Page 79 of Adore Me (Austin Singles 3)

“What’s that?” he asked, kissing the back of my hand. The gesture nearly made me melt on the spot.

“You are the only man in my life who has ever truly known me.”

His brows pulled in slightly.

“I know it seems crazy because we’ve only been together for such a short period, but when you look at me, I can’t even explain how content I feel. The first time we were together, I knew.”

Smiling, I looked down at our intertwined hands before I met his eyes.

“Blake, I don’t need saving. I don’t need a prince on a white steed to swoop in and protect me. I need someone to take my hand and be there with me as I figure things out. I need someone who wants to run away with me from time to time just to be alone together. I need you.”

He let go one of my hand and brought it to my face. I leaned into the touch and let out a slow, soft breath.

; “Then I’m here for you. I will go with you to the ends of the earth, Morgan.”

Slowly leaning back onto the sofa, I pulled him to me and let myself go. I let everything go. The past. The guilt. The confusion. The only thing I held onto was my future. I wasn’t certain what that future would be, but I knew would be as amazing as this moment was, because I had Blake in my life.

Rolling over, I ran my finger along Blake’s jawline. He played like he was about to bite it, and I jumped and let out a giggle.

Blake and Nash had asked me how I found out about Mike’s baby, but I had needed to process the event before I retold it. Now, at three in the morning, after Blake had made love to me again, I was ready.

“She made an appointment under a false name. Then she told me her story. Her husband was in the army. He died, and his best friend came to her shortly after. One thing led to another, and an affair began. She told me everything. How he wrestled with cheating on his girlfriend. How after the first time they were together, he told her he felt so guilty that he went back home and asked me to marry him. I had no idea she was talking about Mike in the beginning. It was only after she told her husband’s name and then it all came together. No, that’s not true.”

Blake drew his brows in as he kept his gaze locked on me.

“I was beginning to piece it together as she told her story. She gave him an ultimatum.”

Blake pulled me into his arms. “What sort of ultimatum?”

“The week before Mike killed himself, he found out Lynn was pregnant with his child. She told him he had to pick. Her and the baby, or me.”

Kissing me on the forehead, Blake whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“Do you know what bothers me the most? He gave up the chance for his child to know his father because he couldn’t tell me the truth. I can’t help but wonder why he would do that. Why he thought I was such a weak person he couldn’t leave me. He didn’t know me at all. All those years together, and neither one of us truly knew each other.”

His arms tightened around me more.

“Maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe he truly couldn’t pick. He loved you both.”

Lifting my head, I stared into his eyes and smiled. “But you know that’s not true. The letter he wrote to Nash said he meant to pick Lynn.”

“But he couldn’t. There was so much more going on in his head, Morgan. Things that neither you nor Lynn saw. I think demons tormented his soul, and he didn’t know how to control them. It was no one’s fault—not even Mike’s.”

I stared at him, letting his words settle into my mind.

“You’re right. I tell my patients that all the time.”

He winked. “It would be good of you to remember this, for future arguments and such. The part about me being right.”

Laughing, I snuggled closer to him, letting my face press against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat eased the tension in my body, and I relaxed even more.

“What happened with Lynn after you figured it out?”

“I asked her why she felt like she had to tell me the truth and why she felt like she had to deceive me to do it. She said she couldn’t stop the nightmares. So I sat back down, looked her in the eye, and told her she needed to let go of the guilt or she could never move on. That Lance would have wanted her to move on. I didn’t have to say anything to her regarding Mike. I’ve just now figured it out myself. I think she’ll be okay, though. At least, I hope she will be. Then when she left, I freaked out and came looking for you. You know the rest.”

Blake rolled us over and hovered over my body, using his fingers to sweep away my loose hair. Then he kissed the tip of my nose, forehead, jaw, neck, and each side of my mouth, finally placing the sweetest of kisses onto my lips.