Page 72 of My Ex’s Dad

He cuts me off, kissing me deeply. It’s a hungrier kiss than the others, but I’m not annoyed that he’s silencing me. The longer we stand here and talk and understand each other, the shorter my patience runs to have him again.

“The bakery is yours, Liliana.”

I open my mouth to protest. “I don’t want your charity.”

“Then take it as an engagement gift from me to you.”

Staring at him doesn’t change what he said.

“Engagement?”

He kisses me. “Yes.”

I open my mouth again to reply but kiss him instead. He’s being awfully presumptuous, which goes against his promise to not be completely controlling. But it’s what I want too. What I dare to dream of in all my fantasies.

“The debt is gone, Liliana. The bakery is yours. Not just because I love you, but because I can’t have you stressed about keeping it running and focusing on it as the business you’ve wanted to commit to.”

Happiness spills over in my heart. I grin, so grateful I ever took a chance on letting him matter.

“You mean that?” I ask, scared this is a dream, a figment of my imagination.

“Yes. I will always mean it.” He kisses me to seal the promise.

“Just like that?” I ask, uncaring if I sound giddy or breathless.

“No, not just like that.” He smirks, looking serious, yet mischievous. “We might have started this on a whim, but I intend for the rest of our lives to be handled with great care and my full attention to every detail.”

I nod. “What details?”

“I need you to consider making time for things other than the bakery.”

My deep kiss softens him. He walks me out of the shower, not taking his mouth from mine as he leans over and grabs a towel to wrap around me. He uses it as a way to hold me against him as he walks me to the bed.

“I intend to make time for you,” I tell him as he follows me onto the mattress, his hand easing between my legs that I part for him.

“And I need you to consider making time to be my wife,” he adds between hot kisses he trails down my neck.

“Is that a formal proposal?” I ask, holding him to me. Nothing can erase this smile from my lips.

He slides his fingers into my pussy just as I grip his hard cock. I moan at the stretch, knowing there’s more coming—the full, aching drag of him buried deep, driving me to the edge.

“It’s a necessity,” he replies. “I need you, Liliana.” He shows me how much by replacing his fingers with the head of his shaft.

I arch my back, watching him as he pushes all the way into me.

“I need to make sure the world knows that you are the woman I want.” He pulls out. “The woman I call my wife.” He plunges back in, lighting up my nerves. “And the mother of my child.” He leans in to kiss me as he withdraws. “My future.”

I hug him to me, stunned that I can be the happily-ever-after he wants.

After he seats himself again, he faces me with the adoration I never imagined having from a man like him. “Will you marry me?”

I kiss him, then as I drop my head back to the bed and relish the stretch of him so deep inside me, I smile. “Yes. I can’t wait to call you mine, Anton. Now and forever.”

My answer is what makes him lose control. Afterward, I smile as I doze off, knowing there’s nothing in this world that would bring me greater joy than this man choosing me as the woman to share his life with.

EPILOGUE

ANTON