Save Me From Me (34 page)

“I’m so close,” she says, licking, and then biting her lip. Hottest thing ever. I tighten my grip in her hair as I grow closer to my release as well.

“Don’t hold back, Baby,” I say against her lips. She holds her breath, grips my wrist that’s holding her head, rolls her hips a few more times, and then I feel her against my dick. Her insides throb, begging me to do the same. I rest my body on top of her as I let go. She rubs her arms up and down my back while kissing my shoulder.

I’ve missed this. This woman owns me.

“I need you to quit your job, Holden,” I say, as we lie tangled together in nakedness.

“Darlin’, I’ve been looking for a fuckin’ reason to quit since I started. And you are the perfect one.” As he runs his hand along my cheek, his facial expression turns serious. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it just yet, Dani, but I promise to take care of you, and always give you the best that I’m capable of. As soon as I’m able, I’ll get some sort of job. I have a good chunk of change in my savings that I can use to get us a place anywhere you want.” Hope fills his eyes. “You just tell me where, and we’re going.”

“Holden, for the most part, I do have my shit figured out. But my life has been missing something.” I grab his hands, bring them to my lips, and lightly kiss each before resting our hands back on his chest. “I’ve always seen life clearer through the lens of my camera. Until I met you. I always thought that beautiful moments were so rare that if you didn’t capture them that instant, you’d never have proof of them. But you are my proof, Holden. And every moment with you is beautiful. You came into my life and opened me to emotions I didn’t know I could still feel, and even more, didn’t know I wanted to. You opened my eyes and showed me that every moment in life can hold beauty. I love you, Holden. I want you to be with me.”

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Dani. Now, come kiss me.” I slowly lean in, placing my lips to his. “I love you, Dani Jo.” He breathes against my lips. “I will always love you. I thought I knew what it felt like to completely love someone before I met you, but I was wrong. So wrong. The love I had felt before doesn’t compare to what I feel for you. Losing you hurt so bad. So bad. I never want to feel that again.”

“You won’t have to,” I reassure him.

“Good.”

“I have an idea I want to run by you.” He nods, so I continue. “Well, I have this idea for some kind of partnership-type business between you and me.”

“Go on.” He encourages.

“Well, whatever place we do find, I want to make part of it into a photography studio, or find some space to rent downtown.”

“That’s an amazing idea, Hot Shot. I’m so happy for you. You’ve finally decided to go after your passion.”

“For us,” I say. “I’m only good at taking pictures. That’s as far as my skills go. But now, I’m in need of the editing and graphic side of the spectrum.” I let my words sink in and wonder if he nabs the bait and runs with it. I want this to be something he wants.

“And you want me to be over the edits and designing that goes into the photography business?” he asks, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah. Well, if it’s something you’d even want to do.” I start to second-guess my brilliant idea.

“I’m in.”

“You are?” I ask, making sure that I’m hearing him correctly. His face is lit up with his traffic-stopping smile. Happiness radiates off of him, and it’s contagious.

“I’m in!” he says excitedly.

All of a sudden, Dani gets quiet as she starts to lightly rub my chest. I know something is on her mind, but I want her to feel comfortable telling me without my having to prod her.

“I need to tell you something. It’s something that might make you change your mind about being with me,” she chokes out.

“Nothing could ever do that,” I reply honestly, pulling her even closer to my side.

“I can’t have kids. Well, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever be able to. A few weeks after you left, I had a miscarriage. I didn’t even know I was pregnant. My body has been so out of whack ever since I started having periods. Always trying different pills or shots. After my dad died, my health was the last thing on my mind, because for the most parts, my cramps and periods had seemed to regulate themselves. I think getting pregnant totally threw them off.” She tells me about what they had to do, and I feel guilty that I wasn’t there for her.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there for you.” I say as I pull her close to me and rub her back. “If I would have known, I would have moved hell and high water to be by your side. You know that, right?” She nods against my chest, and I feel the tears. The fact that she had been pregnant with my child breaks my heart. But knowing that I wasn’t the one there to comfort her hurts me worse. “You will never have to face anything alone, ever again. Yeah, I know you had people by your side who care about you, but you didn’t have me. And from now on, by your side is where you will always find me.”

“That sounds kinda stalkerish, Holden.” She laughs.

“Call it what you want, Hot Shot.”

“I’ll just call it being in love.” She happily sighs, taking my hand in hers.

She tells me about everything with Gage, and I hate it, but understand. It’s a super quick topic and I’m thankful for that.

“So, per my sister Brandy’s request, I went and visited her in jail.”

“Oh yeah? How’d that go?”

“It went really, really good.” I can sense her smiling. “Well, she was pregnant when she got busted.”

“Really? I’ve always wondered about pregnant women and what happens to the baby when they go to jail.”

“Well, I think they usually have family members take care of the child, or give them up for adoption or foster families. I’m not sure how it all works. I’m sure it’s different for every situation.”

“So, how’s it going to be for your sister?”

“Well, she asked me to adopt her baby.”

“Really?” I ask, shocked that her wicked sister would even consider Dani.

“Yes. She knows my situation, and that I’ll probably never be a mom, and I think in her mind, it’s her way of making up for all the shit she’s put me through.”

“That’s great! You’ll be an amazing mother.”

She sits up to look at me. “Holden, I want you to be a part of this, too. I want this to be
our
daughter. If we’re going to be together, I want to go into this as a team. Is this something you can do?”

“Without hesitation. I’d do anything for you, and if you’re asking if I can love a kid that didn’t come from me, then the answer is yes. It doesn’t have to physically come from us to be a part of us. I’m with you a hundred percent, and I’m ready for whatever life has in store for us.”

She slides on top of me and rests her head in the crook of my neck. “You’re too perfect.”

“Nah. No one is perfect.”

“Well, you are definitely as close as it gets, then.”

“Hey, there’s something I need to do today, and I really need you by my side when I do it.”

“Of course. What is it?” She sits up on me.

“I need to go confront my dad. This has been a long time coming, but now it’s something I can no longer put off. What he did was wrong on so many levels. I almost lost you forever,” I say as I reach up, resting my hand on her cheek. She places her hand over mine. “The short amount of time I did lose you damn near killed me.” I admit this, wanting her to realize how much she loves me, and that I can’t and don’t want to live without her.

“I really don’t want to see that man again, but I know, for your sake, that it’s a demon you need to face. Even if he wouldn’t have pushed us apart, it’s still a string that needs to be cut. He needs to know he can’t control you. That’s all everyone has ever done to you your whole life.” She bends down and gives me a quick peck. “So, let’s get dressed and go cut some strings.”

“You’re the only string I want,” I say as she crawls off me.

Pulling into the work site, an overwhelming amount of nerves suddenly hit me. We left the work truck at the hotel and drove Dani’s instead. I’m not sure how this is going to go down. There is no way that I am going to have us get stuck out here if it ends badly, and he tries to take the work truck away from me. It’s not that I’ll still need it, since I am quitting, but I’m not going to leave my boy, Rusty, without a vehicle.

I spot him as soon as I put the truck in park, and I can tell by the look on his face that he recognizes the truck I’m in, even if he can’t tell that I’m the one driving it.

“Do you need me to go with you?” Dani asks, her voice filled with hesitation.

“Your being here with me is all I need. You don’t need to witness how this all goes down, unless you want to.” I don’t want her to think that I don’t want her to hear what’s said, so I leave that part up to her.

“Will you be mad if I say I’d rather not?”

“Never, Hot Shot.”

“Okay, good. I’d rather just stay here then.”

“This shouldn’t take long. See you in a minute. Love you.” I give her a quick, hard kiss.

“Love you, too. Get ‘em, Tiger,” she says with a giggle, trying to lighten the mood.

Since my dad doesn’t’ budge from his spot, I make the five hundred-foot walk with my head held high and feel ready to take on the world. Not sure where this sudden burst of confidence has come from, but I gladly accept it.

“Son.” My dad nods at me.

“Dad,” I say. “You wanting this to go down right here, or do we need to move somewhere a bit more private?”

He sighs. “Right here is fine. I’m sure this won’t take long.”

I’m not sure why, but those words just irritate the shit out of me. I can tell that he doesn’t even care, and it straight pisses me off.

“You know, my whole fucking life, I’ve been letting everyone push me around. First, it was Jake pushing me to run off. I knew back then that you hated that I took off and joined the Navy. That I wasn’t living up to your Reynolds’ standards. I knew, according to you, that I was supposed to fall into this line of work just as you and the rest of our damn family had. So, when I got back, I did. I did it because I had nothing else going, and for the stupid idea that maybe we could have some sort of father/son relationship. We both know that last part was a joke.” I let out a sarcastic laugh.

“This job is a family business. Damn right, I wanted my son to be a part of it, to run it one day. It was one helluva disappointment the day you took off and all for the sake of love or mending your broken heart. You think I was going to let that happen again? Hell, no. When your mother called me up, telling me all about your new girlfriend, and how she could tell y’all were in love, I knew I had to put an end to it. Why do you think I pulled you from the job sooner than expected? It damn sure wasn’t so she could tag along with you.”