“Tell me,” he said again.
Fear and anxiety, stark and vivid, glittered from his eyes.
She twisted her hands and whispered, “I lied on my resume, when I went to work for you. The truth is, I have a college degree but I left it off because I couldn’t get a job. I kept being turned down because my degree wasn’t in the right field, or I had too much education for the jobs I applied for.” Her eyes flooded with tears. “I needed to work. I couldn’t buy food or pay rent—”
He interrupted her. “Get to the bad part, Jenna.” He held himself rigid, as if he was expecting a body blow.
She took a deep breath. “I have debt from student loans. Way, way more debt than you probably think. Over a hundred grand. I should have told you. I shouldn’t have married you with all that debt.”
David ran a hand through his hair and the tension slowly began to recede from his body. “Is that it? Is that the lie?”
“Yes.”
“A degree you were hiding and student loans? That’s what’s got you so upset? You sure?” His eyes searched hers. “No other guy?”
Confusion fuzzed her brain. “What guy?”
“Is there another fucking guy, Jenna?” he asked, spitting the question out.
“No!”
“Why is your voice shaking?”
“Because I’m confused about what you’re talking about. I just t-told you something that has been bothering me since we got married—”
“I know about the loans, Jenna. I paid them off two weeks ago.”
She hesitated, bafflement crossing her features. If she was confused before, she was more so now. “How could you have known? You paid them off?”
“Yeah, I paid them off. There’s not another guy?”
Why the hell did he keep harping on another guy? What the freak? “No! There’s not another guy, David. Just you.”
He paced over to her, lifted her chin and pinched it between his finger and thumb. “There better not ever be another fucking guy, Jenna.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She slowly lifted her eyelids and studied him. “You’re not mad about the debt or the lie I told on my resume?”
His hand began caressing her skin. “No, baby, I’m proud of you. Getting an education without any help is amazing, even if you had to take out loans. Are you mad at me for paying them off?”
“How did you find out about them?”
“Bill collectors calling for you at work. The calls got transferred to your new husband.” His hand moved to spear through her hair. “Are you mad I paid them off?”
“I should be. But I’m not,” she answered, shuddering. “It’s a huge burden lifted. I’ll pay you back.”
“No, you won’t,” he volleyed back, his voice adamant.
“Yes, I will, I—”
“Jenna, don’t start any shit with me, goddamnit. I fucking love you. I paid your fucking debt off. Get over it.”
His mouth slammed down on hers and Jenna’s head swam. He loved her? Joy exploded through her as her pulse went wild.
He kissed her hard, his tongue delving deep into her mouth and swirling with hers. His arms wrapped around her completely and she had never felt more safe and content in her life.
Their mouths broke apart for oxygen and she took a ragged breath and opened her eyes to find him staring at her. “You love me?”
“What do you think this has all been about? Do you have other intensely crazy guys bribing you into marriage, practically chaining you to their beds at night?”
“You couldn’t have loved me then. You didn’t even know me.”
“Yeah, well, I was in lust in a way I’d never been in my life, and it didn’t take much to tip me over the edge.”
She bit her bottom lip and whispered, “I love you, too.”
His arms tightened and a look of satisfaction crossed his face. “That’s good to know, baby, because you’re stuck with me. Forever.”
His mouth came back down on hers and her fate was sealed.
*****