Page 76 of Out of Place

I don’t wait a second longer before pulling her toward me and pressing my lips to hers. It feels like my heart is beating again. My lungs are working again. I’m living again.

We kiss for minutes. Hours. Days. I don’t fucking know. But it’s long enough that I feel breathless, happy, and convinced that she’s mine.

“What made you change your mind?” I ask when we finally stop to catch our breath.

“Well, I got back to New York and thought my life would go back to the way it was. But nothing was the same. I take that back. New York was the same, but I wasn’t. I had changed. I didn’t want anything in the city anymore. I wanted you. I wanted to be here on this farm with you, covered in dirt every day. And I want to do the hard stuff with you. I want you to laugh at me when I drop eggs and kiss me senseless when I tell you how bad you smell every day. I want the early mornings. The busy days. I want it all. . . with you.”

Only she could make me laugh when declaring her love for me.

“I love you, Landon. And I don’t want to go another day without you next to me. Honestly, I can’t believe I ever thought I could do it to begin with. That was pretty stupid of me.”

“We were both stupid,” I tell her, tucking one of her chestnut locks behind her ear. “But all that matters now is that you’re here.”

She smiles. “I’m here.”

“I love you,” I tell her. “Nothing was right without you here. I felt empty, lifeless. But I kept telling myself I could handle it as long as you were happy. That’s all that mattered. That you were back in the place that made you happy. But it killed me. You leaving was the worst moment of my life. And now that you’re here, I’m never letting you go again.”

I kiss her again because I fucking can. Because she’s here. Because she’s staying.

“I just can’t believe it,” I whisper against her lips.

“Well, believe it.” She pulls away from me and looks around the farm. “I have so much to tell you. For starters, I’m going to start shadowing Aunt Dottie so I can take over when she decides to retire.”

“What? That’s amazing, sweetheart.” She told me months ago that she didn’t want to do it, but I always knew she could if she just put her mind to it.

“Yeah. It’ll be. . . interesting. But she said she’d hang around for at least another year.”

“I’m so excited for you, Olivia.”

“How do you think Cam is going to react? I mean, I’m basically going to be his boss.” There’s a smirk on her face. I don’t think she really cares how he reacts. She’s ready to play with fire.

I laugh. “I’ll let you be the one to tell him.”

She rubs her palms together. “Goodie.”

I grab her hand, and we walk to the house, swinging our hands back and forth like we’re teenagers.

“So, the first order of business, which Dottie agreed to as part of my stipulations, is that I’m going to use some of my trust to renovate the house. New decor, paint, furniture, and updated kitchen. Everything. I have so many ideas. I made a whole Pinterest board.”

I have no idea what a Pinterest board is, but I have to clarify something before we get to that. Pulling her close, I correct her. “First order of business is getting you in my bed and keeping you there long enough that you never try to leave me again.”

She visibly shivers at my words and turns to me with a bright smile. “Well, obviously. That was a given.”

“Just making sure we’re on the same page, sweetheart.”

“Definitely. Same page. Same sentence. Same letter.”

We get to the house and find Dottie leaning against the kitchen counter, smiling at us.

“Landon, would you like to stay for dinner now?” She gives me a shit-eating grin, probably because I declined her offer while Olivia was gone.

“Yes, Ms. Dottie. I’d love to stay for dinner.”

“It’s nice to have our girl home, isn’t it?” she asks.

“Very nice.”

She pushes off the counter and finishes dinner while I wash up. Olivia is going on about butcher block countertops while Dottie just nods along when I finish.