Page 11 of Say You'll Stay
“Sweetness.” West’s hand comes down on my thigh.
“No, West!” I break. I’m so mad about the fucked-up shit I’m dealing with at the Ware’s and now this. “It’s clear you have known where I’ve been for a while, Mr.I bought you a school and I also know where you live and what you’re up to. It’s all bullshit!” I shout the last words. “Then, where have you been? Why did you leave me? Do you not know how to call or even send a text?”
“It’s not?—”
“I don’t give a shit what it’s like, Weston.” I use his full name, knowing it will hit the bullseye and piss him off. “You couldn’t have missed me that much.” I jerk off my seat belt as we pull up to the museum. “Just forget about me like the rest of the world.” I try to open the door, but it won’t. “Unlock it.”
“No.”
“I swear to God if you don’t—” I’m cut off when West’s hand cups the back of my neck, pulling me toward him.
“You mighthaveliked me, loved me, but Ifuckinglove you, Vasey,” he grits out before he takes my mouth in a hard kiss.
Chapter Eight
WEST
Touching her is a mistake. Kissing her is fatal. The desire I’ve suppressed for the past decade rushes to the surface. This kind of love never dies. I devour her. I dig my hands into her hair, pulling her close. There’s too much distance between us, too many clothes. I angle her head so I can gain deeper access.
My hold is tight and fierce. Her body can’t move, but her mouth can. Her lips part. Her tongue battles mine. The fire between us has never died. I taste the hunger on her tongue. I run one hand down her arm and stop at her waist. I need her on top of me. I need to be inside her. My fingers search for a zipper. My fierce want rings in my ears, an incessant buzz of longing blaring in my head.
“West!” Vasey pushes me back.
I blink at her in confusion and then shake my head. The ringing isn’t my lust, it’s my driver. I lower the divider. He gives me an apologetic grimace. “We’re here, Sir.”
I nod and let the smoked glass slide up. “We’ll drive you and Jasmine home.”
Vasey has brushed her hair back into place and straightened her clothes. Despite her attempts at respectability, her lips arecherry red, and her cheeks are rosy. She looks like a woman who’s been loved up.
Not enough, though. I have a decade of loving to make up for.
“Jasmine won’t get in the car with you. And…I need time to sort through”—she waves a hand in my way—“what all this is.”
She’s pissed, and she has every right to be. It’s not that I was wrong to go to the military, to want to make money, to provide for her. It was wrong to fight before I left and wrong to allow distance to grow between us. Her ignoring my declaration of love with a hand wave should at least irk me, but I can only acknowledge that this is the result of my fuck-up. I thought this big gesture would win her over, but it doesn’t. I get it. I’ve got work to do.
“Fine, but you’ll be sorting through with me around. I’ve learned my lesson. Go get Jasmine, and we’ll take her back to Ware’s. I’ll meet with Ware and let him know that you and I are getting married so he can have time to find a new nanny. Obviously, you can see Jasmine whenever you want. I won’t stop you.”
Her mouth parts. I smile. I almost miss her hand coming up to slap me. I catch it and press her palm to my lips. “What’d I say wrong this time?”
“You won’t stop me from seeing Jasmine? You don’t have any rights over me, West. You can’t just appear out of nowhere, say you love me, and expect me to fall in your lap.” She jerks her arm out of my grasp.
“I know.” I try to soothe her. “I know I did you wrong, and I’m going to make up for it.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to.”
My gaze falls to her pert nipples pushing against her shirt. I bite my tongue from stating the obvious. “Then it’s my job to make you want me, isn’t it? Let’s solve your Jasmine problem.You’re worried about her and don’t want to leave her. If it’s not her dad that’s the problem, then it’s his wife or kid.”
Her mouth thins out at the mention of Gideon. “The kid, then.” I act as if I don’t know. “Have you talked to Ware?”
“I tried this morning, and he told me to write him up a report, but I don’t have any proof. It’s just a gut instinct thing.”
One that at least one other staff in Ware’s household shares. “Does it make sense for me to send you and Jasmine back into the lion’s den without protection?”
“Ware would never let you take his child from him.”
She’s right about that. I don’t have any legal recourse, either. “How about you tell Ware that you’re going to a summer sleepaway camp and come stay at my place on the shore?”
“He wouldn’t buy that. He’d say to go stay at his place down on the island.”