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His head cocked. “But you don’t want to be married.”
“I didn’t want to be forced into an answer when everything was up in the air. I’ve had days to think about everything now and Elena to explain to me how stupid I was being.”
“Thank god for Elena,” he uttered. I tried to shove him again, but he caught my hand and brought it to his lips. “I love you deeply, Saoirse Rossi. I’ll take you any way I can have you, but I’d really fucking prefer to keep you as my wife forevermore. No time limits. No arrangements. Just you and me, making promises and keeping them. Choosing each other again and again.”
“I love you too, Luca. And I choose you.” I reached up, slid the bow from his hair, and showed it to him.
With a grunt, he snagged it and tossed it behind him, then pulled me flush to his chest. “I can’t believe I just declared my undying love to you with a pink bow in my hair.”
I grinned even as he lowered his mouth to mine. “That made me forgive you before you even said a word.”
“I’ll thank Hannah later.”
I laughed into his kiss, which curled my toes and dried up the last of my tears. He held me gently, kissing me thoroughly, for all the days we’d missed each other. It went on and on while the stream trickled by and my heart beat more surely than it ever had.
Once he’d kissed me breathless, he drew back, his eyes sliding back and forth between mine.
“You haven’t said yes.”
I raised a brow. “What was the question again?”
“To staying married without contracts or end dates. Just you and me, partners in crime and our crazy, wonderful life. What do you think, pretty girl—are you in?”
I bit down on my bottom lip and let my gaze drift over him. There were very few yeses I regretted. I always found something of value in my experiences. But the day I said yes to Luca Rossi for the first time stood apart from all the rest. Over the past few months, I’d gotten more from that yes than any other.
Luca had given me passion. Art. Beauty. Family. Oh, had he given me family. I already knew the Rossis would always be my favorite people.
Through Luca, I’d found stability. Freedom to pursue my passions. Understanding and support when I needed them, and a push when I needed that more.
With Luca’s arms around me and his body aligned with mine, I’d discovered a level of pleasure I’d never known existed.
At Luca’s side, we’d adopted a cat. The cat of my dreams. My Clementine.
In Luca, I’d found a friend unlike any I’d ever had. He made me laugh and think. His adventurous spirit matched my own. His tender heart made him so very easy to love.
The crazy thing was, we were only just beginning. This yes had already given me so much, yet there wassomuch more to come.
I nodded first, then I said the word. “Yes.”
His eyes flared. “Yes? You’re in?”
I took his face in my hands and rubbed my nose along his. “I’m so very in.”
It was the easiest yes I’d ever said.
Epilogue
Luca
One Year Later
“You’vemadegoodchoices.”
Saoirse stopped midstride, raising a questioning brow. “I like to think so, but I sense you’re commenting on something specific.”
I patted the arm of her desk chair. “I will be replacing my chair with this model as soon as possible.”
She sauntered over to where I sat behind her new desk, putting an extra swing in her hips. “Oh, you like my chair, do you?”
