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Cupping Thea’s cheek, I hold her gaze. “I asked Laila. She would love to have you living with us. And so would I. I love you, and I love living with you. I don’t want you to leave.”
“Oh, Ben…”
“But Thea—” I have to put it all out there. “Are you okay with living with Laila full time? Not that I’d expect you to do everything, but she’ll want you to do things. Take her places. Are you prepared for that?”
Out of all the responses I could have imagined, Thea bursting into tears wasn’t one of them. And my stomach plummets to my feet.
I feel sick. “If it’s not what you want—”
“No, Ben, it’s not that.” Laughter bursts out, even as she’s still crying. “I love Laila. I want to spend time with her. Taking her places, teaching her things, doing manicures and reading together… I want all of it.”
She pauses, brushing at her tears. “And I love you, Ben. I love both of you so much, my heart can’t hold it all. I love you with every cell in my body. And I don’t want to go back to my condo. I want to live with you.”
Oh, thank God. It’s everything I never dared to hope for.
Framing her face with my hands, I press a tender kiss to her lips. “I can’t wait to take you home with me. To our home. And we can do normal things and take vacations and—”
“Ben. I can’t wait to live with you.”
Thea’s smile is so perfect, it’s all so perfect, I almost ask her to marry me. No planning, no ring, just this sudden, certain thing.
No. I know I want to marry her. But I want to do it right. With a big ring and a grand gesture and all the romance she deserves. Not while we’re naked and she’s crying.
But I can think about it as I tell her, “I can’t wait, either.”
Chapter 20
THEA
It’s hard to believe how quickly my life has changed.
Two months ago, I was single, living with my cat in my too-quiet condo.
A little less than two months ago, I was held at gunpoint and nearly killed.
Two weeks ago, I was attacked again, and could have died if it weren’t for Ben.
And over the last two months, I’ve fallen in love. Not just with the man of my dreams, but his daughter, too.
It makes all the crappy stuff totally worth it.
And now? I can get back to my normal life again. But better, because of the people I have in it. Ben. Laila. Emily, who I can see becoming a second mother to me.
My new friends. Grant. Ian. Willow. Everyone at Blade and Arrow.
Not just the new people, but my best friend. And her new family. Because now I’m a godmother. Ari and Cash had their baby, and I’m so happy I got to be there when little Winnie was born. Named for Cash’s grandmother; she’s just the cutest thing.
Which, naturally, gets me thinking about my own plans for the future. With Ben.
I know I’ve only been officially living with him for a week, but it’s already so much better than I could have imagined.
I’m not naïve, I know there will be times when Ben and I argue. When one of us has a bad day.
Although things have been great with Laila so far, she’s still a child, and she’s going to misbehave sometimes. Or she won’t want to listen to me, because I’m not really her parent.
Not yet, at least. But if things keep going as well as they have with Ben… maybe I’ll be Laila’s stepmom one day. But I won’t think of her as anything but my daughter. Even if Ben and I have more children, Laila will be as much mine as the rest of them.
Have I spent a lot of time daydreaming about my future with Ben? Yes. Shamelessly.
