Lost to You (Take This Regret 0.5)(34)
Author: A.L. Jackson

I’d been missing her for months and I didn’t even know it. “Me, too. I’ll see you tomorrow, though, okay?”

Finally, she dropped her hand, turned, and walked away. At the door, she paused to look at me once, before she pulled the door open and slipped inside.

I wrapped my arms over my chest in an attempt to shield myself from the cold, my attention trained upstairs. Her light flicked on. Five seconds later, Elizabeth pressed her face to the window. She smiled this wistful smile and placed both hands against the glass.

I stood there with my hands shoved in my pockets, rocking back on my heels as I stared up at her. That spot inside expanded and I loved her a little more.

No one could ever come close to this girl, the way she made me feel, what she made me see. We belonged together.

I lifted a hand in a small wave. Her fingers curled on the window, and her expression filled with that same tenderness she had looked at me with for so long. I hoped she could see the same in mine.

Chapter Eleven

Elizabeth

The knock at my door jerked me to my feet. My thoughts raced everywhere, and my nerves only skyrocketed knowing who awaited me on the other side of the door.

I hurried across the room, sidestepping my purse. I’d dropped it in the middle of the floor when I came in last night and rushed to the window to catch another glimpse of Christian before he walked away. I guess I’d needed an affirmation. Something to prove what had just transpired between us had been real. And it was, there in his expression, the same thing I felt reflected back at me.

Of course I’d known I was in love with him before, though the realization had gutted me. Rather than joy, I’d felt only pain, my feelings for him nothing more than a millstone around my neck.

But last night had changed everything, and peering down at him had revealed something greater to me. Joy had firmly taken root in my heart as a future unfolded before my eyes, snapped into place like the jagged pieces of a puzzle, ones that didn’t seem to fit but always belonged together.

We’d been raised so differently. Maybe it was those differences that made us so perfect for each other.

I opened the door to Christian standing there with his hands shoved deep in his coat pockets. That mass of hair on his head was mussed, framing his face. A clean shave had erased any trace of the shadow that usually had set by this time of day. It accentuated every sharp line and contour of his jaw. The curve of a gentle smile lifted one side of his mouth.

“Hey,” he said, his head tilting to the side. He drew his shoulders up as his face bled into a timid grin.

“Hey.” I could feel the flush make its way up my neck to tint my cheeks. Being around Christian had never been easy. It’d always been a feat of wills, brute strength and iron-clad resolve. I’d become almost accustomed to it until I stood before him now.

With all of our reservations out of way, I felt like a different girl.

Blue eyes gleamed as they traveled along my face and kissed along the length of my body.

Thick laughter jutted from his throat as he took me in.

I bit back a smile as another rush of heat flared on my face.

This morning when I’d talked to him on the phone, he asked me to wear the same thing I’d worn to the party last Friday. I knew under his coat he’d be wearing the same tight black T-shirt, and that his dark jeans would be a taunting me from where they hung low on his hips

He wanted a redo.

I wanted one, too.

“Come here,” he said under his breath, one hand reaching out to beckon me forward. I didn’t hesitate to nestle into his chest. He wrapped both arms around me, rocked me as he hugged me close. Gentle lips pressed to the top of my head. “You look amazing.” I felt his laughter rather than heard it. “Why didn’t I just tell you before?” His voice dropped as he burrowed his mouth farther into my hair. “Why couldn’t I just tell you I wanted to make love to you?”

Tingles shot down my spine with his words, and I nuzzled my nose deeper into his chest.

“Why didn’t I tell you I was confused and scared by everything you made me feel instead of running away from you?”

Shaking my head, I looked at him. “I don’t regret it at all, Christian. I’m mean, don’t get me wrong…last week hurt…and I hate having spent those days without you, but I have to believe it finally forced us to admit things we were too scared to see. If it hadn’t have happened, I’d probably be sitting on your couch instead of standing here like this with you.” I clung to him and whispered, “And this is really where I want to be.”

Christian’s hands came up to cup my jaw, gently prodding. I lifted my eyes to his. Emotion softened every hard angle of his face, and that place reserved for him fluttered inside. He dipped his head and pressed a sweet kiss to the edge of my mouth.

“This is the only place I want to be, Elizabeth…with you.”

My forehead fell back to his chest to hide the heat that rushed to my cheeks. I breathed him in, loved the way he smelled, loved everything about him.

There was no more holding back, no more questioning what we were or where we were going.

“Are you ready to get out of here?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I stepped back.

“Be sure to grab a warm coat and a scarf. It’s freezing out there.”

I nodded and turned back into my studio to gather my things. Christian followed right behind and stood in the middle of my apartment. Just watching me. I kept glancing up at him, and each time it was the same. I’d catch him with the same expression on his face, the one that fluttered my pulse and sent a tumult of butterflies tipping through my stomach.

Hands shaking, I struggled to pull my heavy coat over my sweatshirt.

He stepped to me, his voice all breathy and matching everything I felt inside. “Here…let me help you with that.”

He slipped the coat over my shoulders and tugged at the collar to straighten it, grinning when it caused me to stumble forward into him. Leaning in close, he reached behind me to free the hair trapped in the confines of my coat, and ran his long fingers through the length with a satisfied smile coming over his face.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve imagined my hands in your hair.” He lifted a handful and slowly let each piece fall away, the strands tickling at my neck as his sweet breath trickled over my face.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I buttoned my coat, my brow cinching with a playful scowl. “Oh, I distinctly remember them being there before. Have you forgotten so easily?” I was surprised by the tease that found its way from my mouth.