Lila Mae sucked in a breath, and Trap froze. He suddenly didn’t feel so much like laughing, and he stood there in his very quiet kitchen, only the oven ticking to tell him that it was still on and the sound of his very own loud heartbeat.
Maybe Lila Mae would just let this go.
“What did you say?” she asked.
Okay, maybe not.
Could two people fall in love in only four months?
Trap wasn’t sure why he’d assigned an ambiguous timeline to what was acceptable for a relationship, but somewhere along the way, he had. He released her hand and pulled his arm back to his side, leaving Lila Mae to stand on her own two feet.
His face suddenly felt too hot, but he and Lila Mae had spent some pretty great months together since their rebrand in late September.
“I’m just saying,” he said, his voice sounding a bit too deep and definitely too rough. “The sweet potatoes don’t matter.”
“That isnotwhat you said.” Lila Mae fell back a step and put her hands on her hips.
“It’s exactly what I said.” He turned away from her, his mind racing.
He’d been getting closer and closer to understanding how he felt and labeling those emotions and experiences as all part of this network of love. But was hein love?
He felt like he needed to sit down with his daddy and talk it all out. The backs of his legs hit his dining room table, and Trap decided to sit down right there and talk it all out with Lila Mae.
“Can we talk for a minute before we go to my uncle’s house?”
Lila Mae tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “About what?”
“Come sit with me.” He flapped one hand at her, seemingly every word in the English language jumbled together in his mind.
She seemed to drag her feet, but she did take the few steps to him, and Trap eased her onto his lap. Everything within him sighed, because this was Lila Mae, his very best friend in the world, someone he told all of his worries, concerns, and secrets to, and the woman he loved.
A small smile touched his face, and Trap basked in this feeling as it grew, coursed through him, and filled his mind, body, and soul.
He wanted to be eloquent and charming in this moment, as Lila Mae was his queen and deserved someone who understood how royal and beautiful and perfect she was.
“Trap, you’re kind of scaring me,” she whispered.
He swallowed and still didn’t come up with the perfect thing to say. He told himself that what existed in his heart was perfect, and he just needed to get it out.
He leaned his head forward and touched the tip of his nose to Lila Mae’s cheekbone. “I’m in love with you,” he said. Just like that. No preface and no embarrassment and no cleared throats—just pure, unadulterated love.
“I don’t know when it happened,” he said. “Somewhere along the way of building Feline Friends and going to churchand laying in the hammock, I suppose. I love how you’re so passionate about cats, or maybe I fell in love with you because you put up with my grumpiness after a long day on the job, or because you’ll listen to me talk about anything.”
Lila Mae sniffled. Trap pulled away and looked at her, not surprised she’d gotten emotional, but wanting to see it. She kept her head down, though, studying something on the front of his shirt.
“And I know we’ve been talking about marriage and family and kids, but something really important has to come before all of that—and that’s love.”
She nodded, and that gave Trap the courage to continue.
“You’re my best friend, Lila Mae,” he whispered. “And when I think about the happiest times of my life, you’re in them. When we unveiled Cat House Four, and you couldn’t stop smiling, and then you cried over a place for your pregnant felines.”
He smiled just thinking about that moment. “When we danced together at Ty’s wedding. That was magical. Lying in the hammock, talking about rest and dreaming of what this ranch could be. I want all of that, but I only want it if it’s me and you.”
Lila Mae sniffled, and she leaned her head back and blinked rapidly. “I can’t believe I’m crying about this.”
Trap grinned at her. “Remember how we said crying wasn’t a weakness?”
She sniffled, wiped her eyes, and nodded. She looked at him then, and Trap saw his entire future in her eyes.
