The words seemed to settle into the room before either of us fully processed them. Callahan froze. He stared at me, only now realizing what he said out loud. For the first time since I met him, Callahan Sterling looked genuinely caught off guard.
Silence filled the living room, the television continuing to play quietly in the background—completely forgotten now. He looked like he was about to say something else, probably something that involved backtracking.
I didn’t give him the chance.
“You know,” I said calmly, “I picked a nickname for you a while ago.”
He paused. “What?”
“A nickname.”
His brows pulled together. “What nickname?”
I shifted so I was facing him more fully now. “My love.”
The confusion on his face deepened. “Why?”
I studied him for a moment before answering. “Because love was the first word that came to mind when I thought about you. What I'm trying to say is I'm in love with you.”
The silence that followed felt very different from the one before. His expression softened slowly, something warm and quiet settling into his eyes. The same look that he always stared at me with, then he kissed me.
epilogue- callahan
The ring sat in my pocket like a secret that had grown too large to hide.
Every step I took across the garden felt heavier because of it.
I paused at the edge of the stone path and looked around, checking everything for the tenth time. Lanterns glowed softly along the walkway, their warm light reflecting off the polished fountain at the center of the garden. White roses climbed along the trellis arches that Theo insisted we install earlier that afternoon.
He had called it “romantically excessive.”
I called it unnecessary.
But now that everything was set, I had to admit it looked… perfect.
Which made the pressure in my chest tighten.
“Relax.” Theo's voice came from behind the hedge to my left.
I closed my eyes. “You’re supposed to be hiding.”
“I am hiding,” he whispered loudly.
“You’re terrible at it.”
“Not the point.”
Leaves rustled, and his head briefly popped out from behind the hedge, his grin already wide. “You look like you’re about to negotiate a hostile takeover.”
“That’s because I feel like I’m about to negotiate a hostile takeover.”
He chuckled. “It’s a proposal, not a board meeting.”
“Same stakes.”
He shrugged. “Not really. If the board says no, you lose the company. If she says no, you lose your wife.”
I glared at him. “Thank you for the reassurance.”
