Chapter Thirteen
“What?” Willow scrambled away from him, sitting up so she could stare at him. But it was too damn dark, and she really couldn’t make out his face. “Are you serious?”
He sat up as well. “I want you to come home with me, Will. I want you to meet my mama.”
Oh. My. God. His mama? He sounded so damn serious. And sweet and cute and loving and…no. None of that. She was being ridiculous. “Is this why you acted so agitated earlier? Because you were working up the nerve to ask me to go home with you and meet your mama?”
“Don’t make fun. I’m just a simple, good ol’ mama’s boy who likes to go home as much as I can—you know this,” he muttered as he leaned over and flicked on the lamp. The moment he caught sight of her face, his eyes narrowed, his lips clamped shut.
Well, great. Now he got a good look at her panicked, disbelieving expression. “Actually, I don’t know. I mean, we talk. We hang out. We have a lot of sex. And it’s fantastic. The kind a woman never forgets, you know? But I don’t know much about your family life, and you really don’t know much about mine either.”
“If you’d let me in, maybe I’d know more,” he said bitterly. “And maybe if you asked and acted like you were interested, I’d tell you more.”
“But this isn’t real,” she said. “Our relationship is nothing. It never has been.”
“It’s fucking everything to me. I want to take you home to meet my parents, Will. I want to make you mine in every way I can.” His lips thinned. “I told Harvey we’re together. And he’s going to make it public.”
Her eyes went so wide she was afraid they’d pop out of her head. “What?”
“You heard me.” He nodded grimly. “Walter needs to know we’re together and since you’re in no hurry to tell him, I figured this was the best way.”
“That is the last thing he needs to find out.” She clamped her lips shut as soon as she saw the deadly gleam in Nick’s gaze.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice almost as dark as his glare. “Why are you hiding this?”
Okay. Where did that come from? “What are we doing here, Nick?”
“What do you mean, what are we doing here?”
“Us. What’s happening between us? These forced dates have morphed into something way more serious.” She looked at him pointedly, tucking the sheet under her arms. Had he wanted something more from the beginning? Or had this been the only way he could get her into bed again? Either way, she wasn’t feeling too sure about her feelings for Nick at the moment. “And you don’t do serious.”
She didn’t either—not with Nick, at least. She’d tried her best to keep distance between them, and he’d somehow wormed his way into her heart anyway.
Clearly, she was an idiot.
He stared at her, looking dumbfounded. And gorgeous, what with the way the sheet pooled in his lap, revealing acres of smooth, finely muscled skin. “I told you I wanted to prove to you that I can do serious.”
“By blowing my mind every time we get together with endless orgasms?” God, she was being so unfair, but his words freaked her out. She clutched the sheet tighter, almost like it was a shield.
But nothing could protect her from the daggers he shot at her with his eyes. “By spending all my free time with you and treating you with respect. It hasn’t been all sex between us; you do realize that, right? Or is that all you can focus on? The sexy dirty times we experience when we get together and nothing else?”
She hung her head. Couldn’t stand seeing the way he looked at her any longer. Like this was killing him. Damn it, he was right. They might’ve been indulging in lots of sex but they also talked. She was comfortable with him. Had started opening up to him, which was a huge mistake.
Huge.
“I’m scared,” she whispered, staring at her hands in her lap. “I’m scared if I give my heart to you, you’ll stomp all over it. And I don’t think I could take that again.”
“Will, I know I fucked up that first time we were together. I was young and stupid and didn’t know what I had with you. I’m sorry that I hurt you when I left you like I did, but I…I had my reasons. Stuff I don’t want to get into because it’s in the past and it’s all just a bunch of excuses.” He blew out a frustrated breath, and she glanced up, caught him running his hand through his already messy hair, his biceps bulging with the movement. “We probably wouldn’t have worked out, you know. I was a cocky asshole hell-bent on doing whatever the fuck I wanted. And I wasn’t about to answer to anyone.”
She pressed her lips together. He was probably right. Hard to admit but true.
“We were too young. Hell, Will, you were only nineteen and so fucking amazing. I didn’t want to leave you. I swear I didn’t but I had to.” He sighed and shook his head, his gaze meeting hers. “You’re still amazing. I want you in my life.”
“Wait a minute, what did you just say?” When he looked at her blankly, she continued. “You said you didn’t want to leave me. Why did you, then?”
His eyes widened the slightest bit but other than that, no outward reaction. “Because I had to,” he said defensively. “Don’t look into it more than you should, Will. I mean it.”
“Why do I suddenly not believe you?” Icy cold uneasiness slipped through her, filling her with fear. “Why did you leave, Nick? You told me that you wanted to be free. That we wouldn’t have worked out.”