"Can I come in?" I asked.

He stepped back so I could enter the house. I didn't see her yet. But I smelled the food. Maybe she isn't here yet.

"Are you expecting someone?" I asked without looking back at him.

"Yes," he replied. His voice was low. He didn't want to tell me that. At least he was honest.

"Oh, I'll---" I stopped myself. I almost told him I'd be quick. I almost apologized. I wasn't going to do that. I was here to fight for him. Not lie down and let her have him.

"You should probably call her and tell her that your plans have changed," I said, turning around and facing him.

Something flashed in his eyes but the stupid lights were off and I couldn't see him well enough.

"Why's that, Della?" he asked as he took a step toward me.

I stood my ground. He was hurt. I had hurt him but I was back. Dammit. I was back. "Because if she steps foot in this house I will have to kick her ass." I snapped my mouth shut. I couldn't believe I'd said that.

A grin tugged at the corner of Woods's mouth as he took another step toward me. I didn't move away. I wanted him close. I wasn't going to run. "Hmm, someone's jealous," he said as he reached out and ran a finger along my jawline. I shivered.

"Very," I admitted. I wasn't ashamed of it. I was livid with jealousy.

"Why are you jealous, Della?" He took another step toward me, causing me to back up against the wall. His hands rested against the wall on either side of my head. "Who would you ever have to be jealous of?"

I was having a difficult time breathing normally. He smelled so good. The tanned skin of his throat was right there. I wanted to lick it. Taste him. "Anyone you touch," I said breathlessly.

"Then you only have one person to be jealous of," he replied, and lowered his head to nuzzle my neck. I trembled and reached up to touch his shoulders. I needed some support. There was someone else. He was admitting it. I wanted to hit him and scream and I wanted to grab his shirt and kiss him. Claim him.

"You left me, Della. You left me. You broke me," he whispered against my skin, and then ran the tip of his tongue up my neck and took a small nip at my ear.

"Who is she?" I asked, needing to remind myself that he'd been with someone else.

"Who is who?" he asked, pressing against me as he continued his assault on my neck as if it were a delicacy he craved.

"Who have you . . . who are you cooking for? Who's coming here? Who have you touched?" I asked, holding on tighter to his shoulders as my body went warm and weak.

"You. Always, you. Just you," he said, lowering his mouth to my collarbone.

What did he mean "me"? "I don't understand," I panted breathlessly as he ran his lips over my cle**age slowly and murmured about how good I smelled.

"What don't you understand, baby?" he asked as he moved his hand from the wall to cup my right breast.

I let out a strangled cry of pleasure. I wasn't going to be able to think clearly if he kept this up.

"You said there was someone else," I said as my body betrayed me and moved closer to him like a magnet.

"No, I didn't. You asked if I was expecting someone. I said yes. I was expecting you. You asked who I touched. I said only one person. You. Always you," he said, finally lifting his head to look at me. The heat I expected to see in his eyes wasn't what I saw. His heart was in his eyes. He loved me. It was right there for me to see. He was showing me with a look that he hadn't given up on us.

"You knew I was coming back," I said, wondering if it had been Braden or Tripp who had clued him in.

Woods cupped my chin gently in his hand and ran his thumb over my bottom lip. "I've known exactly what you were doing every day since the day you left me. I've made sure you had money to stay in hotels that were safe and food to eat. How do you think I kept from going crazy? I had daily calls to tell me how you were. Where you were. I stayed away because I wanted you to come back to me. I wanted you to want me. To want us."

He had been keeping tabs on me. He had cared. He hadn't just let me leave. Tears filled my eyes and I didn't care. I wanted to cry. I was happy. I was loved.

"Don't cry," he said as he began to kiss each tear from my face. "I can't stand it when you cry. Please, don't cry."

"You love me," I said, smiling.

Woods pulled back enough to look down at me. "Della. That should have never been a question in your mind. You should have known that. If you didn't know that you had my soul, then I'm doing something wrong."

I reached up and grabbed his face and kissed him. With everything I had, I kissed him. I didn't have the words to make any of this right. So I showed him how I felt. How much he meant to me. His arms wrapped around me and he met each stroke of my tongue with his own. We stood there tasting and indulging in each other. It was perfect. I was home.

When I broke the kiss so I could catch my breath I reached for his shirt. I wanted that shirt off him. I wanted his clothes off. I wanted him inside me. "Now, I need you, now," I told him as I began unbuttoning his shirt.

"I have food. I was going to romance you first. Convince you to stay with me," he said as I pushed his shirt off his shoulders.

I caressed his chest. His broad shoulders always made me feel so small but safe. "I'm hungry and we'll eat but right now I need you inside me," I told him as my hands got busy with the buttons on his shorts.