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“I’m thinking about how lucky I am,” she whispered around the knot in her throat. “This Thanksgiving has been the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had. I loved every minute of it, Drake. We were like one big family. My parents. Your men. And us . . .”
His smile was spreading warmth through parts of her body that hadn’t felt this warm in a very long time. His eyes were like liquid sunshine, his gaze fiery over her skin. More often than not, his eyes and his expression were so very dark. Shadowed. Past hurts and painful memories lurking just beneath the surface. But tonight, his eyes looked almost golden brown and not black.
She was fascinated by that golden gaze. Mesmerized as the light caught the bronze flecks in his eyes.
He tossed his clothing to the side and slowly got up on the bed, hovering above her as he rested on his elbows so his weight didn’t crush her. She let out a small moan as his body pressed down on hers. Automatically her body moved to accommodate his. Soft to his hard. She cushioned him on the bed even though his full weight wasn’t on her.
He stared down at her, those brilliant eyes still full of such heat and mystery.
“Do you know what I was thinking?” he asked huskily as he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, tucking tiny strands of her hair behind her ears.
“What?” she whispered.
“That I need, that I want to thank you for the best Thanskgiving anyone has ever given me.”
Tears swam in her eyes as she soaked in his reverence and the absolute sincerity in his voice and expression.
“I’m glad,” she choked out. “I’m so glad, Drake. I want you to be happy. Even if it’s not with me.”
She could have bitten her tongue for allowing even a second of her insecurities to surface. Especially when Drake was already baring his soul, or at least part of it, to her.
“I didn’t mean that like I said,” she said hastily. “I swear to you I’m not fishing for anything, Drake. I truly mean that. I want you to be happy. No matter what that takes. I hope I’m the one who can do it. I pray that I am. But if I’m not, I just want you to know that you have people who love you and care about you. I’m not the only one.”
Drake shook his head, his gaze genuinely puzzled. “Surely you don’t think I have any plans to end what we share, Angel.”
She smiled. “No. I was just trying to say what was in my heart and, well, sometimes that doesn’t go over too well,” she said ruefully.
He smiled back down at her and swept her lips into a long, sweet kiss that made her feel the sting of tears all over again.
“No one has ever cooked a holiday meal for me,” he said absently. He looked uncomfortable with the confession and the ramifications of it as well. “No one has ever asked my brothers to eat a meal with them like you did. And yet you cooked not only for me, but for them as well. Hell, you had them decorating a fucking Christmas tree in my living room.”
He looked down at her with an awed expression.
“Swear to God, Angel. You’re a fucking miracle. I should have known the day you had everyone eating cupcakes in my office that we were all goners. I’ve never seen my men react to a woman in my life like they have to you. I’ve never had a woman in my life as long as I’ve had you,” he amended.
Once more, he looked unsettled, as though the realizations he was having unhinged him and he had no idea what to do with each one as it was unveiled.
“They adore you, Angel. And they’re loyal to you. Every bit as much as they are to me. You’ve changed all of us. At times they have no better idea of what to do with you than I do. You surprise them with your unconditional acceptance at every corner. As you surprise me . . .”
“Drake, you have to stop,” she said helplessly. “You’re going to make me cry!”
He smiled and kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, the corners of her eyes as though he were removing invisible tears.
“I find I don’t mind you crying so much as long as you’re happy. But if you were ever unhappy about anything, you have to know I’d move heaven and earth to make you happy again.”
She squeezed her arms around his waist and lifted her cheek to press to his chest. “I do know that, Drake. And you do, you know. You make me so very happy.”
Relief flared in his eyes. “I’m glad. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you. I don’t want to even contemplate it.”
