Page 142 of Wilde Flame

“I had this whole life planned out, and I tried so hard to force Rachel into the image of the person I saw by my side. Even after she left, I continued to lie to myself. Then I thought maybe I didn’t deserve the kind of love my mother and father had. I told myself that over and over. If I’d just loved her more, did more for her, maybe she would have loved me back just as I was.”

I shook my head, ready to tell him how wrong he was. “Oh, Caden.”

He held up a hand. “Let me finish. Then you walked into my life and turned it completely upside down, or I should say, right side up. That perfectly planned life had been thrown a plot twist, and it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.”

He laced his fingers with mine. “I was waiting for this perfect moment to tell you that I love you, Lilibeth. I wanted it to be grand and beautiful, but someone I love very much told me I was an idiot, and that I needed to tell you now.

“You, Lilibeth Asher, are everything I prayed for, so long ago. I want to spend the rest of my life making sure you’re happy and loved, and the same with our children. I can’t promise that life will always be easy or perfect, but I can promise that I’ll never leave you. Because when I look into your eyes, all I see is forever.”

A sob escaped as I covered my mouth with my hand. “I love you too. More than you know.”

He stood and drew me up with him. Wrapping his arms around me, he held me. “I promise you, no one will come between us. Never.”

I buried my face in his chest and let the tears I’d been holding in fall freely. Caden ran his hands over my back, and it instantly calmed me.

When I drew back, our gazes met.

“Tell me that you believe every word I said.”

Smiling, I traced a finger down the side of his face. “Of course I do.”

That brilliant smile of his appeared, and he hugged me, lifting me up and spinning me around. Then he swiftly put me down and put his hands on my belly. “Shit, I’m sorry!”

Laughing, I placed my hands over his. “It’s okay.”

“How about we go take a bath.”

My brows lifted. “Together?”

“Have you seen my tub?”

I bit my lip. “Only if you promise we can have pregnancy safe bubbles.”

“Bubbles? Do you honestly think I’d have bubbles, Lili?”

My grin was so wide that my cheeks instantly hurt. “Caden Wilde! I found them under your sink!”

He laughed, swept me into his arms, and headed to his…our…bedroom.

Sunday dinners with the Wilde family were…wild. There were so many conversations at once that it was hard to follow any of them.

Rhett, Kate, and Jimmy were running around with Moose, Emeline’s chocolate lab. The kids’ squeals of laughter were music to my ears, and I could tell Vivianne and Ladd loved the chaos as well.

Ensley walked up and bumped my arm. “You’re glowing.”

My hands covered my cheeks. “I am?”

She chuckled. “You are. How are you feeling?”

I couldn’t help my smile. “I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

“Which says a lot, because you always seem happy.”

We both laughed.

“Things good with you and my brother?”

Looking around for Caden, I spotted him in what looked to be a serious conversation with his father. “Things are amazing.”