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I was worried it’d be too much for her, but once again, I underestimated Reese, and her ability to just keep rising astounds me. Inspires me. Leaves me awestruck. She’s teaching me so much about life, love, and forgiveness, and she doesn’t even realize it. “He loves you, Reese.” I touch her forehead, her nose, and touch my lips to hers. “Just like I do.”

She smiles, and although she’s given me a thousand smiles in the last few weeks, this one is different. “You love me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I love you, too.” She presses a kiss to my lips, and I cup the back of her head. This isn’t about sex for me, it’s about reaffirming how I feel, and showing her, giving myself to her in a way that’s far more intimate than sex.

I pull back, and gaze into her blue-glass eyes. “I have a question.” By the way she tenses, I suspect she thinks I’m about to propose. It makes me chuckle. “Not that,” I tell her. “Not yet, anyway.”

Her breath leaves her mouth in rush. “Thank God,” she laughs, and it’s shaky. “Not that I’d say no, but it’s too soon.” She relaxes in my arms, and it might not be a proposal, but my heart thunders away in my chest just the same. “Move in with me.”

I wasn’t planning on asking her for a few more weeks, but after tonight, I don’t want her anywhere else but next to me. “We already spend every night together, and I thought maybe, if you’re okay with it, your dad can move in here. You can spend more time with him, let him into your world at your own pace. Give him the same chance you gave me. We’d have to ask Mya if she’s okay with, but…”

She falls quiet, watching me with knowing eyes.

“If you don’t want—”

She covers my mouth with her hand, and then drops it. “I’d really like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

I suck my top lip into my mouth. “Hmmm…I wanted you to be ready, that’s all.”

“I’ve been ready,” she says quietly. “I wanted to suggest it, but I was waiting for you to ask me. That way I know you want it, too.”

“You wanted old school chivalry, huh?”

She shrugs her delicate shoulder, and her top slides off, exposing soft skin. “I’m a sucker for a good romance, what can I say.”

“Does that mean I have to sweep you off your feet?”

This time, when she smiles, it’s shy, and she looks at me from beneath her thick, black lashes. “Haven’t you realized yet that you already have? You snuck in when I wasn’t looking, and now, life without you is unimaginable.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Reese

“Stop fretting,” Mya says over Eli.

“I’m not fretting,” I whisper-hiss. Which is a big fat lie. We’re piled into Thorin’s truck, with my dad and Maggie following behind in his Rover, but no one will tell me where we’re going. As if the last few days haven't been stressful enough between my launch—the app, and the apparel go live at midnight—and having my dad around more frequently. He took Thorin’s offer to move into my house, and I moved in with Thorin. We gave Mya the option to move into the main house too, since she doesn’t know my dad from Adam, but she decided to stay. She seems to have hit it off with him, though, and considering our office is in my house, it’s just easier. Turns out, Dad is a pretty chill guy, it’s been far less awkward having him on the ranch than I thought it would be. I expected stilted conversation, and uncomfortable silence, but I got the complete opposite instead. Figure that one out. He’s been helping Thorin and the band with their construction, and not just supervising, but actually getting his hands dirty. Things between him and Thorin have also been good, they’re more comfortable around each other, and the more time I spend with him, the more Thorin seems to relax. Hell, Dad has even taken quite the shine to Eli, and if I didn’t know better, it would feel like he’s been here longer than he has. And then there’s everything he told me about my mom. It’s been on my mind quite a lot, actually, but I haven’t had much time to stew. Which, I guess, is a good thing when there’s so many other things to focus on. For one, my dad’s back in my life, and he’s making a concerted effort to get to know this me. I was surprised to learn that not only has he been in contact with Maggie on a regular basis over the last nine years, but he’s taken a vested interest in my career. “I always knew you’d do something great with your life, sweetheart,” he’d said that night Thorin brought him over. I never sought his approval, but knowing he’s proud of me touched a part of me that I thought was dead. In fact, I never knew how much those words meant to me, or how badly I wanted to hear them, until he said them. I look outside the tinted car windows, and can tell we’re heading into town. We pass the bar, the diner, the inn and a few other storefronts before Thorin takes a right, and stops outside town square. There are people roaming the streets, enjoying the fresh, spring evening, but nothing gives me any indication as to what we’re doing, or where we’re going. And I know everyone knows because I’ve caught Mya, Thorin, and Dad whispering in the kitchen a few times, but as soon as I asked what’s going on, they pretended like it was nothing. It’s been driving me crazy, and not even using sex against Thorin has worked. The man is a vault, and it turns out everyone else is too, even Maggie. I move to climb out, but when I try to open the door, it won’t budge. Mya grins. “Child lock.”

“Seriously?” I look at Thorin, and he just smiles. Fletch chuckles, and they all three climb out, but not before Mya fixes my hair, and checks my make-up. At her insistence, I got dressed up, wearing a pair of dark jeans, knee-high brown leather boots, a teal long-sleeve drape-neck silk blouse and a tan leather jacket. My hair is down, big ringlets draping over my shoulders, and my make-up is simple, and fresh with extra mascara and a nude gloss. She unclips Eli’s carrier, and takes him from the car. My door finally opens, and Thorin holds out his hand. I look around at the smiling faces—Mya, Dad, Maggie, Fletch, Beni, and Carson—and then glance warily at Thorin. “Turn around,” he tells me. With my back to his chest, he covers my eyes with his hands, and leads me down the side-walk, careful to help me step onto the road. “Seriously, guys, someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on.” All I get is a few chuckles. Damnit. This was cute on our first date, but now we have an audience, and my nerves are already shot to shit. We cross the road—I think—and I step onto the sidewalk, a door clicks open, and Thorin’s pushing me forward. All at once, he lifts his hands, and a room full of people yell, “Surprise!”

“Wha-what is this?” Looking around, I can tell we’re in a store. There’s a cherrywood counter with a state-of-the-art cash register to my left, and to my right are hanging shelves with… “Those are my…” I point at my fitness apparel. On the back wall is a pink neon sign that reads Simply Reese in cursive letters, and below that is a small stage, with tables covered in food beside it. I spin on my heel. “Thorin?”

He grins at me. “This, baby, is your store. Welcome to ‘Simply Reese’.”

I’m speechless. My eyes don’t know where to look first. I recognize many of the people from town, but there are even more faces I don’t recognize. Mya steps up to my side, and puts her arm around me. “I know you didn’t want a launch party, but your fans demanded otherwise.”

“You guys planned all this for me?”

“This deserves a party, and you, Reese Hayes, deserve to be celebrated.” She kisses my cheek. “I’m so proud of you.” Her eyes glaze over, and so do mine because this is so much more than I expected. And for everyone to have planned this? I’m dumbstruck. “Did you buy the store?” I ask Thorin.

Mya and I spoke about the possibility of opening an actual store, but real estate in town is expensive, and scarce, and this place is in the heart of town, facing town square. It’s prime. “I did, but I bought it for you. This place is all yours.”

I throw my arms around his neck, and kiss him like my life depends on it. The sound of applause fills the room, and soon I’m being passed around, getting hugs from Maggie, my dad—who may have shed a tear—and the band. Thorin cuts through the crowd, and grabs the mic.