I reached for Abby and pulled her to me. Closing my eyes, I dropped my head down until my forehead rested on hers.
Christ Almighty. What had we done to each other?
Abby
The look of horror on Bishop’s face before he rested his forehead on mine nearly broke me. I knew telling him about that night would be hard, but he needed to know everything.
I reached up and grabbed his arms. “It’s okay,” I whispered when I heard him let out a soft sob.
“I never knew you were there, Abby,” Bishop said as he cried. “I never knew you came to see me…I’m so sorry, Abs.”
I shook my head and placed my hands on the sides of his face, like he’d done to me only moments ago. “You don’t need to say anything, especially that you’re sorry. I’m the one who left you. I needed to tell you that, Bishop, so you’d understand why I never came back. I knew deep in my heart you would move on.”
His brows pulled in tight. “That’s where you’re wrong, Abby. I never moved on. I might have had sex with other women, but none of it meant anything. It was a poor attempt at trying to get you out of my mind. And you didn’t…you didn’t—”
His voice cracked, and I wrapped my arms around his neck while he wrapped his around my waist.
“I’m not mad, Bishop. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I don’t blame you.”
He buried his face in my neck and drew in a deep breath. “Rose and vanilla.”
I stilled. “What?”
“You’ve always smelled like roses and vanilla. Ever since the first day I met you. I thought it was because you were in the garden so much, but now I think it’s just you.”
Smiling, I threaded my fingers through his soft hair as we stood in each other’s arms.
“I hated myself afterward,” he said. “Every time, I fucking hated myself and felt worse. I know I have a reputation for sleeping around, but there weren’t that many, Abs. I swear.”
“Shhh. I don’t want to talk about what happened when we were apart. All I need is for you to understand that I was so broken, Bishop. And I had no idea how to fix myself, until I realized a few months ago that I couldn’t fix myself, because a part of me was missing. If I’d been in my right mind, I hope you know I would have never left you. Ever.”
He let go of me, and I reluctantly did the same, though it felt so damn good to be in his arms.
“I don’t know what will happen now with us. I do know I need you in my life.” I worked my lips together and then drew in a deep breath and let it out. I lost the battle to hold back my tears as I said, “I miss my best friend, and I want…I want him back. If you can’t forgive me then—”
My words were cut off when Bishop’s mouth captured mine.
The kiss took me by surprise, but it didn’t take me long to open to him. It was both heaven and torture. I wanted more. Needed more. My body burned to be closer to him.
Bishop’s hands came up to my face again, and he held me tight as he deepened the kiss. We both moaned, and before I knew what was happening, he swept me up into his arms and started to head out of the greenhouse.
“Wait—I didn’t water the plant.”
“We can come back,” Bishop said as he nearly ran to the house. Still carrying me, he walked through the back door and into the living room where he set me down.
I was about to tell him we needed to slow down, but then his mouth was on mine again. His kisses left me senseless.
“We should…we should stop and talk,” I gasped as his mouth moved to my neck. He placed more of those heated kisses on my skin while he pushed my coat off and let it fall to the floor.
He pulled away just long enough to remove his own coat. His eyes met mine, and he smiled. “We should,” he agreed, right before he lifted my sweater over my head.
He stopped for a moment and simply stared at me reverently. Then he reached behind his back and pulled his own shirt off, tossing it to the floor.
He ran his fingertip lightly over my exposed cleavage, and I heard myself groan.
“Or, we can keep—” He paused and kissed down my neck. “We can keep doing this and talk later.”
When he sucked my nipple through the lace of my bra, I felt my knees weaken. Bishop wrapped his arms around me to hold me up.
“Which would you rather do, Abs?” he asked, licking my nipple again through the bra. It had been so long since my body felt this way. So, so long.