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“She’ll be over this evening.” Cole puts his arm around my waist and shuts the door. “We’ll be busy until then.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to unpack.” I wave at his mom as she darts back inside the house.
“Come on, babe. Let’s get you inside so I can get inside you.” His voice is rough as he whispers in my ear.
All it takes is that simple sentence, and I’m vibrating everywhere.
“How was the drive?” Some of the huskiness has left his voice.
“It was good. No close calls.” It took an act of Congress to convince him to let me drive home but I don’t want to be scared of driving. “Like I said, everything will be fine.”
He squeezes me tighter. “I’ll still worry. It doesn’t matter. You’re the most important person in the world, and if I’m not there to keep you safe, I’m going to worry.”
“You’re too much.” I shake my head as he opens the door, and then I stop in mid-step. His furnishings were sparse. Until now. He’s added my sofa and love seat to the living room. As well as my accessories–pillows, a couple of blankets for cool nights, flowers, and end tables. The room looks amazing and homey.
“You unpacked.”
“I didn’t want you worrying about anything when you got here.” He lifts me off my feet until I have my legs wrapped around his waist. “For purely selfish reasons. I wanted all your attention on me.”
“Everything looks great.” I cradle his face and stare at him. “You’re perfect. Thank you for everything. Thank you for helping me pack. Thank you for unpacking everything and meshing our stuff together so well.”
“I’m not going to take all the credit.” He winks. “Layla came over and told me how to put it all together.”
“I need to thank her.” I shift my arm behind my back to grab my phone out of my jeans pocket.
“Not now.”
“Right. Not now.” He shifts me until I’m cradled in his arms and walks to the stairs. “I can walk.”
“I know you can, but I don’t want you to. I’m supposed to carry you into your new house. That’s the tradition.”
I smack his chest. “In the house. Not up the stairs. I can walk now.”
“Pip.” His eyes narrow. “You’ll do what I say.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Besides, I have something I want you to see. So stop wiggling so I can show you.”
“Fine.” I relax and let him carry me up the stairs, leaving me impressed with his strength and stamina. Not that I should be surprised. The man can go for hours.
Outside his bedroom door, he puts my feet on the ground and twists the knob.
When the door swings open, I’m left speechless. On the wall above the bed is a canvas of the first time we kissed. The raw passion of the photo almost hurts to look at. Mom was right. There’s no pretending we were two professionals having an innocent photo shoot.
I continue to study the room with my mouth gaping open. There are two more photos of us. The first one, I had no idea Layla had taken. It’s when I stepped out of the bathroom and saw Cole for the first time. There’s no mistaking the lust in my eyes or the adoration in his.
“Wow. Layla is an amazing photographer. And we were freaking hot together.”
“Very true.” I walk to the last photo. It’s of me straddling him, and the expression on my face says it all. I’m so close to coming; it took every ounce of willpower to keep from wasting it on his pants.
“This is awesome.” I spin to face him and blink. I’ve never seen him more serious than this moment. His face is devoid of any emotion as he swallows hard.
“Pip.” He cups my cheek. “Thank you for agreeing to do the photo shoot with me. I’d like to think I would have grown the balls at some point to ask you out so I wouldn’t have been miserable for the rest of my life. But history doesn’t give me much hope.” He shakes his head. “I love you so much, and I can’t imagine my life without you. The second you walked out of the bathroom, I knew no matter what, I was going to make you mine.”
He drops down to one knee and opens a box. “Harbor Elizabeth Slater, will you do me the honor of being my wife.”
“Yes!” I don’t even look at the ring as I drop to my knees and throw myself at him. “I love you, Cole. You’re my dream come true. Yes, I will marry you and cherish every second with you, and I’m so sorry I tried to put my job ahead of us. I feel like such an asshole. You’re the most important thing in the world to me, and I let you think you weren’t.” Tears fill my eyes over my selfishness.
