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"You don't have to say it back. I understand it's new for you."
I hold her gaze. "What if I want to say it?"
Her breath catches. Hesitantly, she asks, "Do you? Because you have no idea what that would mean to me."
I rest my forehead against hers, looking right into her eyes. "I love you, Noelle."
She smiles and her blue eyes are brimming with genuine emotion. "I love you, Maverick.”
"Say it again." I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing those words from her.
“I love you so much. I loved you the moment you saved me from that date. I've never stopped, and I don't think I ever will."
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.
“I love you so much, Noelle. You have no idea how much.”
I sit back down on the couch, pulling her to me, my eyes never leaving hers. I haven’t felt this way for any woman in a long time.
Noelle is special and she is mine. I’m going to protect her till I die. She completes me, she makes me happy and I love her more than I thought possible to love another human being.
After Vanessa was gone, I thought I was done with love. It hurt too much. My heart was shattered. I often wondered how long it took for a man’s heart to mend, but I didn’t think it ever really would.
I was wrong.
When I met Noelle, my heart became whole again.
And since that day, it’s only and always been her. Noelle.
Just Noelle.
Noelle Jessica Quinn.
She's the one.
She’s the one who brings out a bone-deep desire, no, need…need to be with her, to protect and provide for her, and to keep her by my side, safe and loved, until the day I take my last breath.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Noelle
ThechampagnefrothsasMaverick uncorks it and pours it into a pair of flutes and hands one to me. Clinking his against mine, he asks, “What should we toast to?”
“The six-month anniversary of my famous disastrousFishin’4Lovedate that happened right here, of course.”
He throws back his head and laughs. “Damn, has it been six months already?”
“Yes, it has." I sip my champagne and lean back in my seat, watching him intently.
We’re sitting at the table where I had my date with Trevor that night, The exact place where we met for the first time. When he was my knight in shining armor, even if he did allude to me having a very nasty STD.
There is a balcony right next to us and the doors are open, letting the breeze inside.
The dusky weather creates the perfect ambience as the hot April wind blows through our hair. He looks totally handsome tonight.
Maverick's good looks are more rugged than pretty-boy. He kind of reminds me of a young Taylor Kitsch. Cut and built, with long, sturdy legs and the arms of a line-backer, his presence is imposing, daunting… yet comforting.
Maverick rented the place for the night, but he hired a very special crew.
