Page 104 of What He Never Knew

Sarah cringed. “Yeah… and don’t get me wrong, he was probably the least understanding. He was upset at first, and walked out of the room, even threatened to drive straight to your house.”

“Hedidcome to my house. Before work that night we fought. He basically threatened me. I think he knew even then.”

Sarah nodded. “Maybe. But, regardless, he respects me. And you, Reese. He knows your character just like I do.” She paused, swallowing hard before she met my eyes again. “And he told me to tell you that you still have a job. If you decide to stay in Pennsylvania.”

I shook my head, smiling at the worry in her eyes as she spoke those words. “You actually think I would stay behind?”

She shrugged. “I would understand if you did, especially after all I’ve put you through.”

My hands slid to frame her face again, and I kissed her softly, slowly, hoping she could feel all the words I couldn’t find to convey what she meant to me. “I’d go through it all again and more if it meant I got to have you in the end.”

Sarah shook her head, like she would never believe that I wanted her, that I was hers entirely. And I didn’t know how long it would take to make her believe it, but I fully intended to find out.

She melted into me again when I lowered my lips to hers, wrapping my arms all the way around her and lifting her off the ground in a slow, movie-like twirl, which made her burst into laughter as soon as her toes were on the ground again.

“That was cheesy,” she said.

“You thinkthatwas cheesy? Just wait. You’re in for a whole lot of cheese.”

“I’m vegan.”

“Have you ever been kissed in the rain, Sarah Henderson?” I asked, ignoring her comment.

She cocked a brow. “No…”

“Well, come with me, then. Because you are the kind of girl who deserves to be kissed in the rain.”

She tried to fight me at first when I laced my fingers with hers and tugged her toward the kitchen doors, but I kept pulling, kissing her at every stopping point along the way until we were outside. The rain soaked us both as soon as the back door kicked open, and she gasped at the cold sensation, eyes blinking rapidly as she adjusted.

“It’s freezing!” she said on a laugh, but I pulled her into me, stopping the shivering of her teeth when I captured her mouth with mine. I kissed her with the rain pouring down around us, a bolt of lightning lighting the sky above. And I knew in that moment that she was the missing puzzle piece I’d been looking for all along.

I’d just had to walk the busted up, broken down road to get to her.

I picked her up again, twirling us in the rain before bending her back in a dramatic dip with my lips pressed to hers. Time seemed to stop with my arms around her, my lips pressed to hers, her hands fisted in the wet sleeves of my dress shirt. And when I pulled her back to stand upright, our chests heaving, the rain still pouring around us, I couldn’t help but smile at the woman who’d saved me, who’d chosen me, too.

“You know,” I said after a long moment, pulling her closer to warm her from the cold rain. “I’ve been writing a song for you, too.”

Her brows shot up. “You have?”

I laughed, nodding. “I started writing it after that first night I met you. But… it’s changed. It’s changed so many times since then that it doesn’t even sound cohesive now.”

“Well,” she said, running her hands up my chest, up over my jaw, back into my hair. “Maybe you’ll figure it out one day, and you can play it for me then.”

“It might take me a lifetime,” I warned, tightening my hold around her waist.

Sarah smiled, lifting on her toes and touching the tip of her nose to mine.

“That’s just fine by me.”

Sarah

Later that night, after my last shift at the restaurant, Reese held me with one hand while the other unlocked his door. Rojo bounded out as soon as it was open, licking my leg as she ran past me and into the yard. I chuckled, and while I watched Rojo, Reese watched me.

I felt his eyes on me like all the wonder of the universe was streamlined in a single gaze. He watched me with reverence, with care, with absolute awe. And I blushed, a smile creeping up on my face as Rojo ran past us back into the house. I finally met his gaze, and he pulled where he held me by the hand until I was in his arms.

“You should have taken a picture,” I whispered against his lips. “Would’ve lasted longer.”

He smirked. “I just can’t believe you’re here, that tonight happened, that you… that we…”