“So what’s the issue?” Jackie prods.

“The issue is what sort of picture does that give off? What if he tells somebody? What if individuals begin speaking?” My voice quivers with a mixture of worry and residual pleasure.

“Folks do discuss, Natalie,” Jackie chides. “However who cares? It is your life. And in case you have a connection that’s all that issues.”

I reduce her off earlier than she will be able to end her thought. “A connection does not justify throwing my requirements out the window! And I did not do something to make him consider I’m not simple. I did simply the other. Rattling!”

There is a pause on the road as Jackie have to be contemplating her subsequent phrases rigorously. “Natalie Stevens, you might be one of many strongest girls I do know. So that you had a lapse in judgment one night time. That does not outline you.”

I exhale slowly and sink deeper into the sofa cushions. “Thanks, Jackie. I simply… I do not wish to lose management once more. This can be another way than earlier than, nevertheless it nonetheless worries me.”

“You will not,” she assures me with conviction I want I shared. “You are not that woman anymore. Until you have forgotten, you are a badass enterprise proprietor who had a human second.”

“I do not know, Jackie,” I mutter, biting my backside lip. “He even stated he cherished me after.” I really feel a chill regardless of the heat of the room. “Who does that? It is like purple flags at a bullfight. He might be a type of needy guys who’ll be banging down my door in any respect hours if issues go south.”

Jackie’s voice is tight with concern. “That is intense. Possibly it was simply within the second?”

“Possibly,” I say, however my intestine twists like a moist rag being wrung out. “I do not know if I can deal with this. I bought a textual content from his common coach and he’ll be away longer than he anticipated. I am supposed to coach Dillon for not less than two extra periods. It might be extra. I feel I will have to inform him to seek out one other coach.”

The doorbell chimes, interrupting my ideas. “Maintain on, Jackie,” I say, padding over to the entrance door.

Peering by means of the peephole, my coronary heart lurches into my throat. It is Dillon. The very supply of my present turmoil stands on the opposite facet of the door.

Jackie’s voice squeals by means of the telephone, “Is that him? Dillon?”

“Yeah,” I breathe out. “I’ve bought to take care of this head-on. Discuss to you later.” The telephone clicks as I sever the connection.

I open the door and Dillon steps in, his presence filling the house as he leans in and crops a gentle kiss on my cheek.

“Natalie, I do know I made you uncomfortable final night time,” he begins, his voice a low hum of sincerity. “I am sorry for being so aggressive. I assume I used to be extra like a self-centered ass.”

My thoughts races again to final night time—the warmth of his pores and skin in opposition to mine, the best way my identify sounded when he stated it. No, he wasn’t aggressive in any respect. The whole lot that occurred was mutual need colliding in the dead of night.

“I should not have pushed,” he continues, his darkish eyes appeared even darker as he stared at me in earnest.

He did not push—I leaped willingly into his arms, into his mattress. However as quickly as he whispered these three phrases, I like you, a siren blared inside me. At first I believed I used to be listening to issues after which I noticed that he had truly stated these three little phrases once we’d recognized one another lower than a day. I couldn’t cease occupied with it. All I might do was depart after I was nonetheless awake and wildly confused at 4 AM questioning precisely what was taking place.

It wasn’t Dillon or his actions that scared me. His declaration of affection jogged my memory of a time when love meant without end till it abruptly did not.

I stare at Dillon, the morning gentle casting a mild glow on his face. His concern is obvious, and it stirs one thing inside me. One thing susceptible. “Dillon, I panicked final night time,” I say. “I did not imply to expire on you want that.”

He tilts his head, brows knitting in confusion. “What occurred?”

Drawing in a deep breath, I let the recollections of my previous seep into the house between us. “I used to be engaged as soon as, again in faculty after I was… totally different.” I took a deep breath as a result of this was a tough story for me to inform since I would labored so onerous to be who I’m as we speak. “I used to be skinny. Then after softball was over, I gained weight.” The phrases tumble out, laced with a bitterness I believed I would moved previous. “He left me as a result of he did not like that I gained weight. That broke me.”

Dillon’s face hardens with one thing like anger. “Nicely, that man was a loser bastard,” he says firmly. “He did not deserve you.”

Amusing escapes me, hole and short-lived. “You assume?”

“I do know,” he asserts, closing the gap between us with a step that pulls the air from the room.

His lips discover mine in a toe-curling kiss that sends shockwaves by means of my physique. The world exterior this second fades to nothingness as he whispers in opposition to my mouth, “I will by no means try this to you.”

Pulling again simply sufficient to look into my eyes, he provides, “Keep in mind what I instructed you—I will by no means harm you, and I meant it.”

In that second, the burden of my insecurities lifts. Dillon’s gaze holds mine with an depth that seems like a promise. My coronary heart swells with emotion and I consider him.

“I like you, too,” I say, every phrase infused with reality and hope. Dillon’s smile tells me he means it, too.

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