His eyes softened on her. “I love you.”
Her heart melted. “I know you do. I love you, too.”
“Tomorrow you’ll be Mrs. Jansen. My wife.”
“I can’t wait, Mr. Jansen, because you’ll be my adoring husband.”
“Always.” The look in his eyes told her he meant it.
“Fuck it.” She ran down the hall and threw herself into his open arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He chuckled, then blew her mind with the kiss he laid on her as he took her into the room, kicked the door shut, and followed her down onto the bed, where he made love to her until they were both exhausted and panting for breath, tangled in the sheets and around each other.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Brooke stood in her mother’s room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She smoothed her hands over the lace and beads sewn into the white gown. Long lace sleeves covered the scars on her arms, but not the one on her face. She reached up and traced it with her fingertip, thinking how far she’d come in six months. The past year, really.
She dropped her hand, stared at herself again, and saw the woman she’d become.
The woman she became when she made love to Cody the first time.
An adult. A mother. Soon to be a wife.
The womanafterAdam.
Shattered, then more resilient than she ever thought possible as she worked to heal and find herself again.
A business owner. A fighter. A lover.
A daughter to a mother who stood by her through everything with compassion and kindness and support.
A friend to the man she loved more than anything.
And she was the woman he wanted to marry and build a life with. Her.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
And I am so grateful and lucky to have him.
The smile she couldn’t contain at seeing him bloomed on her rosy lips as her gaze shifted to him in the mirror, standing over her shoulder, still by the door.
“You’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding.”
“You and I like being together more than we like tradition.”True. “I’m here to walk you down the aisle.”
She turned to him. “Really?”
“We do things together.”
That widened her grin. “It’s been that way for a long time.”
“Yes, it has, so why stop now.” He walked to her, took her hands, and held them out to the side, staring down at her gown. “That’s a pretty dress for a gorgeous woman. I love your hair like that.”
She’d twisted the long length up on her head and secured it in place with the silver and crystal flower clips her mom bought her as something new. She’d borrowed her mother’s diamond earrings.
“I know you like it down.”
“I love it like this, but it will be my pleasure to take it down later.” The suggestive grin made her smile. He leaned in and stole a quick kiss without smudging her lipstick.
The black tux suited her lawyer man. She much preferred him in jeans and a T-shirt, working on the ranch, but this was good, too. The jacket defined his massive shoulders and broad chest and tapered in at the waist.
