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My eyes close. Fuck.

“Say it again.”

She laughs softly. “I’m in love with you.”

“Again.”

“Jude.”

“Nine months, Nora. Humor me.”

Her laugh breaks into a sob and I open my eyes. She’s crying, smiling, happy.

“Nine months, two days, six hours and forty-three minutes,” she corrects me.

“Forty-four now.”

She laughs harder and presses her forehead against mine. “I love you, Jude Hawthorne.”

I kiss her again. Then again. And again because apparently nine months turned me into a greedy bastard. When I finally let her breathe, she keeps her arms around my neck and looks up at me.

“Love you too, baby.”

Her smile widens. “Baby? I like it.”

Behind me, Indigo lets out a loud snort. Nora’s head snaps around, and her eyes widen.

“Indigo?”

“Yeah.”

She turns in my arms to look at her. Indigo stands by the fence, watching us.

“She looks...”

“Healed.”

Nora goes quiet, and I feel her take a deep breath. Then she looks back at me, those almost-black eyes shining.

“Yeah,” she whispers.

I run my thumb across her cheek. “Guess she is.”

And this time when Nora smiles at me, there isn’t anything broken in it. Just her. Nora.

I take her hand in mine. “What now?”

Nora looks toward Paradiso Ranch, suddenly uncertain. “I could stay there and…”

I pull her back against me, making her gasp. “Try again.”

She smiles up at me. “You tell me, Grumpy.”

“Let’s start with this.” I take her face between my hands and kiss her.

God, I missed this woman.

Eleonora