Page 81 of The Promise

“It’s not exactly the same, is it?”

“Maybe not, but it should be just as easy. And that was my point. To say it ... to mean it. It’s one thing you shouldn’t fear. Saying it really is the easy part. It’s everything else that makes it hard.”

His next breath still came out staggered. It ached. Surprisingly, though, the words came out easy when he said, “I am in love with her, Ma.”

Claire’s smile bloomed, her palm coming to lay flat against her chest, but she said nothing. He didn’t really need her to.

• • •

Roman was waiting for Karine at the bottom of the steps to the front porch when she walked up the hill with Michelle in tow. It took her a moment to notice him, just a second when she had to look twice and those already-round eyes of hers widened even more, and then she darted for him.

All at once.

She was a breathtaking sight against the backdrop of the lake. Karine’s wavy, dark hair flew widely all around her, her lithe petite frame coming his way faster than he’d expected, and Christ ... that long, flowy yellow dress she wore did very little to hide the shape of her small breasts.

He couldn’t seem to look away from his dream-come-true. One he hadn’t even known he wanted until he had her.

Roman couldn’t help himself, he grinned.

Like a fool.

“Hey, babe.”

“Roman.”

That was all she got out before she collided with him. He had her up off the ground and spinning around in a blink. His name passed her lips breathlessly, over and over again.

Their mouths met in a slow, burning kiss that swept Roman away to another kind of paradise. This was paradise. He never wanted to leave her again, even though he knew he would have to.

Many times.

Nothing about this life was easy. If she agreed to build one with him—and he didn’t know that she would; something else that terrified him—then that was an unfortunate lesson she was going to have to learn. Fast.

But if she could trust him in loving her enough to know they would always find their way back together, then nothing else mattered.

He just had to tell her.

Ask her ...

“I missed you,” she whispered when they parted. The kiss could have lasted a lifetime, and it wouldn’t be enough.

Karine’s lips trembled from the kiss, and his own throbbed from where she’d bitten him at the very last second before pulling away. She bit him hard—and he liked it—drawing blood that she watched him lick away with a smirk to prove to herself that he belonged to her.

It was that moment when he knew—he didn’t even need her to say it.

She loved him, too.

Then, Karine lowered her lashes, her gaze skipping away from his when she asked, “Did you miss me?”

God.

Didn’t she know?

“You’re my first and last thought every day, Karine,” he admitted. “How could I not?”

• • •

Claire cooked dinner for everyone at the lodge. She wanted to celebrate Roman returning, but honestly, he could tell she was trying to keep herself distracted from the fact that her husband wasn’t there with them.