Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Despite what she thought, I wasn’t playing with her, and I’d never play with Nicky’s feelings like that. Crossing my arms over my chest. I locked eyes with her. “I love you, Savannah. I think I loved you when I was a kid, even though I would have made you miserable back then. I didn’t know what to do with it when we were teenagers, so I was a complete asshole. I said those shitty things about you in the cafeteria that day because the idea of that pimply idiot taking you to prom, getting his hands on you made me want to throw up, and I didn’t understand why, so I was a complete and utter ass. And I’m sorry.”
I dropped my hands to my sides, soaking in the shock in her eyes and, beneath that, the faint light of hope. “I love you. You’re the best woman I know. I love your brain and your body and the way you make me laugh. I’ve never been as happy as I have been since we’ve been together. I love sleeping with you every night and waking up with you in the morning. And I love Nicky. I even love him when he’s crazy and bouncing off the walls. I love cooking with him. That Sunday I made pancakes, I loved seeing him first thing in the morning. I want that to be our lives. I think I make you happy. And I think you love me too.”
Savannah stood there, hands at her sides, mouth half open, eyes wide. “I don’t—I don’t even know what you’re talking about. You love me?”
“Where the hell have you been?” I asked, getting a little exasperated. How could she not feel what we had? What we’d built? How perfectly we fit together? “What did you think was going on here? We’ve been together every night for six weeks.”
“That’s just sex,” she said, but I could tell she had a crack in her armor. She knew it wasn’t just sex. She had to.
How could she not get it? We slept together every night. All night. Some nights we didn’t even have sex. It occurred to me suddenly that Savannah might not have had a lot of men in her life, aside from Oliver and now me.
“Savannah,” I said quietly. “I can count the women I’ve spent the entire night with on my hands without using all my fingers. If you want the number of women I’ve spent more than ten nights with, I can do that on one hand. And there’s no woman I’ve slept with all night, every night, for weeks. No one but you. Because you’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to be with like this. It’s more than sex, and you know it is.”
I crossed my arms over my chest again, fighting the urge to vault over the island and drag Savannah off so I could show her exactly how much I loved her. But sometimes words are more important than actions.
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever needed,” I said. “When you’re not around, I want to know where you are. I want to be near you. To hear your voice. To touch you. Hold you. Play with your hair. I don’t care. I just want you.”
“You never—” She stared at me, her brows pulling together in confusion. “I didn’t think—”
“I know,” I said, understanding all at once what an ass I’d been. She was right. I’d never said anything. And I should have. “I’m not good at this shit. I didn’t say anything because everything was great, and I figured you knew how I felt.”
She scowled, and I raised a hand. “Which I now see was stupid because how would you know if I didn’t tell you? But now that we’re talking about this, I’m telling you now. I love you. I love Nicky. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life making you happy. Making Nicky happy. Can you look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want that?”
She opened her mouth and snapped it shut, then opened it again. “I—I don’t—I haven’t—”
It was becoming clear that Savannah was not going to be able to put together a coherent response to my proposal. I could let her off the hook for now. Straightening, I pushed off from my stance against the counter and crossed the room. “Hawk has Lydia under control, and you need some time to think.”
“I—” she stuttered again.
“I’m going to give you a little space to let this settle in.” I rounded the island and came to a stop in front of her. “But before I go, I just want to tell you—” I dropped my mouth to hers, taking her lower lip between my teeth with a gentle nip before I kissed her. “I love you. And of all the dreams I have for the future, spending it with you and Nicky is the biggest and the best. The one I care about the most.”