Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“I love you, too,” I blurted. And for some reason, the admission fucking broke me.
The breath disappeared from my lungs, leaving me heaving for oxygen. Tears multiplied and began streaming down my face.
“Baby?” Way said, moving me bodily to the sofa and shoving me down onto it. “Breathe. In and out. Steady. In through your nose… out through your mouth.”
I shook my head in an effort to tell him I was fine. This was just… no big deal. I would be okay any minute now.
Way pulled me into his arms and began rubbing his large hand up and down my back while cupping the side of my face with his other one. I tucked my face into the front of his neck and tried to catch the scent of home on his skin.
He murmured calming reassurance against my hair. “Shh. She’s okay. She’s going to be okay. From what I’ve heard, Camille’s tough as nails, just like you.” He pressed a kiss to my head. “You must have been so scared. It’s okay to be scared. You’re allowed to be upset. The world won’t end, Silas.”
I let the tears come. They brought so much junk with them my brain felt flooded. Images of my parents’ disinterest and criticism, their demand to control my money, my sister’s dogged determination to help others, my disillusionment with Justin Hardy, and the assumption that all men would betray me. The unbelievable good fortune of choosing the right barstool at just the right time on the exact right night to meet this beautiful, adventurous, dedicated, loving man.
“I love you,” I said again. The words came out in an embarrassing croak.
He tilted my face so he could meet my eyes. “Well, I sure hope so since you married me. That’s usually how those things work, you know.” Way’s thumbs swiped the wetness from my cheeks as he continued teasing me. “Although it would have been nice to hear the words several hours ago when I stood there in front of your friends making an ass out of myself with a one-sided declaration.”
I let out a wet laugh. “They already knew.”
Way’s eyes held the kind of love I’d never received before. I was stunned by the depth of emotion in his expression. “And now they know just how much I love you, too. I told them to handle everything for me and then fucked off to the Big Apple on a private jet like I was some kind of fancy pants without a care in the world.”
I leaned in and kissed him. It was desperate and possessive, frantic and raw. I needed to know I had him for real this time. I needed to know it was no longer temporary.
“Be mine,” I begged in a jagged whisper against his lips. “Stay married to me. For real this time.”
“It’s been real for me for a long time, Silas,” he admitted. “I was too scared to tell you.”
We kissed over and over, until I forgot where I ended and he began. I was too bone-tired to want more than this, but I was too scared to let him go.
When Way’s stomach growled, I finally pulled away. “I said I’d feed you, didn’t I?”
“I assumed you meant your tongue.”
“Thank you for coming,” I said, meeting his eye so he would see how much it had meant to me.
“You’re my husband. Where else would I be?”
I reached for the food and pulled out several items. A sports drink, a bottle of water, chips, peanut butter cups, a protein bar, and two bananas sat in a motley collection on the coffee table. I leaned over to turn on a nearby lamp. “Help yourself.”
He stared at the meagre selection. “The man has a penthouse and access to a private jet, and this is the meal he serves me?”
“Oh. Right. About that.” Heat rushed to my face. “I’m, ah… rich. Richer than your average corporate strategist.”
Way barked out a laugh. “You don’t say.”
“I wanted to tell you. It wasn’t because I didn’t trust you.” I felt a pinch of guilt. “Okay, maybe I didn’t trust you at first.”
His eyebrows shot up. “The legal agreement.”
I nodded. “But I found out a couple of weeks ago that it’s non-binding. Kenji pointed out I gave the attorneys the wrong wording. I asked for a statement of intent, and it should have been a contract. Kenji tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen.”
Way’s lips quirked into a teasing smile. “So why didn’t you get me to sign a contract at that point?”
I rolled my eyes. “Because I realized it didn’t matter. First of all, you aren’t the type of guy to use me like that. Secondly, if you needed money…”
“You’d give it to me,” he said softly, his smile still taunting me.
I leaned forward to taste his lips. “I’d give it to you,” I murmured. “Anything.”