Finally, the tension deserts him completely and he holds me close, allowing me to settle my feet on the floor while he kisses my face, my mouth, the crown of my head. “Missy…”
He swallows hard, looking stricken.
And I brace for bad news. It’s coming. I can feel it.
“You don’t want to stay?” I whisper.
His blue eyes shoot to mine, incredulous. “How can you ask me that?” Looking concerned beyond belief, he cradles my face in his hands. “Life isn’t going to be worth living unless it’s with you, Missy. I can’t breathe just thinking about waking up tomorrow without you. Or no plans to see you. I’d rather go to hell and sit beside the devil.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
His hands drop away from my face. “What’s wrong is…I lied to you. From the beginning.” He takes a few steps away, fixes his jeans and rakes agitated fingers through his hair. “And you deserve far better than a liar.”
My mind races trying to find the lie. Or anything suspicious. Have I been so dazzled by Turk and how he makes me feel that I missed something important? “You’re not m-married, are you?”
“What? Jesus no.” He lunges toward me, stroking my hair back from my face. “No, of course I’m not married, cutie. I’ve never felt enough for anyone else to even consider it. I’m all fucking yours. Inside and out. Top to bottom. There will never be another as long as I live.”
Tears press against the backs of my eyes. It’s everything I could ever hope to hear, so what is the problem? “How did you lie to me?”
A brief hesitation. And then, “I told you that your body would trust mine more, that you would have a better chance of getting pregnant, if we spent time together. But I took advantage of your lack of experience, because that’s not true.” He shakes his head miserably. “I just…I wanted to squeeze as much time with you out of our agreement as possible.”
I stare at him in disbelief.
That’s the lie?
That’s it?
In that moment, I know this man will never, ever hurt me. He isn’t capable of it. He is honest and wonderful and I’m so relieved I looked out my window and spotted him. A diamond in the rough. A man who looks positively tortured over the best lie that has ever been told.
“I’m sorry, Missy,” he rasps, reaching past me for the bathroom doorknob, giving me a look rife with longing. “I’ll see myself out.”
I’m so dumbfounded that I don’t realize he’s leaving until I’m standing alone in the bathroom. Urgency finally licks at my senses, though, and I start to run after him, only to realize I am fully naked. As fast as humanly possible, I get dressed, with my heart beating in my mouth, and I sprint after him. Down the stairs, through the now-dancing party guests and out the front door. When my feet touch down on the driveway, Turk has halfway climbed into his truck.
No.
“Turk!” I cry out, running toward him.
He stops on a dime, ducking back out of the vehicle and standing stock-still, hands balled into fists at his sides, his expression ravaged. But when I continue running, closer and closer, hope starts to transform his features. And then he’s in pure awe by the time I leap into his arms, wrapping my arms as tightly as possible around his neck.
“Missy?” he chokes out.
“You’re not going anywhere, you silly man.” Tears fall from my eyes and soak into the shoulder of his shirt. “Do you know how incredible it makes me feel to know you wanted as much time with me as possible? You can lie about that any time you want.” I rain kisses all over his face. “If you didn’t tell that lie, I might not have realized that what I was feeling for you was love. I love you. I love you.”
Turk stumbles sideways into the side of his truck, still holding me securely against his chest. “You love me?” I nod vigorously, kissing his mouth, his jaw, his cheeks, all while he visibly reels at my declaration. “You can’t possibly love me a fraction of how much I love you, cutie,” he says raggedly, his own eyes suspiciously wet, throat working furiously. “I’ll only tell you one more lie, then there won’t be another one as long as I live.”
“Let’s hear it,” I whisper, trusting him completely. With my whole heart.
His lips twitch. “I’m leaving.”
In other words, he’s staying. Forever. The resounding truth is shining in his eyes.
“I love that lie,” I manage around the knot in my throat.
He carries me toward the house, his mouth roaming over mine, adoration in his every touch. “We should probably discuss baby names…”
Our mutual laughter carries off on the breeze.
Epilogue
Turk
Five Years Later
I stand in the bathroom with my hands pressed to the shower glass. It’s fogged up, but not so much that I can’t see my wife inside. Naked and dripping wet and five months pregnant. As she rinses the shampoo from her hair, suds run down her swollen tits in rivulets, over the swell of her belly, vanishing into the folds of her perfect pussy below.