He chuckles. “I take it that’s a good thing?”
“The best,” I whisper.
“Is that what you want when I propose, then?” His eyes search mine, and although he’s trying to sound lighthearted, I can tell he’s looking for my reassurance.
“Whenyou propose?”
His mouth turns up in a wry smile. “Well, yeah. You didn’t think I’d tell you all this if I didn’t mean to follow through, right? Or try and cheat you out of the full experience?”
My breath catches in my throat, and it takes me a couple of tries to speak. “You don’t have to go through any of that. I love you, and I want a real wedding as soon as you’re ready.”
“You deserve smushy,” he replies, running his thumb over my cheek now. I realize after a second that he’s tracing my freckles. “If we do this, if you marry me for real, I have to make sure you won’t have any regrets. And you can’t know that unless we actually date first.”
“Date?”
He nods. “Yes. It’s the only way to?—”
“Landry, we’ve been living together formonths. I can’t imagine there’s anything left to learn about one another, and certainly nothing that could change how I feel about you.”
“But you’re not exactly getting a choice this way. I don’t want you to think back on this later and realize you stayed with me by default because I’m all you’ve ever known.”
“You’re all I want to know,” I breathe.
“Because you never got to live on your own, and I don’t want to take that away from you, either.”
I laugh incredulously. “I don’t want to live alone. I wantyou.”
“Please,” he begs. “Let me do this right.”
“Hey, if you need more time, just say so,” I tell him. “Full transparency.”
He shakes his head and offers me a sad smile. “I want you to have more time. I need to know you’d choose me again, even if I hadn’t helped you.”
“Moving out isn’t going to change anything, because there’s no part of you that could resist helping someone in need. And no part of me could resist falling for a man as selfless as you, one who finds so much joy in helping others.” He blinks down at me, his eyes watering. “But if you feel like this is something you need to do to keep us from falling into sin together, then you should do it. You should also know that it’s going to backfire on you, because it’s only making me fall deeper in love with you and want you that much more.”
His brows draw together, and his throat bobs. “You know, everyone wants to blame the Big Bad Wolf. But I don’t think Little Red was all that stupid. She had to have known he was a wolf, right? I mean, wasn’t she just messing with him?”
I bite my lip and slide my hand up his chest. “Maybe they were both misunderstood. Maybe she had a thing for wolves.”
“Yeah. Maybe the wolf should have been climbing towers instead,” he adds with a smile, running his hand over my hair.
epilogue
A FEW MONTHS LATER
DAISY
“So …”I begin, waiting for my husband to follow me into the house. Juniper’s claws tick against the floor as she leads me on, but I spin around to face Landry. “Whatever shall we do now?”
“Hmm. I suppose we could …” He pauses and looks up as he kicks off his shoes, then tilts his head from side to side as he pretends to weigh our options. “I don’t know, make a baby?”
I grin widely as he lunges forward to scoop me up into his arms, and my service dog yips excitedly and circles his feet. I almost feel guilty telling her to stand down, but she obediently treks to her kennel and drops to her belly, flopping her tongue out and wagging her tail contentedly as she watches us go on down the hallway.
“I hope you don’t mind, but it’s my first time, so I might need a little more direction than you’re used to,” I drawl, batting my eyelashes at Landry. “And youarethe director of first-time experiences, aren’t you?”
“Your first time?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow as he walks us toward our shared bedroom. “Last I checked, Mrs. Reed, that ship has sailed. In fact, I, myself, have captained numerous excursions since her maiden voyage. And I must say, she’s my favorite ride.” I toss my head back as I erupt in a fit of giggles, and Landry smiles down at me, pleased with himself.
“Yes, but I’ve never tried making a baby before,” I say once I settle myself. “Well, at least not on purpose.”
