I’m not going to beat around the bush.I’m claiming this woman, but I need to get my timing right.Finally.
Emily glances away, and I force her eyes back to me.
“For you, Em.I fucked up.”
“You hurt me.”The pain in her eyes breaks my damn heart.“I was trying to do the right thing.You never gave me the chance to explain.”
“I know.I’m ready to listen.I’m...ready for a lot of things.”
Her hands slide from my arms onto my chest, and my heart roars.Where they belong.I wrap her tighter in my arms.
“I want you to come home.”
“Home?”Emily gasps.
“You belong with me, Em.In our home.In our bed,” I say and realize that while I never truly decided to say any of this, it has always been what I wanted.
Her, I want her.
Tears fill Emily’s eyes.“It wasn’t real.”
“Bullshit.It was real.Itisreal.It’s just taken me time to accept it.”I slide my thumb over her lips.“Tell me you feel the same, Em.”
I can barely wait for her answer.Around me the world vanishes, and for the first time in my life, nothing else matters except one person.
Just her.
Just us.
My future.Our future.
It’s this moment or never.
“What are you saying?”I see the disbelief on her face and know I need to get the truth out.
The three words I never thought I’d say to a woman slide easily from my lips.
“I love you.”Smiling, I slide my fingers through her hair.“I’m saying I love you.”
Like a bud bursting into full flower, she erupts and throws her arms around me, slamming her mouth down on mine.
I lift her up off her feet, and while I’m not sure if she can breathe, I hold her so fucking tight so the universe knows I will never let her go.No one is taking this woman from me.
“Marry me,” I murmur against her lips.
“No,” Emily replies.
Surprised, I lower her down over my now hard cock.“What?”
“No.”She giggles.
“Rude.But okay.Why?”I demand.
That was not the answer I was expecting.
From any woman.
Ever.
