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“I love it.”
Darcy gasped and turned to see Garret in the doorway, looking just as haggard as Rosetta said he did, the doll in his hand. She got to her feet, her trembling legs barely able to hold her. He wore jeans and a pullover, both loose and hanging on him.
He lifted the doll. “Why are you getting rid of this?”
“Because she’s part of the past and I want to concentrate on the future…with you,” she whispered. “If you still want me.”
Raw hope crossed his face. “Sweetheart, I’ve always wanted you. That hasn’t been the problem. You love me?”
She nodded shakily.
“No, you’ve got to say it. I need to hear it. Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
Some of the tension in his face eased. “Dream about waking up beside me for the next fifty years?”
“Yes.”
He took a step closer, his eyes fierce. “Making love to you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe I want you—only you—because I love you and…Spike?”
He said that with a grin, a heart-stopping, love-filled smile that stole the breath right out of her lungs. Garret had given up every constant in his life—his girlfriend, his job—for her. All for her and her baby girl. He’d put them first. He’d put themfirst.It was romantic in the movies, but it was more romantic when it really happened. More special. More…amazing.
“Darcy?” Garret opened his arms and she flew across the room, slammed into him but knew he’d catch her, hold her. Love her. Because she finally understood what she hadn’t been able to before meeting Garret.
“I love you, Darcy.” He buried his nose in her neck and inhaled. “Ahh, I’ve missed the way you smell. The way you feel. Not being able to see you has been killing me.”
She swallowed, unable to believe she’d come so close to losing everything she’d ever wanted. “I know. I’ve missed you, too,” she whispered, drawing back to trail her fingertips over his mouth. “I see it now.”
“See what?”
Smiling through her tears, she leaned forward and kissed him, slow and deep, not breaking contact until they both breathed heavily. “I see that Nana’s always right.”
Epilogue
DARCY HAD NEVER GIVENmuch thought to being a June bride, but she and Garret were married the second Saturday in June, five months to the day from when Garret rescued her. Rosetta was her matron of honor, Toby Garret’s best man. She and Elizabeth wore white—just to give the gossips more to talk about—at her husband’s insistence.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Garret murmured later that evening, his arms sliding around her waist and turning her so that she snuggled against him. “Darcy, you okay, sweetheart?”
“I’m better than okay. I’m happy. Blessed. It’s amazing.” And even though her mother hadn’t come to the ceremony, she wasstillokay, happy and blessed. Her love for Garret and Lizzie, for Garret’s family, made it okay. Because she felt like her familyhadall been there. Garret’s brothers and sister had flown in for the ceremony, his many aunts and uncles, cousins. So many cousins! It would take years to learn all their names.
Garret’s fingers speared into her loose hair and he lifted her head so his mouth could close over hers.
“Mmm.” He tasted of champagne and buttercream icing, desire and hard, hot man. His tongue coaxed her, eased her into a deeper, more possessive caress.
She fingered the buttons on his tuxedo shirt and then began unbuttoning them, hungry, needy, wanting her husband the way she’d never wanted anyone. His hands slipped out of her hair, pulled down the zipper in the back of her dress, but she didn’t notice him tugging on the thin, spaghetti straps until the cool air made her shiver. She lowered her hands, one at a time, and let the white silk drop to the floor, aided by his hands. Garret shook. She could feel him trembling, and it touched a place deep, deep inside, burrowed into her heart, her soul. Love could hurt, took an extraordinary amount of trust, but when it was right, it was so, so right.
Garret dropped his head to her neck, scoring her skin with his teeth just hard enough to send goose bumps over her entire body, make her nipples pucker. He chuckled huskily when he felt her response. “Still sensitive there, huh? Let’s see where else.”
It was a game they’d played a lot since declaring their feelings. Every time he bared more of her, his head lowered, his lips, teeth and tongue alternatively kissing, nipping or sucking at her until it was all she could do to remain on her feet. His hands roamed over her full breasts and around to the clasp of her strapless bra. Down to push her panties away until the only things she wore were her spiky, sparkly heels and lace-topped, thigh-high stockings.
“I think we’ll leave those on.” Her husband’s green eyes were heated, filled with love and desire, all for her. Pulling at his shirt, he held her gaze as he removed it. “I know what to expect, Darcy.” A small smile formed on his mouth. He nodded toward the bed and she followed his stare, searching until she spotted the bottle of gel Garret had purchased to ensure her comfort. They’d waited to make love, pleasuring each other in different ways while they grew even closer and made things official, giving her body plenty of time to heal from giving birth.
Smiling ruefully, she reached for his belt and unfastened the catch, the snap of his pants. Garret took care of the zipper, and she slid her palms around his waist beneath the band, smiling when she heard him release a husky groan the moment her body touched his full length. She kissed his chest, sidled closer still, and relished the hiss he released when his arousal pressed against her stomach.
