He blinked and confusion pulled his brows down. “Of course I will still love you, Megan. I’ve loved you for more years than I could remember, first as a friend and then as my woman. I’m pretty sure I will always love you.”
I wanted to believe that, more with every moment I spent with him. “But what if you don’t? At least admit that it’s a possibility.” I couldn’t let myself fall in love—again—with a man waiting for me to turn back into someone else.
“I will. I do.” His words were firm, filled with conviction.
I shook my head. “You can’t know that.”
His lips twitched in good humor. “And you can’t tell me what I do and don’t know. I love you, Megan. I loved you before the accident and I still love you.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Then believe me, Megs. I’ve never lied to you and I never will. When you tried to make a beet cake in the same vein as a carrot cake, I told you it was wretched.”
My lips stretched into an amused smile. “If that’s true, tell me the difference between me now and the me before. Please, Case.”
Casey nodded, his blue eyes focused on my face as if he didn’t want to miss one emotion. “You’re sassy as hell, but you used to be sassy before too. Somewhere along the way, for whatever reason, you lost that part of yourself. I’m happy to see her back, because your brutal honesty was one of the reasons I fell so hard for you.”
I scoffed in disbelief. “Really?”
“Yep. You once told my mom that lavender was not her color. Told her it washes her out and she’s too pretty to be washed out.” He barked out a laugh. “She was shocked because no one spoke to her like that, but eventually she conceded you were right.”
“She didn’t hate me for it?”
“No,” he laughed again. “But she did make you give her an hour every weekend for three months to teach you the art of being tactful.”
“No!”
“Yep.” He folded his arms over his chest, an affectionate smile on his face.
“What else?”
“You’re not afraid to show off your sexy curves, which I am happy as hell about. You used to have no problem showing a little leg or a lot of cleavage, but that changed. I’m happy to see your cleavage again.” He winked and I felt heat suffuse my body.
“You want me to show off my body?”
He shrugged. “Everyone knows you’re my woman, and that we’re madly in love, so I don’t mind if other men get to appreciate what I get to touch and taste.”
I stared at him with my mouth wide open. “Holy shit that hot. And incredibly evolved.”
“What can I say? I am a modern renaissance man, babe.”
Now that, I believed. “Anything else? Because you seemed shocked every time I curse.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “You do have quite the potty mouth, which you never had before. But hearing those bad words come out of your sweet, lush mouth? Hot as fuck.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Hell yeah. I love you, Megs. It’s always been you. Always.”
I didn’t say the words back. I couldn’t. But I made my way across the kitchen and into his arms, and I squeezed tight, almost willing him to love me for the woman I was today.
Casey
“Dammit.” I slammed the door to my office with a growl, sick and tired of seeing little kids in my consults. It just wasn’t right to have kids stricken with neurological problems, many with slim chances of long-term survival. I hated this part of the job, telling parents that without a particular treatment, their child could end up under the knife.
Or worse.
Appointments like that always put me in a bad mood, which is why I holed up in my office instead of joining Cal down in the ER or Persy down on the second floor. I needed to clear my head and get out of this funk before I was fit for human interaction.
A hesitant knock sounded on the door and I let out a groan of annoyance. Didn’t people understand what the hell a locked door meant? “Yeah?”
The door opened just a little and Megan’s head appeared, her blond hair hanging in waves around her shoulders. “Busy?”
“Nope. Come on in.” I would just postpone my alone time until later.
Megan pushed the door open, but just stood there. Her body language was hesitant and her eyes wary. “You sure? I can just talk to you at home if you’re busy.”
“I’m not busy, Megan,” I barked unnecessarily.
“Right.” My wife, looking gorgeous in a yellow and white striped dress that accentuated her narrow waist, ample hips and beautiful tits, squared her shoulders and stood a little taller in the face of my bad attitude. “I brought you some cookies, I’ll just drop them off and get out of your hair.” She took a few steps forward until she was at my desk, opposite me rather than beside me the way she used to. “Here you go.”