Her fork clattered noisily on her plate, sending a thin spurt of syrup onto the table. “What?”
“I know it’s too soon and that you don’t feel the same way,” he said in a rush, looking suddenly very unlike his normal smooth, unflappable self. “But I had to tell you. I can’t take any more of this seeing you and Julie for a few hours every night. I want to wake up with you, go to sleep with you. I want to be here when she cries in the middle of the night because she’s hungry. I want to be the man in your life, now and forever.”
“Logan, I—”
“Don’t say anything yet,” he interrupted. “Just hear me out before you turn me down. I’ll take good care of both of you. We can live here if you want, or anywhere else. I realize I’m asking for a great deal, but if you just give me a chance, I promise you’ll never regret it.” He paused. “Marry me.”
It was the proposal she’d been waiting for, the words she’d been waiting to hear, but yet she needed to be certain.
“Are you sure that this isn’t just about wanting to take care of us, Logan?”
“It’s about loving you, both of you.” His gaze darkened. “I can’t live this half-life with you anymore. I want everything or nothing.” Logan took a deep breath when she remained silent. “Take all the time you need to think about it. I don’t need an answer right now.”
“I don’t need time to think about it,” she said instantly. The expression on his face became wary, strained. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
A smile curved her lips. “Yes, a thousand times. I’ll marry you.” Before she was even aware that she was moving, she was in Logan’s embrace, Julie between them.
He kissed her swiftly. “Thank God.”
“I love you, Logan,” she murmured, feeling an immeasurable sense of relief to say the words to him at last.
“You don’t have to pretend, sweetheart. It’s enough that you’ve agreed to be my wife.” Logan’s face was an impassive mask as he looked down at her.
“I’m not pretending.” She reached up to caress his jaw, enjoying the prickly five o’clock shadow against her fingertips. “I love you and I’ve loved you for so long. I was too afraid to tell you because I didn’t think you loved me.”
His mouth descended on hers in a fiercely possessive kiss. It was a kiss that gave and took, a kiss that promised more. After so much pain and uncertainty for so long, knowing that Logan returned her feelings was pure heaven. She was almost too afraid to believe that it was real.
It seemed as if Logan read her thoughts. He broke the kiss to look down at her, searching her gaze. “Is this real?”
“It’s real,” she assured him, blinking to keep the tears from filling her eyes. Apparently her days of being a walking water fountain hadn’t stopped when she’d given birth to Julie.
“Tell me again,” he growled against her lips.
“I love you,” she obliged, grinning like a lunatic and unable to help herself. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
“And I love you,” he said softly, pulling her closer against him. “How soon can we get married?”
She laughed. “In a hurry?”
He gave her a wry grin. “I’d rather not give you enough time to come to your senses and change your mind.”
Claire sensed that his self-deprecating tone was serious. “Logan, I’m never going to change my mind. You are a wonderful man and I love you for everything you are. I love that you were a foster kid who had nothing and built his own successful company from the ground up. I love the way you make me feel just by looking at me. I love how much you love our daughter and how good a father you are. In fact, there is nothing about you that I don’t love.”
“Hell.” Logan rested his forehead against hers. “If you don’t stop, we’ll end up on the table and I’d really rather not have Julie for an audience.”
“I’m just trying to drum into your thick skull that I love you.” She feathered her lips across his.
He groaned. “Mission accomplished. Now eat your waffles.”
Logan was nervous as hell.
He readjusted his tux for what must have been the eight hundredth time. In a matter of seconds, Claire would be walking toward him. They were about to get married. He could hardly believe it, even a month after his proposal. They had been living in a fantasy world. She and Julie had moved into his house and Derek had moved into an apartment for the time being. Logan had never been so happy in his life. Hell, he’d never expected to be this happy, had never known happiness of this magnitude existed.
He stood in the lobby of the hotel he and Claire had stayed at on their weeklong trip. It was decorated with a shitload of flowers, all white and purple, and candles were burning at the windowsills. His soon-to-be in-laws were seated before him, along with Trevor who was doing double duty taking care of Rafe and Julie. To Logan’s left stood Derek. Jamie, Claire’s crazy, ditzy personal assistant, was currently walking down the aisle toward him, sniffling into her bouquet. Sophie came next, beaming mistily. Finally, the quartet struck up the wedding tune and Claire was walking toward him, ethereally beautiful in a simple cream-colored gown.
She met his gaze and smiled and his nerves died down. The world faded away until all he could see was Claire, gorgeous and grinning and coming straight for him. When she reached him, he couldn’t help it. He grabbed her around the waist, pulled her to him and planted one on her. She sighed breathily. Derek snickered behind him, reminding him that there was business to get down to.
