need more time to decide what I want, Mason. This past year, I grieved for a man who— You know what? I’m not going there. I’m not going to keep putting energy into my anger and what didn’t work. This is my life. If I keep dwelling on what happened and what I’ve lost instead of what has come into my life and what makes me feel good, then all I’ll do is end up sabotaging myself all over again.”
“You didn’t sabotage your relationship with David.”
“Didn’t I? I definitely made things worse by not voicing my concerns about us. I let things go. I hoped they’d get better. But I didn’t do anything to fix it.” She thought about all her small attempts to get David to talk, or how she’d tried affection and outright seduction. She’d gotten a response, but it never lasted. “I should have seen what seems so obvious now.”
“Do you want to know why I never got married?”
“Why?”
“Because I saw all those couples come through my office miserable and hating the person they once loved like nothing could ever change that. I got engaged thinking the same thing. But then I realized why all those relationships ended, like mine, was because those people didn’t feed that love. They let it starve.”
That hit her right in the heart. “Yes. That’s what happened. We let everything else get in the way of us.”
“No matter how hard you’d tried to fix things, once David cheated and lied and spent all that time covering it up, you were doomed. One person can’t fix a relationship. One person can’t hold it together, but one person can destroy it all.”
Mason closed the distance and touched her face. “I’m not worried about us, Sierra. You know why? Because I don’t expect you to be someone different when we get married. I know life won’t always be easy, but I’ll have you beside me to get through the rough times. I want to be there for you, because I want to see you smile every day of your life. I love you. And the way that makes me feel . . . It’s something I never want to lose. So I will do everything and anything I can to show you how much I love you every day because I don’t want to lose you.”
She stared up at him. “When we get married?”
“Yes. When.” He kissed her softly. “But you’ll have to wait a little bit for that. I have plans.”
She smiled, her heart light because he understood that she needed his open honesty. “Plans for me?”
His eyes filled with desire at her seductive tone. He’d been sweet last night, holding her while she let her mind sort through the anger, sadness, betrayal, and confusion over how this all happened. When the sadness set in and she let the tears fall, he’d buried his face in her hair and whispered soothing words and affirmations that everything would be okay.
And she believed him, because she believed he was the kind of guy who stuck it out. He wouldn’t quit on them.
She hadn’t stopped loving him all these years. It had lain dormant in her heart, but now that she was free to love him, she wouldn’t stop. Not ever. The way he made her feel . . . Well, she wanted to feel this way all the time. It’s what she’d been looking for, what she’d missed, what she craved.
And right now, she wanted to show Mason how much she appreciated him for being the man she needed.
“I have plans to keep you here. Plans to make you happy.” He slid his hands down her neck, over her shoulders, and along her spine until his big hands covered her ass and pulled her closer. “Plans . . .” He covered her mouth in a searing kiss that sparked every nerve in her body and lit a fire between her legs, especially when he squeezed her ass and lifted her right off her feet. Wrapped in all his strength and love, she held him close and kissed him like her life depended on it.
She wanted to lose herself in loving him. She wanted to feel something good and sexy and hot and let everything else get wiped away.
She was so tired of feeling stupid and taken advantage of and left in the dark.
Mason made her feel desirable and necessary. Especially when he talked about their future and seduced her right out of her sorrows and into