Thissafeness.
When I was in his arms, I wanted to be nowhere else.
“So, I do not want to scare you, but you realize you are no longer my nanny anymore, right?”
I tipped my chin to look at him. “Oh really? Are you firing me?”
“Yes. You are one hundred percent fired as my nanny,” he answered with a playful tone. “I do have another position you can fill, though, if you are interested.”
“Oh yeah?” I looped my arms around his waist. “What’s that?”
His warm brown eyes connected with mine. “I want you to be the one I wake up to in the mornings. The one I hold when I need comfort, and the one you look to for the same thing. I wantyouto be the one I continue feeling this happy with.”
“So, you’re offering me a position as your girlfriend?” I asked, mildly teasing.
He smirked. “Well ... I do not want to put a title on it, since you seem to hate those so much, but ...”
“Ask me.”
He removed his arm from around me so he could hold my hands. “Octavia Klein, will you be my girlfriend?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Your life’s a little complicated. I’ll have to give that question some thought.”
His face twisted with confusion. “Wait ... are you being serious?”
Oh goodness. I forgot that he took things literally sometimes. Language barriers and all.
“No, I’m not serious. I’m kidding!” I laughed. “Yes, Javier Valdez. I’ll be your girlfriend.”
Chuckling, he leaned down to place a deep kiss on my lips. “Will it scare you to hear that I am in love with you?” His voice was warm and deep.
My heart picked up in speed, and my smile slipped.
“Okay, I see that it does scare you,” he added quickly.
“No—I’m ... I’mnotscared, that’s the thing.” I held on to his hands tighter. “I thought if I heard a man say those words to me again, I would be terrified. I figured I would get cold feet and run ... but I don’t want to run away from you.” I released his hands to run my fingers along his jawline. “I don’t want to run, because I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you too.”
“Pretty sure?” he teased.
“Okay.Reallysure.”
He laughed. “I am happy to hear it. But just because I want this does not mean I want to place all of my burdens on your shoulders.”
I gave him a look that said,Really?
“If you mean taking care of Aleesa, she is not a burden. She is a blessing. As for everything else you have to deal with, those are just distractions. No matter what, I’ll be here, because I want you.” Ikissed him. “I wantthis. I’ve wanted something like what we have my whole life.”
He put on a boyish smile. “That means a lot to me to hear you say that. I promise that I will not disappoint you or ever hurt you like your ex did.”
“You could never hurt me like he did. You’re ten times the man he was, baby.”
His hands dug into my hips as our lips met again. “Call me that again,” he rasped.
“What?Baby?”
“Sí.”
I couldn’t contain my grin. “Okay ...baby.”
