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I kicked off my shoes and molded her body to mine, keeping the blanket between us so I didn’t get carried away with the feel of her soft, smooth skin against me. “I would never send you away. I’ve missed you so damn much. Forgive me for being so busy, my heart.”
“I understand,” she whispered, but I still heard the unasked questions linger between us.
I didn’t want to pull her into this shit with the O’Brions and Ramirez, especially when Ramirez had already tried to take her from me in the past. She was safer not knowing anything, but I had to give her a little of the truth. “There was an issue when I was having the cameras installed for you, baby. It has complicated a few things, but I’m working on it. Give me a little longer to get it sorted, and I’ll have your feed up and running.” I nuzzled her neck with my nose, making her giggle. Fuck, that was my favorite sound in the world.
“I
met with Garret’s girlfriend today,” she said before yawning.
“Lis?” She nodded, and I tucked her closer. “How did that go?”
“We hit it off really well. And I think she will take a job at the office like you suggested. Just make sure she gets really good health care.”
“All of my employees have excellent health care,” I assured her. “Where should I put her?”
“How about as your personal assistant?” she suggested with another yawn. “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Me either.” I kissed the top of her head, considering her words. “I have Eduard, but I could always use more help. He’s been overworked lately.”
“I’m not a fan of Eduard,” she grumbled. “I stopped by the office today, and he was kind of dismissive until he realized who I was.”
My muscles locked up. “He was rude to you?”
“It really miffed me at the time, but I got over it. I did subtly threaten his job, and that made me feel better,” she snickered. “I think it scared him enough that he won’t ever do it again.”
“I don’t accept him doing it in the first place,” I gritted out. “Lis can have his job as soon as she wants it.”
“Please don’t.” She rubbed her soft hands over my bare chest, and what little I could see of her beautiful face pleaded with me. “He was really busy, and I didn’t call to warn him I was coming.”
“Who the fuck cares?” I growled. “You don’t ever have to call ahead. I want you to stop by whenever you want. You are going to be my wife, Nova. Everyone who sets eyes on you will respect you or face the consequences.”
Her bottom lip pouted out. “Give him one more chance.” When I just glared down at her, she played the one card she knew I couldn’t ignore. “For me.”
Smothering a groan, I gave in. “Fine. One more chance. But if he so much as looks at you wrong in the future, I’ll throw the motherfucker out the window.”
“Deal!”
A laugh burst out of me. “You know I love you, right?”
She pressed her cheek to my chest, wrapping her arms around me tightly. “I do know. I love you too.”
My fingers began playing with her long blond hair. It was something that soothed me just as much as it did her, the silky strands sliding over my fingers calming something deep inside me. We drifted into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. But I had something on my mind, and I needed to talk to her about it because I wasn’t going to get any sleep if I didn’t.
“Where do you want to get married?”
She tipped her head back, and I could see her brow was furrowed slightly as she looked up at me. “I don’t know. Do you have somewhere in mind?”
“I’m okay with anywhere. If you want to have it here in New York or back in Creswell Springs. Hell, if you want to have a destination wedding somewhere, that’s fine too. Whatever makes you happy, baby.”
“We could run off to Atlantic City one weekend and tie the knot,” she teased.
“No. And Vegas is out of the question too. I might not care about the location, but we are not eloping. I want a real wedding.” I stroked my fingertips over her cheek, tracing the shape of her face. “I want to watch you walk down the aisle with your dad. Our moms sobbing on either side of the aisle. Samara, Ciana, and maybe Delaney as your bridesmaids. Perhaps Finn could be the ring bearer, or those devil twins of Mila’s.”
“Whoa, you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“I’ve been dreaming of marrying you since I was eight years old, Nova.” At times, thinking about our wedding was the only thing that gave me peace when there was an entire country separating us. Knowing that one day, with an exchange of vows before God and our families, the world would finally know who Nova belonged to was what helped me sleep at night. “More than anything, I want our wedding day to be perfect for you.”
Her arms tightened around me, and I heard a hitch in her breathing. “The world could burn down around us that day, and it would still be perfect because I’ll get to marry you. Not only my best friend, but the person I love the most.”
