doorstep now, I made a note to send him a good bottle of something strong and amber.
I held my breath and pulled the door open, looking as casual as I could. “Vanessa. What brings you by?”
She opened her lush pink mouth to speak, sucked in a breath and then flashed a nervous smile, all without saying a word. “This is harder than I thought.”
“What is?” I wouldn’t presume to guess what had brought her to my door this time of night, but if I did, it would be sex. Plain and simple.
“Apologizing.” There was that nervous smile again.
My own smile didn’t come quite so easily, or at all, really. “There’s nothing you need to apologize for, Vanessa.”
At my words, her nervous faded and she squared her shoulders, big sapphire blue eyes almost glaring at me. “That’s where you’re wrong, Emmett. You deserved more than waking up to an empty bed.”
“We rarely get what we deserve in this life, Nessa. You of all people should know that.”
Her smile faded, just a shade, as she took a step toward me. “Exactly. Too much shit happens that we can’t control, whether we deserve it or not, and this was something you didn’t deserve.”
She shook her head and stepped in really close, forcing me to step back or choke on her sexy, feminine scent.
“I’m sorry. I got scared and ran, Emmett. It wasn’t about you, it was…”
“Let me guess, it was about you?”
Vanessa nodded; a wry grin twisted her plump lips.
“I didn’t know what I was feeling for you, Emmett. Whatever it was, I couldn’t put it into words.”
She smiled when I stepped back and motioned her to come inside, continuing her explanation.
“I had guilt and sorrow all mixed up in my head,” she said and squeezed her eyes shut as if she were reliving that moment in her mind. “I didn’t want to say it just because you did. If love was what I felt, I needed to be sure before I said it.”
It wasn’t what my heart wanted, but at least I knew why now.
“You’re right, Vanessa. You shouldn’t say you love me if you don’t.”
“Glad you agree,” she snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I needed time, Emmett. You are the first man—only man—since Lance, and I had to get it all straight in my head without any interference.”
“Okay.” Arms folded, I stared at her, willing her to say something other than what she was working herself up to say, which was that I wasn’t the man for her. “Thanks for letting me know.”
She huffed out a groan and fisted her hands at her hips, looking angry and gorgeous and so full of fucking life it made my chest ache.
“That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say, Nessa? I told you I loved you, that I was in love with you, and you ran away. I listened to you tell me why you ran, and I get it. This is me trying to make it easy on you without ripping out my own damn heart.”
“Emmett.” Her voice got all low and soft, full of pleading. “I don’t want to rip your heart out, that’s why I needed time.”
I didn’t want it to, but that damned hope swelled up in my chest at the way her lips curled up at the corners. “Okay Nessa, time for what?”
“To figure out how I feel about you and then figure out a way to put it into words.” She took a step closer, licked her lips before she removed her jacket and tossed it on the sofa behind her. “It took a long time.”
“Felt like forever,” I growled and Vanessa laughed.
“It did. It really did, Emmett.” She tilted her head to the side and bit her bottom lip in that way she did when she was nervous. “But I’m here now because I figured it out.”
“And, what? You just want to be friends? Fuck buddies?”
I took a step forward and then two steps back, a pretty fucking perfect description for whatever was going on between me and Vanessa. I put another foot of distance between us, shaking my head.
“Why are you here, Vanessa?”
She let out a low, frustrated growl and stalked toward me, giving my chest a two-handed shove.
“I’m here because I love you too, Emmett!” She gave me another shove. “Is that clear enough for you?”
I froze, unable to believe my own ears. It was too good to be true.
I stood still and looked into her eyes. “Say it again.”
“I. Love. You.” She smiled