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I laugh. “Serves you right after everything you put me through.”
He stands and pulls me into his arms. His lips slam against mine, stealing my ability to breathe as he kisses me with every ounce of love in him. Declan’s embrace feels like coming home. My toes tingle and my chest warms, and I get all excited as his lips press softly against mine in a silent apology.
Our kiss goes on for what feels like hours. By the time we break apart, both of us are soaked to the bone although the rain has officially stopped.
The way he looks at me sends another shiver down my spine. I take a step back, knowing what a look like that means.
I clear my throat. “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Showing you our new home.”
“Our newwhat?” I gape at the house. I use the term loosely, seeing as the place looks like it has been abandoned for years.
“Let me show you something.” He clutches onto my hand as we circle around the back of the house.
“No. Freaking. Way.” I blink.
He smiles. “Do you like it?”
I take a step toward a stunning greenhouse. Unlike the house behind us, the greenhouse looks like someone recently came to take care of it. The spotless glass shines, giving me a good idea of the empty space inside.
I would need to buy hundreds of plants to fill it. Maybe even a thousand.
Declan pulls me against his chest so he can lay his chin on my shoulder. “I thought about letting you pick a place, but when my real estate agent sent me this listing, I knew it was the one. I drove out the same day to check it out and put an offer on it.”
“Why?” I croak.
“Because there is nothing I want more than to turn a house into a home with you.”
Declan needs to come with a warning sign because I’m susceptible to swooning whenever he is around.
“It’s beautiful.”
His arms tighten around me. “Want to check it out?”
“Can we?”
He grins as he steps away from me and opens the door. I spend the next five minutes exploring the place, cataloging just how much space I would have.
“I think I’m in heaven.” I trail a finger across an empty table waiting to be covered with pots.
“So I take it that you like it?” His confident voice doesn’t match the hesitant look in his eyes.
He’s nervous.
Anxious Declan is my favorite Declan because it’s the version of him no one else knows about. He tries so hard to hide it from everyone else, but around me, he doesn’t mind dropping his guard. It makes my chest all warm and tingly to know he trusts me enough to share that part of himself. Because to someone like him who grew up thinking emotions were weaknesses, it probably means so much more than I could ever imagine.
I walk over to him and wrap my hands around his neck. “I love it so much.”
“Good. Because if my proposal didn’t work, this was my next best option to convince you to marry me.”
I smack his wet chest. “You can’t buy people’s love like that.”
His eyestwinkle. “I don’t want other people’s love. I wantyours.”
“You already have it.”
He blinks.
