She rolls her eyes like she’s trying to pretend she’s not still shaking. “You’re in full rescue mode.”
“I’m in full ‘you scared the hell out of me’ mode,” I mutter.
I lock the door behind us. Check the windows. Reflex.
Mila watches me, expression soft.
“You really came after me,” she says quietly.
I turn, meeting her gaze. “I’m going to keep doing that. For the rest of your life, if you’ll let me.”
Her eyes shine again. “That’s… a lot.”
“It’s true,” I say.
Mila stands slowly and steps closer, hands sliding up my chest. “You’re intense.”
I catch her wrists and bring them to my mouth, kissing her knuckles one by one. “You like it.”
Her laugh is breathless. “I do.”
I pull her in, palm firm on her lower back. “You’re not leaving this mountain thinking you were a mistake.”
Mila tilts her head. “And what am I, then?”
I look at her—really look.
The woman who walked into my quiet life and made it worth living again.
“You’re my chance,” I say. “My home.”
Mila’s breath catches.
I kiss her slower now, savoring. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving you belong exactly where you are.”
Her arms wrap around my neck, holding me close. “With you?”
“With me,” I growl. “If you want it.”
Mila smiles against my mouth. “I want it.”
That’s the only permission I’ll ever need.
I lift her up, and she squeals softly, laughing as she wraps her legs around my waist.
Beau Wilder—broody mountain man, emotionally scarred, sworn-off-dating idiot—carries a curvy woman down the hall like he’s proud of it.
Because I am.
I pause at the bedroom door and look at her, letting the romantic truth hit my tongue without flinching.
“I love you,” I say, raw. “I think I’ve been loving you since the first time you looked at me like I wasn’t broken.”
Mila’s eyes go wide.
Then she cups my face like I’m precious and says, steady and sure, “I love you too.”
My chest caves in and rebuilds itself in the same second.
