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I lifted a shoulder and tried to look away, but Elliot had me and wouldn’t let me go. “I got used to being unwanted. It’s what I’ve come to expect.” He opened his mouth to refute me, but I pressed on his chest. “I know you want me. You show me that every day. These are my own insecurities. It’ll take time to get over them.”
He grimaced, his hand on my jaw flexing. “I love you, Catherine. I don’t say that lightly.”
“I know. I believe you.”
“Let me explain what I mean by loving you.” His eyes darted between mine, and I waited on tenterhooks for him to finish talking so I could fall into him and kiss him until there was no air left. “This love I have for you is etched in my bones and has been growing since the moment I spotted you. If I thought you would agree, I would marry you today, tomorrow, next month. I have never loved anyone else, and knowing myself, I never will. You’re the only woman I want, and you can bank on that never changing. You are threaded through the tapestry of who I am. Even when I denied it, refused to look at you, shut off my feelings for you, you were weaving through me in inextricable ways. If you removed yourself now, I would be in tatters.”
His eyes closed, and his breath swept over my lips. “Iwasin tatters last night.”
“I was too,” I whispered. “I don’t know if I’ve loved you as long, but I do know I don’t want to live without you.”
“You won’t,” he promised, and I really did believe him now.
“When I packed my things yesterday, I left almost everything behind as an excuse to come back. And maybe I was hoping one night apart would be too much for us and I’d be brave enough to tell you what I really wanted.”
“It was too much.”
“For me as well. I barely slept, and Joey woke up four times. She missed you too.”
He shook his head. “I never knew how much you filled up this house until the two of you weren’t in it anymore. But if you don’t like it here, we can pick out a new house together.”
“Are you kidding? I love it here. I can picture Joey running through these halls and the yard—”
He stiffened, alarm widening his eyes. “I’ll have to have a fence put up. We can’t let her out there until there’s a fence.”
I grinned at him. “I think we have time. She can’t even sit up on her own yet. Running around is a while away.”
He slid his hand to the back of my hair, fisting it just shy of too tight. “I won’t let Liam take her from us.”
As adamant as he was, what lay beneath his statement was fear. I heard it in the slight quiver of his voice. The grip on my hair. The urgency in his eyes.
I’d missed this when I’d come into his office to seek comfort from him after my talk with Liam. I didn’t recognize then Elliot had been just as worried. He was attached to Joey and had taken care of hervia mesince he’d become aware of her existence. Of course he’d be worried about another man coming into the picture.
“No. He won’t take her. She’s ours.”
A rumble vibrated his chest. “That’s right, sweetheart. Josephine is ours. Mine and yours.”
“And you love her.”
“I do. I love that little girl and her mother too. You’re both mine.”
“We are.” I clasped his hand and brought it to my lips to kiss. “We’ll handle Liam together, all right? You’ll be with me every step. That would make me feel a whole lot better about it all anyway.”
His brow dropped into a stern line. “No more private phone calls.”
I quirked my lips. Stern Elliot made happy bubbles in my stomach. “And no more secret meetings.”
His answering huff had an edge of annoyance, but he acquiesced. “Fine. As long as you’re okay with me being underhanded if I need to.”
“I’m okay with that.”
He looked at me, serious as ever. “I’m putting your name on the deed to this house.”
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. I knew he was serious and there was nothing I could do to stop him. “You know that’s crazy.”
“I don’t believe it is. Not with you. I’m not going to let you or Joey go, so there’s nothing crazy about giving you ownership of my house. You already own me, free and clear.”
“And you’re all I want.” Reaching back, I slid his hand from my hair and placed it on my chest, right over my fluttering heart. His fingers curled into my chest like he was wrapping them around my heart.
