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“He was long gone by the time I arrived,” I add, speaking for the first time. “I’d stopped by the inn, and Luna told me you’d left about twenty minutes prior. When I got to the chapel, I didn’t see you anywhere, but then I smelled roses.”
June’s eyes fly over to mine, wide in surprise. “Roseled you to me?”
“She did, and I’m so fucking glad.”
“Me, too.” Fresh tears want to fall, but June squares her shoulders and turns to her brother. “Can Eric get into trouble for what he did?”
“He’ll be charged with a whole host of things, including kidnapping, trespassing, criminal mischief, breaking and entering, and everything else that I can find. He will absolutely have to pay for this.”
“I just wanted him toleave.I think he has some pretty severe mental health issues.”
“That’s for the court to decide,” Cullen says simply. “I’m going to go over to the chapel and see if anything else was disturbed. We’ll pull some fingerprints, because there should be some on the doorknobs, and I’ll put out an APB for his arrest. When you’re up to it, you’ll have to come down and make a formal statement, too. Do you know his last name?”
June nods and gives him the information that she has, including the asshole’s phone number, and then Cullen is gone.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever had a panic attack like that,” June says, looking over at me. “When you opened that door, it was the biggest relief of my life.”
“You scared the hell out of me,” I admit and let out a long, shaky breath. “Jesus, Juniper, I love you so much, and I hate that you were so terrified and alone down there.”
Her eyes fill with tearsagain.
“What now? Please don’t cry, baby. You’re safe.”
“Youlove me?”
“That’s why you’re crying?”
She brushes impatiently at the tears. “Do you mean that you love me, or are you just saying that because I’m a sobbing mess?”
“I’ve told you I love you before.”
“No.” She shakes her head and stands to pace the room. “You’ve said that you love everything about thesex, but that’s different.”
“I—” I frown, thinking back. “Okay, it was during sex that I said that, yes. But I didn’t mean that I love only the sex. Fuck me, June, is that what you thought?”
“I don’t know!” She throws up her hands, still pacing. “I can’t read minds!”
“No, but you’re really good at drawing conclusions. So, let me spell it out for you, in plain language, when we’re not naked and trembling, okay? I love you.”
I smile as she stops stomping around and stares at me.
“You make me crazy in the best ways. You challenge me, and you make me laugh. You’re so fucking smart that it’s a little intimidating.”
She snorts, but I keep going.
“Yeah, I loveeverythingabout you, inside and out. You’re sexy as hell, and I feel like I’m alive when I’m with you. Does that explain it clearly enough?”
“I think so.” She drops into the chair across from me and clasps her hands together before biting her lip. “I think I’ve been in love with you since I was a kid. Even then, you irritated the hell out of me, which I’m sure you’ll do forever a little, but then I fell in love with you again.”
“Wait, I’m doing the math.” I make motions in the air with my finger as if I’m carrying the one and then laugh when she kicks out at me. “I’m glad you love me back.”
“I have something super serious to tell you,” she says and clears her throat. “Something that might changeeverything.”
“Nothing will change how I feel about you.”
“Hold that thought.” She blows out another breath, seeming so nervous that it’s making me want to pull her into my lap again so I can hold her.
Instead, I wait.
