“It’s not going to last,” she says softly.

I find a washcloth and wet it with warm water. “How do you know?” I ask, gently wiping her down.

She looks away. “I just do.”

Gently grabbing her chin, I kiss her long and hard. “I’m a man of my word now.”

She laughs, but it’s not full of happiness. “Seth, you were a man of your word then. When you told me to never come back.”

Letting go of her, I toss the washcloth into the dirty clothes hamper and lean against the wall of the bathroom. She shimmies out of her dress and begins to wash her face with a clean washcloth.

“You’re going to hold something against me that I did when I was seventeen. Seventeen, Rowan. It wasn’t last week or even last year. Fuck, it wasn’t five years ago.”

“You held a grudge against me for at least seven years,” she points out.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. My heart is still beating out of control from being with her. “I stopped holding a grudge against you a year into the Corps. Two tops. But, baby, I was hurting. I was ashamed of how I treated you. Angry at how my plans were derailed because of a decision I willingly made. I didn’t trust myself to be around you until recently. I didn’t know if I’d make it back in one piece from my last deployment.”

Rowan is silent at my admission. Maybe she doesn’t believe me.

I shake my head, my eyes opening. “Hell, I came up here about eight months ago, before I had to go on my last mission, just to see you. But timing’s everything. You weren’t here and I got called back to base early.”

The washcloth drops to the floor with a thud. “You came back before now?” she asks.

“Yes.”

She walks to me, beautifully nude. “Before your grandmother got really sick?”

Nodding, I say, “Rowan, I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to talk to you again.”

Tears cloud her eyes. “I don’t believe you.” She covers her face with her hands. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Yes, you do.” I go to her, taking her in my arms and leading her back to my bedroom. After tucking her under the covers, I strip out of my clothes and join her. She comes to me, willingly, and I kiss the top of her head.

“Believe that I’m sorry, that I’m not the boy I used to be, and that I’m here to make things right.” Believe that I love you, that I never stopped loving you.

She snuggles deeper into my arms, neither agreeing or disagreeing with me. It’s a start, I suppose, but none of this is what I envisioned our reunion would be like.

Not that I imagined hearts and flowers, a slow-motion Rowan dropping everything and running straight to me, forgiving me at the drop of a hat.

Like anything worth doing, getting Rowan to forgive and trust me will take time. Longer than the thirteen days I’ve been allowed. But there are weekends. Fifty-two weekends a year, plus holidays.

“And if it takes every second of every day to convince you of that, then that’s what I’ll do,” I swear.

“You can try,” comes her reply several minutes later when I’m almost asleep.

“Be pissed at me tomorrow,” I remind her.

“Love me tonight,” she replies softly.

Chapter 10

Rowan

Before Jase was sentenced, our house was the place for parties—even the rich, snobby kids from the Oaks would come. Giving the house to my mom is the one thing our dad bothered to do right before he left us. When she died from an overdose, the house went to Jase. Miss Myrtle helped us keep it by paying the yearly property taxes while I worked at Gardner’s to pay her back.

Hauling another bag of ice to the cooler, I dump it on top of Jase’s favorite beer, and then push the lid down. A quick glance around assures me that everyone is getting along.

So far.

Seth hovers on the edge of the crowd, his steady gaze taking everything in. More than once it feels as though his eyes are on me, burning a hole in my head.

Today was a whole new day of torture for me. Seth had kept me awake most of the night making love to me. Not fucking, not sex…making love. He’d been gentle and fierce, always making me come before he would. Always kissing me so sweetly I wanted to cry. It was as if he was trying to get me to break open so he could see the truth inside my heart.

A truth that I do not want to acknowledge.

Thank God Piper agreed to come. I didn’t even have to beg. She was excited and nervous when I picked her up this afternoon to help me get everything ready.

We had a good time, joking around while I teased her about finally making a social appearance. The thing is, I want Piper here. I want her to see that there’s nothing to worry about, and that she’s safe. I suspect she lied to her parents about her whereabouts, or at least that she’s at a party. They wouldn’t be happy with her attending a Simmons party. Especially since her dad was the arresting officer the night things went so bad with that rat bastard Tony.

“Check you out,” I say as Piper walks over and we link our arms together. She’s very pretty in her denim skirt and soft green cashmere sweater that she changed into right before the party started. Her tights are patterned and disappear into knee-high boots. “I have the best-looking date here. Everyone’s jealous of me.”

Piper’s gaze bounces from me to my brother, who’s practically being humped by Giselle, and then back to me again. “Sure, they are.”

“My brother specifically asked for you to come. My invitation wasn’t just so you could live a while on the badass wild side.”

Jase steps away from Giselle and looks our way. His eyes widen as he realizes who’s with me. A wicked-looking smile appears on his mouth.

Hope blooms on Piper’s face. “Really?” She blows out a breath. “Forget I said that. Jase doesn’t even know I’m here. Not that it matters. I’m just glad he’s home safe.”

Jase’s gaze lingers on Piper, and I have to bite my lip to keep from shouting, Ah-ha! See, he wants you. He really, really wants you!

Instead, I keep my cool and lightly say, “He threatened to never speak to me again if I didn’t convince you to come. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t above bribery. Maybe even kidnapping.”

Piper’s green eyes widen. “Are you serious? I didn’t—oh, the care packages. He’s just being nice.”

Judging by the way my brother can’t keep his eyes off Piper, he’s not just being nice. God, if only Jase would actually go after Piper. She would stick by him, not play him while his back is turned like Giselle.

“I don’t think so,” I counter with a grin. “He’s heading this way.”

Piper flushes from head to toe as Jase joins us.

“Having fun?” he asks.

She stares at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. “I, um…” She shoots me a pleading look, and I take pity on her.

I throw my arm around her shoulders as an evil plan hatches. If I can’t get Seth out of my head, then maybe I can get Giselle out of Jase’s. It’s what little sisters are for, right? “Piper is having a fabulous time with me, but maybe you could help her with the guy situation.”

His eyebrows raise, concern etching his face. He focuses on Piper. “Who’s bothering you, baby doll?”

“No—”

I jab my elbow into her side, and she coughs. “No one she wants. Quite a few of them can’t keep their paws to themselves,” I lie. Okay, so it might not be a total lie. I did see Charlie Davis attempt to palm Piper’s ass when she bent over the cooler to get a drink. “Mostly Charlie, though.”