Page 103 of What He Never Knew

I fumed at that, taking a step toward Sarah as my neck heated. “Inevertouched her. Ever.”

“I know,” she said quickly. “I know that now. Hell, I think I even knew it then. But I couldn’t see it, couldn’t hear the truth past the voice in my head. Jennifer told me you’d do the same to me,” she said, eyes tearing up again. “And then we went home, and you told me about Jason, and that voice inside my head just… it took over. It screamed that everything Wolfgang had said about me was right.”

“Sarah…” I crumpled, shoulders folding forward at the absolute sorrow I felt that she could ever consider that true. I hadn’t even thought of it that way, that she could see it as me trying to get rid of her instead of helping her on her path to what she’d always wanted.

I’d been naïve.

“I know,” she said again, shaking her head as her gaze fell to the floor. “It’s pathetic, but it’s true. I self-sabotaged because it was the only thing that felt right. I didn’t want to listen to you, or have hope that I was different, that what we had was special, that it was real. I couldn’t evenconsiderthat when you told me you loved me, you meant it. Because I didn’t even love myself.”

“Come here,” I said, reaching out my arms for her, but she immediately shook her head.

“No,” she said firmly against the tears still flooding her eyes. A single blink would send them cascading down her cheeks. “No, I need to say this. I need to get this out.”

My heart swelled with the need to hold her, to soothe her pain, but I respected her wish to stay a few feet away. I slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks to keep my promise.

“Reese, from the moment I met you, I knew you would change my life,” she said, the left side of her lips curling up before they fell again. “At first, I thought it would just be musically. I was going to learn from one of the greats, hone my skills, make my dreams come true. But, it became so much more than that. Somewhere along the way, I started to feel beautiful when you looked at me. I started to feel valued when I’d speak and you’d listen, like I was the most interesting woman you’d ever met. And you saw me as that — awoman,not a girl. I think you were the first person to see me that way.”

She crossed the space between us, hands reaching out to touch the buttons of my shirt. She watched her hands as they pressed against my chest, and just as I predicted, a single blink sent two parallel tears falling down her soft brown cheeks.

“I know you would never hurt me. And I have never felt more safe or more wanted with anyone in my entire life. You make me feel worthy again, like I’m not damaged, like I’m cherished and revered and cared for. That night in your bed was the most amazing night of my life, and not just because of the amazing way you touched my skin,” she breathed, lifting her eyes to mine. “But because of the incredible way you have touched my soul, since the very moment you came into my life.”

I couldn’t fight it any longer, and my hands slipped from my pockets to frame her face, to wipe her tears away as I searched her eyes. She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes as more tears slipped free as soon as I’d wiped the first ones away.

“What are you saying, Sarah?”

She blew out a shaky breath, opening her eyes again with an unsure smile. “I’m saying… you were right. I do love you. And I want you to come with me to New York.”

That hope that had bloomed in my chest, that had soared across my soul, it flooded my entire body in that moment. With Sarah’s face in my hands, her eyes watching mine, her heart on her sleeve and mine firmly in her hands — I came to life.

“Do you really mean that?”

She nodded, smiling even with the tears in her eyes.

“Say it again.”

“Come with me to New York?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head as I smoothed my thumbs over the line of her jaw. “The other part.”

At that, she folded, shaking her head before threading her arms around my neck. She lifted onto her toes, eyes searching mine for the longest moment before she whispered, “You were right. I do love you.”

The words were barely out of her mouth before my lips were on hers, pressing, seeking, claiming. She melted into me, body bending forward as my arms swooped her into me. I held her close, held her tight, kissing her like it was the first and last time all at once.

And in that moment, I had everything.

Everything I’d ever wanted, everything I’d ever needed, everything I’d never thought I’d have for as long as I walked the Earth. All the pain, all the loss — it led me to this moment, to this girl, to this future.

I knew I didn’t deserve it, didn’t deserveher— but I held on tight, anyway.

“Wait,” I said suddenly, pulling back on a breath. “What about your uncle, your aunt, yourmom.” My chest tightened. “We need to sit down and talk to them.Ineed to talk to them, to try to help them see that I’m not just some perverted old guy trying to steal their little girl away to the big city.”

Sarah chuckled, crossing her wrists behind my neck. “I already told them.”

I blanched. “What?”

“My mom, my uncle, my aunt. I told them everything, and they were weary at first,” she admitted. “But… I think they can see it, what we feel. And they support it.” Sarah kissed my lips quickly before adding, “Not that they really had a say, anyway. I would have still come here and said every word I said, with their blessing or not.”

I chuckled, kissing her nose. “So, you’re telling me my boss knows I’ve kissed his niece who’s sixteen years younger than I am…”