The Wife by S.P. Cervantes Read Free Book Online Page B

intimate way he stroked my hand felt as if he was able to reach the small piece of my heart that remained.
    Mike used his other hand to direct my gaze toward his so I could see the honesty he was imploring from me with his dark eyes. Mike was honest, almost to a fault at times, but it was all part of his confidence that I found attractive. His eyes burned into mine when he traced his hand across my chin; shocks of pleasure tingled through me.
    “I need to ask you something, Alexa, because it’s been eating me apart for weeks now, and I can’t take it anymore.” He squeezed my hand gently, as if he was trying to conjure courage. It made me smile to myself, to think of a guy like Mike being nervous to ask me a simple question, especially after some of the intimate conversations we’ve had. When he began again, I realized the reason behind his nerves. “Do you still have feelings for Jamie?”
    I smiled up at him, finding his vulnerability endearing. “Mike—”
    Before I could get out my answer, he interrupted, “I mean, I’m sure you still care about him in some way, but I guess what I’m really asking is what would you do if he walked through those doors right now and apologized for everything and wanted you back? Would you do it?” He winked at me, looking more like the confident man I had come to know. “Or would you stay with me?”
    He was such a mix of sweet and salty that I found him hard to resist. I didn’t break my gaze from his and felt safe enough with him to be honest, like he wanted me to be. It’s something I had thought of many times over the past year, and with him in front of me, eyes full of hope, I admitted the truth that I knew was in my heart—Jamie was never coming back for me. If he tried, I wouldn’t go back to him. I was too strong of a person and had too much pride to let someone possess my heart the way he did again. The one thing that I gained from the careless way he treated my heart was I was able to see just how strong and independent I really was. I didn’t give up on anything in my life when he left. I didn’t hide in a hole and let him make me feel worthless. I knew I couldn’t give up on my dreams because he took such a huge part of them away from me.
    Did I hurt? Hell yeah. There were times I didn’t think I could get out of bed. But I did, and every day things got easier. As I sat there with Mike, watching his cocky smile reappear at the corner of his full lips, I realized that perhaps the pain I went through with Jamie was to get me to where I was now.
    “If Jamie walked through the door, I would stay right here with you.” I looked down shyly. “That is, if you’d want me to stay here with you.”
    “I’ve never wanted anyone to be with me more than I do you, Alexa.” He lifted my hand and placed a kiss on my knuckles. “I want all of you. Your heart, your body. Everything,” Mike said, with his confidence beaming. “I know I’ll have to work for it. All you need to do is give me a chance to show you how good love can really be.”
    “What are you asking me?”
    “I’m asking you to be my girl.” He didn’t wait for my answer. He leaned in and took my face in his hands and whispered, “I won’t ever hurt you the way he did.” He placed a soft kiss on my lips, making my heart feel alive again.

    Mike decided to come back home for a week over the summer to New Jersey with me after our first full year living on our own in the city. After we graduated from NYU, we took a year to travel and figure out what direction we wanted to take in our life. I loved that through that year in the real world, Mike seemed to have decided that the one direction he was sure he wanted to take was with me, and spent every day making me feel a part of his dreams. In a few weeks, he was about to start a job with a major commercial construction company in the city, and I would be starting a graduate program at Tisch School of the Arts in photography while working as an intern