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“I love you so much, Ionee Millar. And I love that you’ve painted me so much.”
She blushed, looking around the room. “I don’t want people to think it’s you. The press are already obsessed with you without them realizing this is you.”
Laura grabbed her hand, pulling her from me. “I was joking. They are stunning and you can’t tell they are Archer at all, but I don’t want to think about the kinky stuff you get up to in the bedroom.”
“Ah, but it’s not only in the bedroom, little sis.”
“Lalalala. I’m not listening,” she cried as she pushed her fingers in her ears.
“So, you’re good with it, Archer? I don’t want to embarrass you.”
“I’m good, I promise. But stick the red sticker under my painting. I don’t want that going anywhere but home with me.”
“You mean going home withus?”
I smiled, thinking about living with Ionee. After Mum died, things moved quickly between us. She kept her promise and held me together while I fell apart. Her tying me up that first night gave me the permission I needed to break. And I broke spectacularly. I cried for days. My heart hurt for months. I struggled to do anything other than miss someone who’d left us long before she died. In time, things improved. I started writing music again; the band went back to doing gigs and about three months after her death I realized that Ionee hadn’t been home. I mean, she’d been back for clothes and stuff, but every night she’d come back to my house and my bed.
That’s when I told her I loved her.
I’d always thought when I said those words it would be romantic, filled with rose petals and champagne… I told her while she rinsed the plates before putting them in the dishwasher and I was arguing, yet again, that it was a pointless task.
“There are so many other things you could be doing with your time than washing plates that are about to be washed.”
“I won’t stop and you can’t make me. Anyway, what else should I be doing with my time?”
“Worshiping me,” I laughed.
“I spend enough time doing that already.”
“Well, not enough. I mean, you’ve not even told me you loved me, yet,” I pouted.
Her body stiffened. “Ditto.”
“Don’t you want a romantic moment… you know, something for you to remember forever?”
“Archer, if you loved me, telling me would be enough of a moment.” She dried her hands, flicked her hair over her shoulders before leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. “Right, I’m going to the studio. I’ll see you later?”
“Nee,” I called as she walked from the room. Turning, she gave me that smile that lit me up. “You know I do, right?”
She frowned, looking confused.
Stalking toward her, I wrapped my arm around her waist and cupped her cheek. “I love you, Ionee Millar. I love you so much my heart aches for you.”
Rolling her lips between her teeth, her eyes widened. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
“Move in with me?”
“What?” she squealed.
“Live with me. Move in here. You’ve been here pretty much since Mum died, and I can’t imagine this place without you. Move in with me.”
Peppering kisses all over my face, she cried yes again and again until her lips found mine.
Nee’s laugh pulled me back to the moment, noticing that Fox and Charlie had arrived and were ribbing her about her obsession with tying me up, even though they knew it was me that begged her for it.
“Leave my girl alone. Don’t we have to get to the studio to lay these tracks down before Mav fires us for being late?”
“I guess we had. Can we drop you off somewhere, Laura?” Charlie asked with a wink.
