Chapter 27

27

TALLULAH

G etting dressed up and being part of the haunted house had been a last-minute thing. After having it out with the sound guy, I’d received an urgent call through my earpiece asking me to come to the main house, and once I’d sorted out the drama with sheeting that kept coming loose, I’d decided to join in the fun.

I’d wanted to see the expressions on people’s faces as they walked through my creation and this had seemed like a good way to do it. Niall, however, was looking murderous as he stared at me, blinking hard with his face suddenly all pale and ashen. “Tallulah? Shit, you really are going to scare me to death one of these days. Can we talk now please ?”

He paused for a beat, drawing in a deep, deep breath and releasing it slowly before he finally stepped away from the wall. I’d seen him reach for me, but he quickly withdrew his hands. “Maybe after you take the costume off?”

With the festival in full swing outside and Sayra having just let the first people in, I considered staying to see the looks on a few more faces before I nodded. Scaring the daylights out of Niall had satisfied my curiosity about whether I’d done enough.

Besides, my blossoming relationship with him was hanging in the balance and I really didn’t want to lose him if what he’d said had been true. If he really did understand now, I wanted to hear his explanation—and hopefully, an apology.

“Let me just go take this off and give it to one of the others,” I said, inclining my head toward the kitchen for him to follow me. “We’re using the back door for the performers. Come on, before anyone sees us.”

Keeping his eyes firmly ahead of him, he followed me to the door and out, then waited patiently while I changed in the little tent we’d set up out here for this purpose. When I was done, I led him back to the guest house, a little nervous about what was going to happen when we got there.

I didn’t want to fight with him and the truth was that I knew he hadn’t been trying to trap me. What he’d done, however, had still taken away my ability to work my way to the freedom I so wanted and it made me feel like, after everything, I still just wasn’t good enough to stand on my own two feet.

The guest house was a quiet place in what was quickly becoming a huge party and I sighed as I turned to look at him once we were inside.

“Well, I, uh, I guess the floor is yours,” I said softly, too nervous to speak much louder. “This better be good or I’m bringing out the spiders again.”

I cared about this guy. A lot, and I didn’t really want to lose him. In such a short amount of time, he’d made me happier than I’d ever been, but I just couldn’t let him think that this kind of behavior was okay.

After everything I’d been through, I knew how important it was now to stand up for myself from the very beginning. Carter’s complete control over every move I made, where I went, what I wore, and who I saw also hadn’t happened overnight.

It’d been a process, a slow removal of tiny liberties until I had none left. If I so much as took a new roll of toilet paper without consulting him about it, he’d been furious with me, insisting that I should’ve sought his permission.

I knew Niall wasn’t like that, and similarly, I knew who he was at his core, but I needed to know that he respected my boundaries. By making that payment without even telling me about it until several hours later, he’d delivered a swift kick to my metaphorical nuts.

As soon as the front door of the guest house closed behind us, Niall’s beautiful blue eyes were on mine, his handsome features smooth and open as he shifted to face me fully. “I love you, Tallulah Pruette.”

My eyes widened, my heart suddenly feeling like it was going to explode. I blinked hard a few times. My lips parted as I wondered if I’d hallucinated what he’d just said, but then he continued. “I know that we haven’t known each other for very long, but I also know for an absolute fact that I am totally and completely in love with you. You are the only woman that I have ever said those words to and you’re the first woman I’ve ever felt this way about, but I do feel it.”

He took a single, cautious step closer to me, those eyes blazing into mine. “You challenge me and you scare me. You see me for who I am without being blinded by my name, my bank account, or anything else, and in seeing that guy, you’ve made me rediscover him too. You’ve reminded me that there’s life outside of work and that everything doesn’t have to be serious all the time, but you’ve also shown me that being vulnerable isn’t the same thing as being weak and that there’s magic to be found in everyday life if you know where to look.”

My eyes burned with unshed tears, and when he reached for my hands again, I gave them to him this time. A ghost of a smile touched his lips as he wound his fingers around mine. “I am so genuinely sorry for overstepping your boundaries. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel the way I did. I’m new to this too, being in love, and I only wanted to protect you. I knew how much all that debt was holding you back from immersing yourself fully in your new life and I wanted to free you from it, but that’s all. It was meant to be a gift, Tallulah. It had nothing to do with the money for me.”

Completely stunned, I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. The only thing I could think of to do was to kiss him, so I did. I honestly didn’t know what to say about everything he’d just told me. I just knew that I loved him too and that I appreciated his heartfelt apology.

Running my hands up the length of his arms, I slid my fingers around his nape and pulled him to me, tilting my head back just as his descended to bring his mouth down on mine. Our lips met in a feverish, passionate kiss that made goosebumps spread all over my body and sparks shoot through me.

“I love you too, Niall,” I murmured into his mouth, looping my arms around his neck and stepping all the way into him.

My heart was thrumming in my chest, my entire being brimming with joy as he moaned and crushed his lips harder to mine. We stumbled backward, neither of us in control as we eventually toppled over one of the couches in my living room and landed in a pile of limbs on the cushions.

Laughing as he flattened himself onto me, we didn’t stop kissing though and I felt like we never should. I pushed my hands into his hair, smiling against his lips as he gave mine a few playful nips.

“Do you mean it?” he asked breathlessly. “You love me?”

“I do,” I replied, never having been more honest or sure about anything in my life. “I love you so much, Niall. I’m head over heels in love with you and I know it’s probably not possible, but I feel like I’ve loved you since the very first time I saw you.”

Incredulous laughter bubbled out of him and he groaned, running his hands to my ribs and cupping them firmly as he kissed me hard. “You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that. Crazy as it sounds, I feel the same way.”

I smiled against his mouth, maneuvering my legs out from between his to wrap them around his hips. I pulled back a little and brushed my fingers through his hair. “So what do we do now?”

“Make out a little?” he suggested with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I know we should probably get back out there, but I’m just not ready yet. Do you really forgive me?”

I considered the question for a moment before I smiled again. “Do I forgive you for paying off debt that would’ve taken me years to clear just because you love me? It seems silly now that you even feel like you need to ask me that question.”

“Even so, I need to know, Tallulah.” Those eyes flicked from one of mine to the other. “Do you trust that I would never, ever do anything to undermine your control over your own life?”

“Yes,” I said without even having to think about it this time. “I also promise to try not to question everything every time you do something nice for me.”

“Good.” He pressed another hard kiss to my lips. “Because I plan on spoiling you rotten, my love. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but money doesn’t mean very much to me. I know it’s a luxury to be able to say that and I don’t take it for granted. It’s just that I’ve never had anyone who truly meant something to me to spend it on and I’m kind of excited about it.”

I looked right into his eyes, fighting the immediate instinct to say no. This was going to be a give and take. A compromise, and if I couldn’t find a way to accept that, Niall and I were both in for a world of pain and heartache.

“How about we take it slow?” I suggested, tightening my calves around his ass and rolling my hips a little. “For today, let’s stick to buying whatever we want from the food trucks that are already here and spoil each other with love and kisses.”

“I can do that,” he promised against my lips, sealing his over them again and sweeping his tongue into my mouth.

I moaned as I returned his kiss, my body melting under his expert touches as he ran his hands lightly over me. Niall, for all his tailored suits and hard-edged looks was an incredibly passionate, expressive lover. He was open and communicative, never hiding how turned on he was or how much he liked what we were doing.

It was so damn hot to know that I was the only one seeing him like this, and while it still bothered me a little bit that he was so much more experienced than I was, I wasn’t about to let that stop me.

Making out with him had fast become one of my favorite pastimes, and as his tongue dominated my own, my entire body filled with need for him. I hung onto him tighter, kissing him harder as I started writhing underneath him, the festival I’d poured all my energy into for so long just about forgotten.