Page 117 of The Rebel

“I need to know what you want.”

You, a small voice said in the back of my mind. I swallowed hard, looking straight at him. “I want to do the right thing, but… I’m a little bit confused about what that is.”

“I want you here in New Orleans with me, I thought you knew that,” Anthony said, then closed his eyes, dropping his chin to his chest. “Fuck. I wasn’t going to say that yet.”

He swallowed audibly before opening his eyes. Stepping closer to me, he cupped my face with both hands, tilting my chin slightly toward him. “I don’t want you going anywhere. Not even within Louisiana, let alone to North Dakota. There, I said it. I’m selfish. I want you for myself.”

“You’re not selfish,” I whispered.

“Yes, I fucking am. All I could think about today was that I don’t want to lose you. Ever since I met you, everything has changed for me.”

“How?”

“I couldn’t tell you. But it’s so all-encompassing that I can’t even remember the way I was before I met you. I think about you all the time. How to make you happy. How to make your day better. I can’t imagine you living anywhere else. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure your parents are taken care of, anything, but don’t go.”

“I want to stay here with you!” The second I spoke the words, I knew it’s what I’d wanted all along, but I’d needed him to tell me first. It wasn’t a potential job that would keep me here, or the fact that I loved the city. It was Anthony.

He smiled and let out a huge breath. “Thank fuck, because I love you so damn much, Daisy. I wasn’t even sure I was capable of feeling anything this strong, not when it comes to anyone outside my family, but you…” He smiled again. “As I said, you changed absolutely everything.”

I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling completely calm. This waswhat I’d needed to hear. This was the missing piece. That was why everything was so confusing for me.

“I didn’t know if what I felt for you was reciprocated.”

His eyes widened. “Damn, woman. I didn’t make that clear enough?”

“You did. I felt it deep in my bones, but I guess I needed to hear you say it.”

“Well, never doubt how much I love you, Daisy mine.” He caressed my cheek. “Let me continue to take care of your parents until they’re able to get back up and running again.”

“Anything to keep me here, huh?”

“Yes! You have no idea how much I mean that. How much you mean to me. I felt like I couldn’t even breathe when Dorothy called. I knew I’d lose you to another company eventually. That’s hard enough because I like knowing you’re right next to me. You belong here with me. Actually, you belong with me at my house.”

I started to laugh. “Anthony LeBlanc, is that your way of asking me to move in with you?”

“Hell yes. I know you like this place, but?—”

“Are you kidding me? There is no competition between this apartment and your house with the pool and the yard… and you, of course.”

“I was waiting to see if you would mention me at all.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“You’re the biggest draw, my love.”

“I want to have you in every damn room of that house, repeatedly.”

I swallowed thickly, knowing without even looking that my nipples had hardened. But Anthony did look, and he wasn’t even discreet. He glanced down at my chest, and then averyself-satisfied smirk appeared on his face.

“And the pool,” he said. “I want to have you in that pool.”

“Yes. You can do anything you want with me,” I whispered, already getting turned on.

Anthony’s eyes became more hooded. He cupped my cheek, then the side of my neck. Then he lowered his hand farther to my chest until he was right above my nipple and picked up my flower pendant. “Babe, I’ve always wondered, what is this? Is it something special?”

I wore it all the time, even in the shower. “My mom gave it to me at my high school graduation. She told me never to settle, to blossom and find my dreams and never look back.”

Which was what Mom and Dad pretty much said to me on our last call. They never wanted me to lose out on life, and here I was, being muleheaded thinking they needed me.

Anthony gently released the necklace, then reached farther down to my nipple and flicked it. He twisted one bud between his fingers and brought his other hand to my waist.