Daisy taps her foot against my now-still hand. “Can I ask you something?”
My eyes find hers, her words pulling me out of the dark place I had fallen into. “Anything.”
“What changed?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“With us. What changed last night? You had barely been able to look at me since that morning in your bedroom.”
I blow out a breath. I knew we would have to talk about this at some point, I just didn’t know if Daisy was ready to have the conversation yet.
Emotions have been high the last twenty-four hours, and our problems seemed to fall by the wayside but now is as good a time as any to clear a few things up because something has been on my mind all day and I’d like to bring it up to Daisy eventually.
“I didn’t change my mind, Dais. I know I didn’t react well when you told me about the pregnancy. And the biggest mistake I’ve ever made was telling you to leave without giving you a chance to tell me everything. For that, I’m so sorry, Dais. I was…” I exhale sharply. “Fuck, I was so hurt that you didn’t feel like you could come to me. I would have been there for you no matter what. I would have held you through it. Gone to every appointment with you and supported you in any way I could.”
A stray tear rolls down her face and I lean over, swiping it away with my finger. “You’ve had this idea in your mind all these years that a family was a requirement for being with me, but you couldn’t be more wrong. All I’ve ever wanted since I was seventeen, hell since before that, is you, Daisy.Youhave always been my dream. I don’t care if we never have children. I can live without them. What I can’t live without is you. The last four years have been hell without you, angel. Not a day went by where I didn’t think about you at least once. You were everywhere. You’re engrained in my skin, carved into my heart.”
I look into her eyes, cupping her warm cheek in my hand. “I didn’t change my mind, Dais. I just stopped being a pussy and done what I should’ve done from the moment I found you in the bar all those months ago. I claimed you.”
Daisy’s chin trembles as she leans into my touch. “What if you end up hating me?” she whispers brokenly.
I frown. “Why would I ever hate you?”
“Because all you’ve ever spoken about is having a family, Killian. We spent hours planning our future, choosing names for our future children, discussing how many we were going to have. We designed this house with the extra bedrooms with children in mind. How are you okay with giving all of that up?”
I pull her into my lap and tuck her hair behind her ear, tilting her face to mine to ensure she really hears me when I say my next words. “I would give up everything I own, every asset, every belonging, every dime, as long as I get to keep you.”
“Do you really mean that?” she asks, her insecurity getting the better of her.
“I’ve never been more serious.”
Her forehead falls against mine and she closes her eyes. “I love you, Killian.”
Fuck, I’ll never get tired of hearing her say that.
“I love you, too, angel.”
For the first time all day, my mind is quiet. My body is relaxed as I hold her against me, my fingers drawing mindless designs along the exposed skin at the bottom of her back. Daisy is silent for a long time as she plays with the chain around my neck.
“Will you put your ring back on?” she asks, pulling the ring out from behind my hoodie.
“Of course. Do you still have yours?”
Daisy nods and hops off my lap, scurrying off toward the front door. She returns a second later, her hand balled in a fist. She climbs back into my lap and opens her hand, revealing two small bands, one solid gold one and one that’s littered with tiny diamonds on either side of one bigger one in the middle.
Butterflies swarm in my stomach as I look up at her in surprise. “You had them on you?”
Daisy smiles at me, her perfect white teeth on full display. “You thought you were the only sentimental one in this marriage, Mr Ashby?”
“I guess not, Mrs Ashby,” I reply with a chuckle.
I take the rings from her, and she holds her left hand out for me. With steady hands, I take hers and slide her rings on the third finger, exactly where they belong.
The diamonds glint under the light and I place a kiss over the top of it. “Mine.”
Daisy beams at me as she reaches behind my neck, unclasping my chain and letting the ring slide into her palm. She mimics my movement, sliding my ring onto my marital finger before placing a kiss there. “Mine,” she repeats.
Seeing her rings back in their rightful place does something to me. It brings out my possessive side and sends a jolt of electricity through me. My dick begins to harden beneath her, and Daisy must feel it because her smile goes from excited to provocative in a split second.
