I grab his shirt and haul him to his feet, laughing and crying. “You absolute lunatic. You really hired ten Elvis impersonators?”
“I wanted you to know I meant it.”
“You could have justsaid—”
“I’m done just saying things.” He cups my face, thumbs brushing away my tears. “I’m done being scared. I’m showing you that I choose you, Riley, and I’m going to keep doing that, every day for the rest of our lives.”
He kisses me like the world is ending and beginning at once. The fountains thunder behind us, the crowd cheers, and somewhere in the chaos, ten Elvises break into “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
When we finally pull apart, we’re both crying, both laughing, standing in front of the Bellagio at sunset while strangers applaud and the sky burns gold above us.
“I love you,” Duke says against my lips.
“I love you, too.” I grab his hand. “Now get me back to that hotel room before I combust.”
He grins, and we run through the crowd, past the Elvises, back to our hotel, laughing like teenagers. We barely make it into the elevator before his mouth finds mine again, and by the time the doors open, I’ve forgotten my own name.
All I know is his. Ours.
CHAPTER 9
DUKE
The door clicks shut behind us, and the frantic energy of the fountain and the proposal dissolves as I look at Riley. My wife.
I cup her face in my hands and look at Riley for a long moment.
This beautiful woman who said yes. Who is somehow, miraculously, already my wife.
“I love you.” The words come out rough with emotion, but I need her to hear them when I’m sober, when there’s no audience, when it’s just us. “I love you, Riley.”
“I love you, too.” Her voice cracks, and her eyes shine with tears that aren’t sad anymore. “I think I always have. I just didn’t let myself see it.”
I kiss her—slow, deep, full of promise. The first real kiss between two people who’ve finally stopped running. Her fingers curl into the fabric of my shirt, and she melts into me the way she did on the balcony, the way she did in front of the fountain, the way I hope she’ll melt into me for the rest of our lives.
When I pull back, her lips are swollen, her breathing uneven.
“Tell me what you want,” I murmur against her mouth.
“You.” No hesitation. “Just you. All of you.”
I walk her backward toward the bed, my hands sliding down to grip her hips. Reaching for the hem of her dress, I bunch the soft fabric in my hands and pause, letting the anticipation build. I take my time lifting her dress over her body before giving in and pulling it over her head, tossing it in the corner of the hotel suite.
She’s standing in front of me in simple cotton panties, and she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Her hands come up automatically, arms crossing over her stomach, and I catch her wrists before she can hide from me.
“Don’t.” I press a kiss to her knuckles, first one hand, then the other. “Don’t hide from me. Never hide from me.”
She exhales shakily, but her arms don’t move.
I lean close, my lips brushing her ear. “Let me see you, Riley. All of you. That’s not a request.”
A shiver runs through her, and her arms fall to her sides. Her breath is shallow, and color is rising on her cheeks. She’s so pretty it fucking hurts.
“That’s my girl.”
I drop to my knees in front of her.
