“You have a place to live,” he said. “If you think you’re living anywhere but with me, you’re crazy.”
Matt pulled her into his arms and squeezed so tight Tamryn thought he would break her back.
“Oh my God, I love you,” he whispered against her ear.
“I love you, too, senator.”
Resounding applause and cheers sounded behind them. Tamryn burst out laughing as she looked over Matt’s shoulder and found a number of eyes on them.
“I hope you’re prepared for life as a Gauthier in the town of Gauthier.”
“You’ve done pretty well. I think I can handle it.” She cradled his cheeks between her hands, urging his head down. Her lips hovering just inches from his, she whispered, “I cannot think of anything I’d rather be than a Gauthier.”
Epilogue
Matt held uphis cup of punch, joining in as Corey Anderson led a toast to his victory over Patrick Carter. It had been pretty certain from early on that he was going to win the senate seat, but Matt had decided not to accept his win until Carter called to concede. That call had come a few minutes ago.
“The people of District Twelve, and the entire town of Gauthier, are getting themselves a damn fine state senator, and we all could not be happier,” Corey said. His words were followed by a roar of cheers and a call for Matt to give a speech.
He set his cup on the table and walked up to the podium that had been set up at the front of the hall he’d rented for his campaign watch party. He’d opened it to the public, and of course, nearly all of Gauthier had turned out for the event.
“I’m not going to take up too much of your time. Everyone here already knows how I feel about them, and after tonight, I know how you feel about me, too.”
“We love you, Matt!” someone called from the crowd.
“I love you too,” Matt said with a grin. “And I want to thank you all once again for your support, not just for tonight but throughout all of my years of practicing law in Gauthier. I vow to do everything within my power to live up to the potential you all apparently see in me. Thank you once again for electing me to represent this district in the Louisiana State Senate.”
He accepted the applause, then left the podium—and headed straight for Tamryn.
“Very good, senator. Short and sweet, and as always, full of charm.”
“Happy I didn’t disappoint.”
“I don’t think you could ever disappoint the people here.”
“What about my future wife?” he asked before leaning in and giving her lips a swift kiss. “I want to make sure I don’t disappoint her, either.”
“I believe the only way you could do that is if you stopped falling asleep whenever I try to engage you in a discussion of history,” she said.
He closed his eyes and let his head loll to the side, emitting a pretend snore. Tamryn pinched his arm. “Sorry.” Matt shook his head and blinked rapidly. “You were saying something?”
“You are not funny.”
“But you love me anyway, don’t you?”
A smile tipped up the corners of her lips. “Yes, I do.”
“Show me how much you love me, professor.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Whatever you say, senator.”
