“I know you did.” Laughter rumbles in his chest. He’s half behind me. Supporting me and my baby girl.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Just like her mama.”
After a few minutes of just… being, I need to know why…
“You came back,” I say. “You left me, but you came back.”
Strong fingers brush my hair away from my face. “Nothing’s the same without you.” Those stormy blue eyes hold mine steadily. “Nothing. I’d already decided to call you when I heard…” A haunted expression crossed his face. “We finished the first concert, and all I could think of was you. I went back to the bus. I started thinking how it could be outfitted, with a crib, maybe. A few yoga mats…” He leans forward and captures my lips. So gentle.
“I love you, Charlie Richards. I need you in my life. If you’ll take a chance on me, I’ll move heaven and earth to make you happy.”
My heart has swelled to ten times its normal size. “Colt Forrester, are you asking me to go on the road with you?”
He’s so serious. This sweet, sweet man. “I’m asking you to spend your life with me. I don’t want to just try. I want to do it.”
His strength surrounds me. He’s ready to take control of his life.
For him. For me. Me and Squirt.
I really need to come up with a name for her.
“Say something.” Just a hint of uncertainty enters his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You’ll come with me? His eyes light up.
“Yes.”
You love me?”
I’m wrecked. Ruined. Utterly destroyed.
“Yes.” And because he needs to hear it– again and every day for the rest of our lives– I say the words. “I love you, Colt Forrester.”
He just stares at me with this big smile.
“You’ll marry me?”
He wants me to marry him? He’s only just come back. But his eyes burn with love. He’s different. The last few weeks have changed him. I know it’s crazy. I know I haven’t known him that long.
But I just know.
He’s the one.
“Yes.” I finally answer him. He’s on a roll. Balancing my daughter on my lap, I reach up and pull his lips back down to mine. “Yes.”
“We’ll make this work,” he promises against my mouth.
“Yes,” I whisper back. “It doesn’t matter where we go. As long as we’re together we’ll always be home.
Colt releases my lips, his gaze loving me with all the power of the sun. “Then let me show you the world.”
EPILOGUE
Colt
