I don’t dare touch it, afraid it’s all a dream and might disappear the instant I make contact with it. Tears spring to my eyes as I gaze back up at Grey.
“I found a company that still manufactures them. Then I ordered a whole bunch and attempted to replicate the chip. It’s not identical, but it’s the closest we could get.”
“We?”
He chuckles nervously and cups his nape. “Yeah, the girls helped me out. They each took a few cases and had fun dropping mugs on the ground until we had the perfect one.”
My heart warms at the thought that all my friends were in on this. They knew all along how hard he was trying to fix things between us. “How many attempts did it take?” I ask, curiosity piqued.
He grins as he rounds the island and comes to stand beside me. He takes my hand and pulls me off the stool, dragging me down the hall to an empty spare room we never use. Except it’s not empty anymore. Stacks and stacks of boxes cover every wall.
“There’s more in Burkley’s garage. These are the intact ones,” he chuckles.
I stare in awe, mouth wide open as I spin around, looking at every box. I walk over to one that’s open and look inside at the seven mugs still nestled into their little socket. “How many did you buy?”
“I’m not sure anymore. It started off with a hundred, but I’m pretty sure we passed the 1,000 mark two days ago.” He shrugs when I widen my eyes and turn to him.
“You bought over 1,000 mugs?! Why would you do that? Grey, that’s a lot of money for nothing. It was just a mug. I would have gotten over it at some point.”
Jesus, I don’t even want to know how much money he spent on this…Money isn’t something I usually worry about, but I know how much Greyson doesn’t like to spend for nothing. And this is a lot of money wasted.
He walks up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist as my hands come to rest on his chest. This is the first time I’ve been in his arms since our fight almost two weeks ago…I’ve missed this…
“It isn’t just a mug, Em. And I would never want you to‘get over it’. What I did was wrong, and it was my job to fix. I don’tcare how much money I spent on this. I’d spend twice as much if it meant making you happy.”
One of his arms leaves my waist, his hand coming up to push a loose strand behind my ear, then rests below my jaw as his thumb rubs against my cheek. “I know I messed up, but I’ll fix this. I’ll always fix all our problems, Bunny. Because you are the most beautiful, unexpected thing to have happened in my life, and I never want to lose you. I’ll do everything to keep you forever. I love you, Emma. And just like you promised to make this mug last a lifetime, I promise to make our love last a lifetime.”
His eyes bore into mine as he whispers his next words, “I’ll make it all last a lifetime for you, Bunny.”
Silent tears track down my face. I close my eyes and drop my head against his neck as his hand comes to the back of my head, cradling me to him. “You have no idea how sorry I am for the things I said, Em… I hate myself for saying them because none of them were true. I know I still have a lot of work to do to get them permanently out of your head, but I’m working on it, and I’ll keep working on it until you can trust me again.” He kisses the top of my head.
“I don’t expect you to tell me you love me or to jump back into my arms so quickly. I just want to know that you’re not completely giving up on us. That you’ll give me a chance to make things right,” he whispers as he pulls back slightly, taking my face between his hands. “Say you’ll give us another chance? That you’ll try with me?” he pleads.
I swallow around the thick lump in my throat. How could I ever say no to him? No matter how I feel, how much my heart still hurts from his words, he’s offering me back the family I’ve wanted for so long, a chance at being whole again.
And I want that more than anything.
“Okay,” I finally say.
He lets out the most satisfying breath I’ve ever heard, shoulders dropping as a relieved smile takes over his handsome face. Like he wasn’t sure for a moment if I would grant him that chance he begged for.
“Oh, thank God!” He wraps his arms around my neck, kissing my temple in the process. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you, and I promise I’ll never disappoint you or hurt you again. I’m fucking sorry. I love you, Bunny.”
“I know…” It’s all I can say for now. I’m not ready to tell him I love him, not anymore.Even if I still desperately feel it.
“Good. All I care about is that you know how I feel about you. I’m sorry it took me so long to say what was so obvious.” He kisses the side of my head again. “Now tell me, why did you dress all sexy this morning? Did you sneak into our room, naughty little Bunny? Because I know for a fact that skirt was in our walk-in,” he chuckles.
I can’t help the giggle that slips from my lips as I inhale his manly scent. “I wanted to torture you a little, like you’ve been doing to me with all those subtle touches.”
“Well, you’ve definitely accomplished your mission.” He laughs as I feel his erection pressing against the bottom of my stomach. “Come on, Bunny. We should get back to our daughter. She’s been too quiet for my liking.”
I push off his chest. “Oh my God, she has been really quiet…”
We hurry out of the room and back to the kitchen, only to find a very happy-looking Gracie munching away on my French toast. Somehow, she managed to reach for my plate and took all my food.
“Oh, you naughty little flower,” I say, giggling despite the mess of syrup all over.God, she even has some in her hair.
“Why don’t you get her washed up, and I’ll clean up down here and make you some more?”
