Burned (Miller Sisters 2)

‘What about my decision?’ Anger flickered. ‘You could have said all this and I could have told you what I thought. And anyway, you’re talking rubbish. I didn’t give anything up.’

‘You gave up your college place so that you could stay with me.’

I felt my cheeks heat. ‘I wasn’t that bothered about college.’

‘And now you have a degree in physiology and sports science. Would you have had that if I’d stayed?’

I swallowed. ‘Probably not. After you left, I gave up on men and surrounded myself with friends. I lived my life, dated guys like Brian. Guys who were nothing like you.’

There was a brief pause. ‘And how did that work out?’

I could have lied, but I didn’t see the point. ‘Pretty crap. Most men don’t like me practising my turning kicks on a date.’

‘I’m sorry about the way I did it. I’m sorry I hurt you.’

He’d torn me off him like a piece of sticky tape—quickly. I saw now it had been the right thing to do.

‘That’s the past.’ I used the words he’d used to me all those years before and I could see in his eyes he remembered.

‘Good. Because I want us to start again. And I want to know how you feel about me.’

I thought about my dreams, the images that rolled around my head tormenting me when I was supposed to be sleeping. ‘My feelings are my problem.’ My voice was soft, although goodness knows why, because we were suspended above the river Thames and no one could hear us. ‘I’ll deal with them.’

‘Tell me.’

I gripped the rail and stared down at London sparkling beneath us. It felt surreal. It felt as if we were on a magic carpet, flying over the city. ‘We’ve always had something special....’ I kept my eyes forward, not looking at him, because I was trying to be measured and not gush all over him. ‘Sex is part of that, yes, but for me there’s more. I can’t just switch off everything else and you don’t want that. You don’t want someone loving you and I understand that after what you saw with your mother.’

‘What my mother shared with my father wasn’t love. It was an unbalanced, inequitable relationship with all the control on my father’s side.’ His voice hardened. ‘He sapped her of confidence until she believed she couldn’t exist without him. That’s not how we are.’

‘We?’

He slid his hand behind my neck and I felt his fingers, strong and warm against the nape of my neck. ‘I want all of it, Ninja.’ His voice was low and sexy. ‘I want the good and the bad, the exciting and the mundane. I want to prop you up when you feel low, hold you when you’re sad and fight your battles.’

He was throwing my own words back at me and I stood for a moment, mesmerized by the look in his eyes.

‘I learned how to do those things for myself.’ I was trembling. ‘I fight my own battles. I comfort myself when I’m low. I have a secret stash of chocolate for that purpose.’

The corners of his mouth flickered. ‘Being able to do those things for yourself doesn’t stop someone else doing them alongside you. I don’t just want sex, Rosie. I love you.’

My knees were shaking. He’d called me Rosie, not Ninja. He’d said— ‘You love me? But when—how—when—?’ Oh, God, now I was doing it. Not finishing my sentences.

‘“When” is easy to answer. I fell in love with you when you climbed on the back of my motorbike. I tried to get you out of my system. Maybe I did for a while, but when I saw you in the restaurant that night, I knew my feelings were as strong as ever. As for the why—’ he gave a half smile ‘—how long have you got?’

My heart was pumping. ‘How long do you need?’

He glanced out of the capsule and judged the time left before we arrived back at the beginning. ‘I’ll give you the highlights. I love your sense of humour. I love the way you laugh so hard you can’t stop yourself. I love the fact that you can knock me over with a kick if you get your balance right—’

‘There’s nothing wrong with my balance!’

He slid his arms around me and hauled me hard against him. ‘I love how much you love your sister and your friends. I love—’

‘Stop!’ Feeling as if I were flying, I covered his lips with my fingers and then lifted myself on tiptoe and wrapped my arms round his neck. ‘Stop talking and kiss me. I really want you to kiss me because it’s magical up here and I want to have this moment to remember always.’

He lowered his head to mine and he kissed me while the world outside sparkled, the lights of London a carpet beneath our feet and the stars above like jewels in a sky of velvet-black. I’d never been this happy, ever. I knew that there were no guarantees. No one knows the future. But right now this was what I wanted. And I wanted it for all the right reasons.

I didn’t want Hunter for security; I wanted him for himself. ‘I love you, too.’ I whispered the words against his mouth and felt him smile against my lips.

When I eventually pulled away, something made me glance down toward the capsule beneath us and I saw my sister and the rest of our friends gazing up at us, grinning like idiots. I could see they were holding a birthday cake and gesturing.