She was, which brought another of her concerns to the forefront. “What if I am?”
Victor tilted his head, confusion marring his brow. “What if you are what?”
“Thinking about my hopes for the future?” she asked quietly, her tone tentative. “Viv has said on more than one occasion that you seem pretty committed to your bachelor status.”
“Not anymore.” His response was quick and firm.
She bit her lower lip, aware she hadn’t been specific enough about her apprehension. “Victor, I love the idea of being your girlfriend and living with you, but I want to get married someday. I want kids.”
“So do I,” he replied, without hesitation. The honesty in his voice made her heart thud so hard, she swore it could be heard in the quiet night air. “I can’t wait to see your belly round with our baby.”
Her eyes widened, her head spinning with a combination of shock and delight. They had gone from taking things one day at a time, never talking about the big stuff, to Victor dropping the L-bomb and envisioning their future kids.
Dreams really do come true.
She swallowed hard, trying to keep her composure, but her flushed cheeks betrayed just how happy his words made her. “I’ve never felt this sure about someone before,” she whispered.
Victor turned toward her, reaching out again. This time, he didn’t just hold her hand, he used it to propel her out of her chair and onto his lap. He kissed her temple, then the side of her face, then her jaw, slowly, deliberately, letting the warmth build. “I’ve never felt like this before, either.”
She frowned, and Victor interpreted her expression without needing an explanation. “Not even with Amelia. It’s like everything that came before you was just practice, training.”
Belle’s stomach did a little flip of joy before she closed her eyes, letting herself absorb it all. The warmth, the safety, the quiet thrill of being with someone who wasn’t afraid to say “I love you” and mean it.
“It feels good to talk about all this,” she said.
He nodded. “We were wrong to stay silent for so long. It’s just, I was afraid…”
Victor didn’t finish his sentence. Didn’t need to. Because Belle had suffered from the same fears.
“I was holding back, too. Afraid to say the wrong things, scared of pushing you away.”
“You could never push me away, Sunshine.Never.”
The sincerity in his voice calmed every last one of her anxieties, until they all just drifted away.
“We’re talking now, being honest with each other. That’s what matters,” she insisted.
Victor kissed her cheek. “I want to talk about everything with you. Fears, hopes, shit that pisses us off, embarrassing stories, plans. Even if we just talk about our day…I want us to say all of it. Shit with Amelia fell apart because she wasn’t honest with meabout her feelings. I don’t ever want you to be afraid to tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Same goes for you.”
“We’ve got time,” Victor murmured in her ear. “Time to love each other. Time to build everything we want. Time to figure it all out. One conversation at a time.”
Her heart swelled at the certainty in his voice. No hesitation, no doubt—just steady, unwavering truth. She kissed him, letting all her gratitude, affection, and relief spill into that single gesture. “I like that. Like knowing that we don’t have to rush things. That we can just be.”
“Just be,” he repeated. They sat there a few minutes more before Victor stirred. “Come on, Sunshine. Let’s go to bed.”
Belle rose, reaching for their drinks.
“Leave them,” he said, taking her hand and leading her into the house. They walked together side by side, in silence, neither of them wanting to run the risk of waking Pip.
Once they were sequestered in the privacy of his bedroom, Victor shut the door, locked it, then leaned against it. Every night, they’d come together in a flurry of passion and desperation, tearing each other’s clothes off and falling into bed like they were working with an expiration date.
Time seemed irrelevant. Outside pressures, work responsibilities, family obligations…they all faded away. Here, in the quiet of Victor’s room, she felt a rare, perfect clarity.
“I feel safe here,” she admitted. “In your room. With you.”
Victor shook his head. “It’s your room now, too. This isourhome. We’re going to get married in that back garden, going to raise our children and spoil the grandkids here. We can even get a dog if you want.”
