“Oh, Hurricane Hannah.” He pushed her hair away from her brow, his expression softening. She used to hate that nickname. Now, she wanted to hear him say it a million times over. “There’s not a woman on the planet with breasts prettier than yours.” He gave her nipple another pass of his thumb as if to prove his words. “And I happen tolikethat you’re a short-stack. Easier to throw you on the bed.” He cocked a provocative brow. “And why would anyone choose to have blond hair when purple is an option?”
Pretty words again. But she couldn’t help noticing… “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Haven’t you guessed the answer?” His eyebrows lifted slightly.
In contrast, her eyebrows slammed together. “No.” She shook her head. “Guessed what?”
“That I’m hoping toneverpack up and leave. That I’m hoping for forever with you. If you’ll have me.”
His smile was warm. But not as warm as the expression in his eyes.
“What?” The word broke in the middle, getting caught up on her disbelief.
“My sweet girl.” He cupped her face in his hands. His callused palms were so warm and wonderful against her cheeks. “Can’t you see how much I love you?”
“But I-I’m not your type,” she sputtered, blinking her incredulity.
“I beg to differ.” He shook his head. “You’re warm and witty and wonderful. Beautiful and brave and you have thebestcollection of T-shirts. Not to mention you have really interesting taste in reading material.” He hitched his chin toward the paperback novel lying on her nightstand. The cover showcased a buff blue alien holding a blond-haired woman whose eyes were closed in ecstasy. “I’d be a fool not to want to snap you up and keep you for my own.”
She’d stopped breathing. So her words came out wheezy-sounding. “Y-you think I’m beautiful?”
“The most beautiful woman in the world.”
Because she was her, her sarcasm and self-deprecation leapt to the forefront. “They say love is blind.”
And because he was him, because he’d always had the ability to read her mind, he said again, “I adored you when you were thirteen, Hannah. You always made me laugh, kept me on my toes, andgotme in a way no one else ever did or ever has since. But the minute you walked back into my life and I saw who the thirteen-year-old girl had grown into, theamazingwoman she’d become, I was toast. Just…bam!” He clapped his hand. “Head over heels. Game over.”
And…there it was.
That look she’d been waiting to see her whole life.
The look of happiness and adoration and hope. The look Pete always wore when he gazed at Cesar. The look she’d promised would make her go down on one knee and propose should she ever find it directed at her.
The only thing that kept her from making good on that vow was her fear that if she moved, the spell might be broken. Or she might wake up from her dream.
Truly, she still wasn’t totally convinced she wasn’t face-first in the Ben & Jerry’s.
“Hannah?” She realized she was just lying there, staring at him without blinking, when he said her name. “Do you have anything you want to say about that? About me loving you to pieces?”
Her heart was so full, she could barely breathe. Which was why, despite her mischievous smile, her words were raspy when she recited one of his favorite Coen brothers quotes. “In today’s cynical world, it’s so hard to take that great leap of faith aboard the ship of love and caring.”
His smile grew wide and her heart tripped over itself knowing she’d get to see that smile for the rest of her life.
“Intolerable Cruelty.” He correctly named the movie. “One of my faves.”
“I know.” She grabbed his cheeks and pulled him down so she could whisper against his lips. “I want to take that great leap of faith with you, Sam. You’re the only man on the planet I’ve ever wanted to leap with.”
A relieved breath trickled out of him and tickled her lips. And she thought it a wonder he ever could’ve had doubts about what she felt for him.
“Now.” She licked her lips, loving the way his eagle-eyes focused on the movement. “If we’re done talking, it’s my turn to showyouall the thingsI’vebeen fantasizing about for the last two months.”
When he grunted his approval, she hungrily reclaimed his lips and did just that.
Epilogue
Washington D.C.
“This is how I’ll be contacting you from here on out,” Bishop said to the man who settled beside him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “If Miss Blue stumbling across our correspondence proves anything, it’s that we’re no longer safe communicating on the dark web.”
