"I..." Shit. I had no idea what to say.
"You, what?" she asked.
"I don't," I had to stop and clear my throat. "I don't want you to leave."
Merry smiled up at me, her hazel eyes warm and sparkling. "That's good, because I don't want to leave."
Her hand was still on my chest. I held it gently in mine. "You don't understand. I don't want you to leave at all."
Her smile faded. "Maybe not now, but what if you change your mind? If I stay here for months, I'll essentially be starting from scratch. I'll have to pick up the pieces and move on and I'm not sure I can do that."
"I've waited hundreds of lifetimes for you," I said, lifting her hand to my mouth so I could press a kiss to her palm. "I won't change my mind. I'm not going anywhere and I don't want you to either. The question is how do you feel about me?"
She didn't speak for so long that I was afraid I'd pushed too hard, too fast. My thoughts raced as she stared at me with wide eyes.
Finally, she opened her mouth and said, "I'm all in. I want to stay here and sleep with you every night and have coffee with you in the morning. I want to know what makes you angry and what makes you smile." Her fingers flexed in mine and traced the edge of my lips. "I want to make you laugh. You smile and laugh so rarely and you should do it more often. I...I'm falling for you and it's nothing I've ever experienced before."
I pulled her closer and she leaned into me.
"It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud," she said. "But this, everything I'm feeling, is scary as hell."
"It scares me, too," I admitted.
She tilted her head back and one corner of her mouth lifted in a crooked half-smile. "Really?"
"Really. Other than Macgrath and Callum, I haven't depended on anyone in a very long time. But I'm depending on you."
Her arms stole around my waist and squeezed. "Would it make me a horrible person if I said that I was relieved?"
I had to laugh. "No."
"So no expiration date on...us?" she asked.
"No."
"One day at a time?"
"One day at a time."
She sighed and leaned forward to rest her head on my chest. "I can do that."
I stroked a hand over her hair. "That's all I can ask."
After a moment, she lifted her head and pressed her lips to mine. "Do you realize that we have the whole house to ourselves for the foreseeable future?"
"I do now."
The smile that spread across her face was very nearly wicked. "Want to take a shower with me?"
She squealed when I swept her off her feet and carried her down the hallway to her bedroom.
* * *
A few hours later,Merry was asleep again. Her head rested on my shoulder and her arm was draped over my waist. I listened to her quiet breathing and wondered how long it would take me to convince her to marry me.
After we made love in the shower, I made lunch and we sat on the couch and watched a movie together.
Until Merry came into my life, I hadn't realized I was lonely. I lived with Callum but we each went our own way most of the time. It never occurred to me that I was lonely.
