Page 148 of Under Her Skin

“He’s not my young man,” I say and look up to find Blake and the little boy coming into thehouse.

“And why’s that, sweetie?” she asksme.

He’s looking straight at me and I can’t take my eyes off him. “Yeah, why is that?” Blake asksme.

Blake

Sitting side by side in the swings, Rachelle and I sit in silence. “Why’d you follow me out of there if you don’t want to talk?” I askher.

Her small shoulders shrug. I can’t take the silence from her anymore. I get up and walk away. I want to look back so bad to see what she’s doing, but I won’t letmyself.

“Blake!” sheshouts.

I look back and she’s coming towards me. Tears spill over her pink cheeks and she breaks into a run and throws herself into my arms. Wrapping her arms around me, she buries her head in mychest.

Her hair is soft and falling free to her small waist. I run my hand over it. “Shh, it’s okay, Rachelle. You don’t have tocry.”

“I didn’t know you’d be here. I would’ve never come if I would’veknown.”

Her words hit my heart like ice and I push her back, gently. “I’ll leave if it hurts you thismuch.”

Watery eyes lookup at me. “Pleasedon’t.”

“You are a very complex person, baby. I’d ask you what you want me to do, but I know even you don’t have a clue what youwant.”

“Do you hate me?” she asks with her dark browsfurrowed.

“I could never hate you. Am I mad at you? Now that is a hell yeah! I’m mad as hell at you, Rachelle. How could you send me off to the store to get things and come home to find you gone?” I let her shoulders go and take a step back. “I felt like a dumb dog that was dumped on the side of theroad.”

“I’m sorry,” she says as she looks down. “That was cruel in hindsight, but I had just talked to my mother and she made me so afraid of the love I felt for you. I felt I had no choice but to do it that way. I could never leave if I had to look at you as I didit.”

“Maybe that’s because you love me and should have stayed with me. You have me gun shy now. I don’t know if I could do it all over again with you.” I shut my mouth as I really didn’t know that was going to come out ofit.

I want herback!

“Idon’t expectyou to, Blake. What I did was too horrible. I know that. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me is all I ask. Not take me back or anything. I know you could never trust me again after what I did.” With the last word she looks at me. Her eyes are sosad.

“We should talk. Don’t youthink?”

She nods and I wrap my arm around her shoulders. It’s warm outside, but she’s shivering. What all this young woman has been through and here I am putting her throughmore.

“What if I told you that I forgiveyou?”

“It would be a start at me forgiving myself. It’s so hard to know what the right thing to do is. You see, I believe you deserve the best. The very best woman in the world is who you deserve and I, well, I’m not the worst, but I’m so far away from the best.” A shudder runs throughher.

“Why can’t you realize you are all I want, all I need? You are exactly the person I deserve and guess what, baby, you deserve me too.” I tighten my arm around her and walk towards the parking lot. “Did you come here in thatJeep?”

“Yeah, it’s Peyton’s. Kip flew us to Smithville, and I borrowed it and drove it the three hours downhere.”

I pull her closer to me. “There’s a town a little bit bigger than this about ten miles or so to the south. I saw it when we flew in. What do you say to me getting us a room in that town and maybe something to eat and drink? We could stay the night together and hash some of thisout.”

Her body tenses and she looks everywhere but at me so I decide to give her an out. But wait to see what she says. “That actually sounds fantastic, Blake. We could drive back to Smithville in the morning and Kip could drop you off where ever you want with hishelicopter.”

Leading her to the Jeep,I kiss the side of her head. “Go ahead and get in, I’ll just be a minute while I go tell Max what I’m doing and then we’ll be off. Unless you want to come in with me and say yourgoodbyes.”

With a shake of her head, she says, “No, I’ll wait in the Jeep. With my crying I must look like crap and I’m kind of emotionally spent right now. Tell Max I’ll see him on Sunday for a while as Kip plans on stopping by before we make our way back to LosAngeles.”

I nod and take a few steps then stop and look back at her. “Wait! Kip knew he was bringing you down here to go to this thing,right?”