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After saying goodbye to him, I quietly shut the door behind Hector and Heather and walked over to Sierra slowly so I wouldn’t wake her. She lay on my couch, her hand tucked underneath her head and strands of her brown hair in her face.
I wished that I could’ve thanked her privately after she brought me to see all those kids today, but when we had returned home, Hector and Michelle had already been waiting for us. I had completely lost track of time with Sierra.
Shifting on the couch, Sierra rolled over onto her back with her mouth wide open and small snores drifting from her nose. I bit back a chuckle at how cute she looked, sprawled out on my couch, dressed up after a long Christmas Day.
After fishing the present out from underneath the couch, I sat on the side of it and glanced over my shoulder at Sierra. I wanted to redo this morning over so many times and wished that I could’ve found my balls to give her this.
She had given me a present that I hadn’t even known I needed.
“There’s no way that I could ever repay you for what you’ve done for me, love,” I whispered.
As her head drifted to the side, her mouth fell open another inch, and I smiled down at her, laying the present in my lap. Moonlight flooded into the room from the floor-to-ceiling windows, gleaming against her face.
“Thank you,” I murmured, knowing that she couldn’t hear me.
But I didn’t want to wake her. She had seemed upset earlier, yet she couldn’t tell me why. Maybe she had a stomachache from the food. Or maybe it was because she hadn’t drunk anything all day besides that champagne at dinner.
My gaze shifted from her to the contract that sat in my lap. “I promise to give this to you one day soon.” My chest bubbled with lightness, and I couldn’t help the smile that broke out onto my face. “I want it to be special.”
I stayed seated on the couch for a while longer. Part of me hoped that Sierra would wake up so I could give it to her now and so that we didn’t have to wait. Sierra had shown up for those kids when she didn’t have to, when they hadn’t even expected her to. And I had to take a leap of faith that she’d do that for me when I needed her.
Once I convinced myself to stand, I headed to my office and placed the present on my desk. Then, I walked to the bedroom, laid out some clothes for Sierra, and pulled down the comforter.
When I returned to the living room, one of Sierra’s legs was sprawled up on the back of the couch and her head was hanging off the side, her snores louder. Damn, today had really taken a toll on her, hadn’t it?
“Where are we going?” she mumbled into the crook of my neck as I picked her up.
“To the bedroom.”
She shifted in my arms and smacked her lips together, as if her mouth was dry. I contemplated waking her up completely to give her one last present for Christmas, but she began snoring on my chest again, so I let her be.
I kicked my bedroom door open with my toe and walked with her toward the bed, gently setting her down in the center of it. After pulling off most of my clothes, I dressed her in the clothes I’d set out for her and crawled into bed behind her.
Something about being with her felt so natural. I didn’t have to try too hard or hide my past from her, like I had felt obligated to do with everyone else I met. Never once in my life had I felt like I truly had a home.
But being with her was the closest thing to it.
We could be in the car, in her dorm, or walking around Giant Eagle, and still, everything felt at ease. Between her smile, her laugh, and everything about this goddamn woman, I didn’t think I would ever find someone else so perfect for me.
She turned all the way over and cuddled up against my chest, as if she had been waiting for me. Or maybe it was because she was used to me holding her like this now.
“You’re the best thing to happen to me, Sierra,” I whispered against her hair because I knew she was fast asleep. I placed my lips on the top of her head and gently drew my fingers up and down the sides of her bare arm. “And I know it for certain now. I love you.”
44
sierra
“When we’re finished tonight, I’m going to bring you to Alta,” Steven murmured, his hand on my lower back while guiding me through the crowd of people at Radiant.
I hadn’t expected there to be this many people here between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but people were horny.
“Won’t it be too late?” I asked.
“They’ll stay open for me,” he murmured. “Besides, I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?” I asked, eyes growing wide. “Really? What is it?”
“Ah, love, do you need to freshen up on what the word surprise means?” He chuckled, albeit a bit nervously, and loosened his tie a smidgen. Then, he cleared his throat and gently captured my chin in his hand, eyes glinting. “You’ll get it if you’re good for me tonight, okay?”
