdrive.”

I lay my cheek on his chest. The V-neck t-shirt he chose to wear is soft and edgy just like him. Most men will still be in suits, but I know he doesn’t care. His confidence never left him.

His arms tighten around my waist and I still don’t say anything.

Staring up at him again, I kiss his jaw.

“I love you, too. I thought that love died, but it never really did. It was laying dormant. Waiting.”

“Did you just compare your love for me to the state of a volcano?”

I slap his stomach lightly. “No. It just means inactivity.”

“That’s comforting. Can I tell our love story like that?” he pauses. “Chelsea said during our five years apart the love she had for me was inactive until I popped back into her life.”

I giggle like the school girl he turns me into. “It doesn’t sound that bad.”

“Let me give you my rendition.” Again, he pauses for dramatic effect. “I loved Chelsea from the first moment I saw her on a bar stool laughing with her friends. I had to eat the hottest wing they had and not drink anything for five minutes, but I’d do it all over again. The first time I told her I loved her, I didn’t know that I’d never be able to live without her. After my shaking hand signed the divorce papers delivered to me the morning after a binge, one would’ve thought it was over. But the seed of love was planted when we were barely adults. We starved that tree after only a short few months. Still, someone was watering that tree because it grew a little every year. It wasn’t until five years later when I held her in my arms again that the branches grew, and leaves budded. People would say it’s beautiful now, but I think it was just as beautiful when it was only a seed planted into life’s soil.”

Tears fill my eyes. His thumb swipes one away before it slips off my cheek to his t-shirt.

“But you’re right, that whole love was inactive line is the better of the two.” He smiles, and I swat him again in the stomach.

I rise to my tiptoes, planting my lips to his and when I pull away, I stare into his eyes. “I love you, Dean Bennett.”

His palms mold to my hips. “Enough for a dresser or a drawer?”

I smile at his humor and fall back down to my heels, wrapping my arms around his stomach, holding on for dear life. Pretty soon fate is going to want us to water that tree again.

“Aren’t you guys the cutest.” Hannah steps out of a taxi. She pays the driver and I see she’s upped her game tonight.

“Hannah,” Dean says, sliding his hand down my arm until it’s locked in his. “Nice to see you off the clock.”

“Technically you don’t punch a clock for me since you’re helping pro bono.” She smiles, leans forward and kisses my cheek. “Glad you could make it.”

“Nice outfit,” I comment, and she rolls her eyes. “It’s nothing.”

“Uh-huh,” I say low enough that no one really pays me attention.

She’s in a short black skirt and see-through blouse with a gold bra under. She’s asking for it tonight. And if I had my guess, I’d say she’s hoping a silver fox will hunt her down.

A black SUV pulls up and stops beside the curb. Victoria and Reed file out. Uber express, I’m sure.

“Great, we’re all here. Let’s go have some drinks and make some memories.” Hannah leads the pack down the alley as everyone says their hellos.

Reed and Dean shake hands and discuss some new judge or some