Page 103 of His Surrender

“I do.” His answer is immediate. “I care because I’d never forgive myself if I put you in a position where people questioned your character.”

I smile softly. “You’ve been carrying all of that around by yourself?”

He laughs under his breath. “Welcome to my brain.”

I step closer until there’s barely any space between us. “Can I tell you what I hear?”

He nods. “I hear a man who’s worrying so much about other people’s opinions that he’s forgotten the fact that we’re just enjoying ourselves right now.”

His eyes soften.

“I don’t need you to have the next six months figured out. Tomorrow, you’ll go to work.”

He smiles faintly. “I probably will.”

“I’ll take care of Liana.”

“You definitely will,” he replies.

“You’ll come home.”

“I hope so.”

“And we’ll figure out tomorrow”—I shrug with a grin— “tomorrow.”

He studies me for several seconds. “That’s your plan?”

“It’s the only one I’ve got.” I laugh quietly. “You’re already pretending to know what you’re doing, raising a baby.”

That finally earns me a real laugh.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“So, why are you trying to solve our entire future after”—my cheeks warm— “one weekend?”

He reaches up, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“Okay then. So, we just don’t try to figure anything out right now. No promises we can’t keep. No labels we have to define today. No five-year plan,” I add.

His smile grows. “You’re asking a CEO not to make a five-year plan.”

“I’m asking Dean not to.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “I think I like Aubrey a lot better than my board of directors.”

“I certainly hope so.”

He leans down and presses a gentle kiss to my forehead. “One day at a time?”

“One day at a time.”

For the first time since he started talking, the tension leaves his shoulders.

And somehow, without solving a single problem, everything feels lighter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

DEAN