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She shook her head. “I’m not sorry.”
“Good. Because I’m not really sorry.”
That made her laugh softly. “What are you doing here? Why are you wearing a suit?”
“I was at Axl and Leighton’s wedding and I had an epiphany. Can I come in?”
They were still standing in her doorway. “Oh, yes, of course.”
Her heart was racing and she wiped her hands down the front of her flannel pants. “Uh, I wasn’t expecting anyone. It’s a mess in here. I’m a mess.” She laughed nervously, not sure what he was going to say to her.
Did he want a relationship with her or did he just want to have sex now that he had heard she was single?
He glanced around the apartment. “Damn. This is a lot of clothes.”
“I managed to bring most of them with me. The rest is being shipped. I’m going to sell my furniture.”
“So you’re here permanently?”
She nodded, biting her lip. She had pictured a couple of dozen times how she would see Sullivan for the first time, and now it was happening and she didn’t even know what to say, where to start. She tried to smooth her hair back into the bun. She could feel strands poking out in all directions.
He didn’t look nervous the way she felt. He looked determined.
“I left the wedding tonight, just walked out on my best friend’s wedding, because I realized that you can’t score if you don’t take the shot.”
Oh, God, he was talking in hockey analogies. It made her infinitely less nervous. He was stumbling around in the dark too.
“I had no idea you’d broken up with Nigel. I just sat there at that wedding and I looked at everyone I love being in love with their person and I thought to myself, who is my person?” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “The answer is you. You’re my person, Eddie. I’m in love with you.”
For a second, she couldn’t even process what he was saying. The words seemed to wrap all around her, swirling chaotically, before they settled down into her heart. She didn’t even doubt it or question it because she could see in his eyes he was speaking the truth. He loved her. Sullivan was not a man who would say it if he wasn’t feeling it.
“I love you, too,” she said. It was easy to say it. It was vibrating in every cell of her body. She loved him.
His shoulders relaxed, like he hadn’t been sure of her reception. He reached out and took her hand. He looked down at their entwined fingers, before lifting his head and speaking directly to her.
“Look, maybe I don’t bring enough to the table in your eyes. I can’t offer you living in the big city, or fancy shoes, or a big fat bank account. I don’t know what wine pairs with what food and I can’t dance for shit. But what I can offer you is something real, something lasting, something passionate and deep and never, ever lukewarm or sensible or fucking convenient. I can offer you all my love and my fierce loyalty, my friendship, and my ear to listen when you need to talk. I can offer you motherhood to Finn and more kids. I can give you as many babies as you want, Ed, and as soon as you want. I’d love to expand my family with you. I’d love to love babies with you.”
Her heart was melting into a puddle and it got worse with each and every word he spoke. She wanted to interrupt him, apologize for what she’d said, but at the same time, she wanted to hear every single word he had to say. Tears threatened to spill. He was offering her everything she’d ever wanted and more.
Love and babies.
What more could she want?
She nodded rapidly, unable to speak.
But Sullivan wasn’t finished.
“I can offer you friends and family and a pickup game of hockey at the rink whenever you want and pancakes on Saturdays. I have tons of hoodies that you can borrow. Women love to steal their man’s hoodies and you can grab one whenever you want, doesn’t matter which one.”
That made her give a watery laugh. “I do love a big sweatshirt.” She plucked at the front of the one she was wearing. “I’d love all of those things. What you have to offer is much, much more than enough, Sullivan. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
He took a step forward, so that their thighs were brushing. “And orgasms. Did I mention I can offer you orgasms?”
The words were as intimate as if his tongue was between her thighs right then. His voice was low, seductive.
“No, you didn’t mention that.”
“Then let me explain what I mean.” He lifted her hand he was holding and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. “I can promise you that I will kiss you every morning and kiss you every night and in between, and whenever I can possibly get my hands on you, I will be making you come so hard you forget how to breathe. I’ll touch you everywhere, learning all your secret spots and what makes you gasp with pleasure.” He drew the tip of her finger into his mouth and sucked.
