Naomi grins. “We have our choice of financial backers for Zero Ducks Chocolates, and none of them are related to you. But we might not need them at all, since I put a ‘Donate to Help Save the Zero DucksFarm’ button on your links page, and people like the Tavi Lightly who doesn’t give any ducks. So basically, you saved the farm.”
I stare at her.
She grins bigger.
Dylan aims his dimples at me too.
“We saved the farm?” I whisper.
“Yousaved the farm,” Naomi replies. “There’s a lot more—like inquiries about joining our marketing and PR teams whenever we get those up and running, and Fitzwilliam Hawthorne dropped by yesterday while you were sleeping to try our truffles and wants to help us expand, too, but it turns out he dabbles in making chocolate, too, and I don’t know if we can handle two chefs in the kitchen, but—okay, I’m shutting up now, because you look like you’re going to cry yourself inside out. Point is, good news. Go back to sleep. Or kissing Dylan. Or whatever. The rest of us have the farm under control until you’re ready. I’ll tell Sam you said hi. She’s hanging here for a few days. And we’ll take care of Pebbles. You just worry about you. Okay. Okay. Bye.”
“Naomi.”
“What?”
“Ask Sam how much money she needs to take care of her mom for the rest of her life. I got my trust fund back, and I—I—”
Shit.
I can’t say it.
“No crying,” Naomi orders. “That’s so horribly mean of you to burden Sam with financial security for herself and her mom. Just awful, Tavi.”
I stare at her for a second.
She quirks a grin, and it’s so perfectly Naomi that I actually crack up.
“And now that we have that settled ...” She pulls the door shut.
I look at Dylan, who’s up on one elbow on my bed, watching me with concern etched in his eyes, his hair tumbling over his forehead, his shirt rumpled, and every bit of his aura hugging me tight.
For a split second, I think I might burst into tears all over again.
But I don’t want to cry.
I want to do something else.
Chapter 38
Dylan
Tavi’s always been beautiful, but with her eyes lit up in sheer joy and that smile threatening to burst, she’s gorgeous.
She scoots closer to the center of the bed, giving me more room as she crooks a finger to beckon me to follow. “You’re my favorite part of today.”
My heart has never felt more full.
Moreright.
I follow her deeper onto the bed, watching her breasts sway under her Tickled Pink T-shirt, wondering what she’s wearing under the light sheet covering her from the hips down. “You’re my favorite everything.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
It’s the last thing she says before wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me down for a long, slow, deep kiss that has my head spinning. She’s raw and earthy and warm and soft, and she’smine.
Mine to protect.
Mine to support.
