River-rose thinks what her and her high school sweetheart has is love, but when she's told she needs to marry a complete stranger all of that changes.
Hayze is only 24 and owns his own thriving architectural business. After a business problem, his...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Hayze felt a wave of de ja vu hit him as they entered the same water bungalow as last time. A sense of peace washed over him as he took in the calming smell of salt water and he finally noticed River's face fill with color.
He hadn't noticed how pale and sickly she looked back at home. She had still looked beautiful to him back home, but now she looked enchanting with the flush in her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes and the light caramel color to her soft skin.
He chuckled as he watched her run upstairs and into the bedroom they had first made love in. He planned to repeat the moment; if she was ready of course.
He caught sight of her leaping into the bed just as he made it up the stairs and she had a small content smile on her face. It was refreshing to see something so pretty and simple on her face. He had missed her smile.
"I hope Vito remembers to feed my chameleon," she said as she stared up at the opening in the ceiling.
"I'm sure he will," Hayze said quietly as he climbed into the bed beside her.
She turned over on her side to face him and gave him a cheeky smile. He felt his heart warm at the light on her face and he couldn't seem to help himself when he reached up and caressed her cheek.
"You make me so happy, pretty girl," he whispered and his eyes trailed down to her plump lips which she was biting to keep her smile from getting too big.
She scooted forward and tucked her face into his neck as she wrapped her arms around him and she tangled her legs with his.
"I'm sorry I was so sad all week," she said into his chest.
He ran a hand through her silky hair and rested his chin in the top of her head. "You shouldn't be apologizing. You had every reason to be sad. I was sad."
"I'm sorry I didn't notice. It just- never mind."
"No tell me what you were going to say," he said as he slowly traced the curve of her waist.
"I didn't even help you when you were sad like you did for me. But I... I didn't even realize what was going on around me and I-" he felt his heart clench when she sniffed back her tears and made a little hiccup sound. "It hurt so much. And I felt so... I dunno. I promised you I wouldn't let another man take advantage of me and I-"
"No," he said sternly. "You were supposed to promise yourself that. Not me. Not anyone else. You need to do things for yourself sometimes. Not anyone else. Do you get that?"
She sniffled into his chest and nodded slightly, but that wasn't enough.
"No River. Listen to me,"he demanded as he tugged on her hair so she'd look at him. "Whenever someone asks you to do something, or wants you to do something; don't do it just because they asked. If it hurts you or makes you feel uncomfortable; you tell them to stop. I wished I had told you that earlier. I wish I had told you I loved you earlier before I..." he trailed off before lightly kissing her forehead. "Do you understand?"
