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“End of summer would only give me four months to plan,” I contemplated.
“Plenty of time when you have a ton of family members to help out,” he answered with a grin.
“Jade has to stand up for me. I’ll talk to her, since she already has wedding connections, and then start planning,” I promised.
He rested his forehead on mine. “And then I can seriously work on getting you knocked up,” he teased. “But I’ll practice a lot before then so I’m perfect at it when the time comes. I think I want you and our daughter to myself for a while.”
I let out a startled laugh. “You’re not going to hear me argue about that,” I teased.
I wanted another child, but like him, I needed some time before I’d be ready to add to our family. I wanted our daughter to be secure with her place in our life, and I knew that Aiden wanted to try to catch up with everything he’d missed in Maya’s life.
He stroked my hair as he said, “I wish I would have been there for Maya’s birth. But I’ll be there next time.”
I sighed as I laid my head on his shoulder, delighting in the warmth of his body plastered to mine.
I refused to lament over the things we’d missed by not being together. I was too happy about how they’d all worked out in the end. “I love you, Aiden. I’m so happy that we ended up like this, even though it took far too long.”
“I think I’ve always been waiting for you, Skye. Nobody else was ever going to make me happy,” he said in a voice raw with emotion.
“I’m glad you waited,” I whispered in his ear.
Nobody else would have made me happy, either. All my life, there had only ever been him.
“I don’t think I had much choice. I was as in love with you then as I am now.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“You must have known.”
“But you never said it. I told you that I loved you before you left, but you never said it to me.”
“Didn’t I?” he asked.
I shook my head against his shoulder. “No. I was kind of heartbroken because you didn’t say it back. I thought it was just too soon.”
“Maybe it was because I knew I had nothing to offer you,” he answered solemnly. “I was a poor fisherman, Skye. What kind of life would you have had with me?”
I leaned back so I could look him in the eyes. “A happy one,” I guessed. “Aiden, I didn’t care about that. Money doesn’t bring happiness.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt.”
“You were still the same amazing guy back then that you are now.”
“Do you really think I could have gone forever without saying it?” he teased. “Eventually, we would have ended up together, because I sure as hell wouldn’t have given you up. I would have just worked harder and let you grow up until you realized what you’d be taking on. And then I would have married you. I might be stubborn about wanting you to have what I think you deserve. But I wasn’t stupid enough to let you walk away.”
“I didn’t plan on going anywhere, then or now. I didn’t care about the money. I just wanted . . . you,” I murmured as I tightened my arms around his neck.
My heart was aching with elation because this beautiful man was finally mine forever.
A miracle I thought would never happen.
“You’re stuck with me now, sweetheart,” he joked. “I’m never letting go.”
Our eyes locked, the connection between us exchanging messages without words.
It was like that with Aiden. We usually knew what the other person was thinking.
“Take me to bed, Aiden. Maya won’t be home for another two hours.”
He gave me that lazy smile that always made my heart skitter with anticipation.
“You’re getting bossy now,” he mused.
“You have a problem with that?” I challenged.
I’d become much more sexually bold, and I was pretty sure he was completely on board with that.
“Nope. Not at all,” he answered as he picked me up and swung me into his arms. “I think I can handle it.”
I had no doubt he could cope with anything I threw in his direction, which was one of the reasons I loved him so damn much.
“I love you, Aiden.” I couldn’t seem to keep the words contained. I could say it a million times and it wouldn’t be enough.
“I love you,” he said, the sincerity of those words expressed in his magnificent eyes.
I savored those three little words as he carried me into the bedroom, the words he hadn’t said when we were younger.
I was all grown up now, and I could never hear them enough.
