The Property Brokers by Sandi Lynn
Chapter 31
Bella
Tears filled my eyes as I listened to him.
“Why didn’t you just tell me about your mom?”
“Because I didn’t want you to see or know how broken I really was. When you showed up at my open house, I nearly died when I saw you standing there. I honestly thought I was dreaming at first. To see you again after all these years was so surreal. There wasn’t a day that passed I didn’t think about you. I even have a picture of the two of us from Hawaii. I keep it in the drawer of my desk at the office. Whenever I’m feeling stressed out or lonely, I take it out and stare at it. And I think what my life would have been like if I would have just put my fears aside and called you.”
“You damaged me, Grant. I never got over you and I carried what we shared into every relationship I had with a guy. I never stuck around too long because they weren’t you. I intentionally self-sabotaged all my relationships because I found it too hard to trust what a man said to me. When Ian and I first met, he asked me about my previous relationships, and I told him about you. Apparently, I even called out your name a couple times in my sleep. When Ian came to the office that day, he told me he could never compete with you and that no man ever could. I hated you so much for hurting me the way you did, but you made me who I am today. You took that shy and timid sixteen-year-old girl and turned her in a strong and independent woman. I can’t hate you for that.”
“Why didn’t you try to get in touch with me when you were in New York all those years ago?”
“Because I knew if I did, I would have fallen in love with you, and I wasn’t mature enough to go through that again.”
“And now?” he asked as he placed his hand on my cheek.
“I better be mature at thirty years old.” I laughed and he laughed with me.
“I love you, Bella Marcus. I always have.” His thumb wiped away my tears.
“Then why did you stop asking me out after you found out I was pregnant?”
“Because that goddamn fear crept up inside me again. Plus, I wanted to give you time to process everything that was going on. I was going to ask you out.”
“Oh yeah? You were?” Her brows raised.
“Yeah. I was.” I smiled. “Because now that you’re here, I can’t seem to stay away from you. You have me hook, line and sinker, just like you did when we were sixteen years old.” He placed his forehead against mine.
“I love you, Grant Roman.”
“I love you, too, Bella.” Our lips met for a tender kiss.
He broke our kiss and got up from the couch. Grabbing my phone, he handed it to me.
“Unlock it.”
“Why?” I smiled.
“You’ll see. Trust me.”
I unlocked my phone and handed it back to him. A moment later, the song You Want to Make A Memory came over the built-in speakers in the apartment. He held out his hand and I placed mine in his.
“Just take it slow,” he said and then began singing the lyrics to me while we slowly swayed back and forth.
Our eyes stayed locked on each other’s while we danced. And when the song ended, our lips locked in a passionate kiss.
“We’ll get through this together. Just you and me, babe. I’m never leaving you again. You have my word.”
