“I have something for you, but I need you to hear me out. Can you do that?”
I nod. I don’t know where this conversation is going, but the butterflies that only he causes are going about a thousand miles a minute as he reaches into his back pocket and produces an envelope.
“What’s that?” I can’t help but ask.
“Open it.” He hands it to me and sits back in his chair.
I can feel his eyes on me as I pull the document out of the envelope and begin to read. I read the first paragraph a million times, sure that it’s the tears in my eyes that have me reading this wrong.
“W-What did you do?” I ask him.
“It’s your baby. I bought the building. You don’t have to worry about being kicked out, or finding a new place, or even paying rent. I know that money is tight until this shit that Elijah caused is worked out, but I had to do something. You wouldn’t let me help you, and I need to. It’s yours,” he says again.
“You can’t buy me a building.”
“I can. I did. It’s all legal and in your name. I just need you to sign this paper.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then, I’ll have Aspen do it.” He looks over at my sister with a look of pleading. He wants her to agree to this.
“Grant, this is crazy.”
“No, it’s not. What’s crazy is that you’re refusing to let me help you. Let me ask you this. If it were me in your situation, and you were in mine, if you had the means to help me, what would you do?”
My shoulders sag. “I don’t want to be your burden.” I know as soon as I say the words that they’re wrong. I know Grant would never think of me that way. I guess old habits die hard. Will I ever be rid of the negativity that Elijah made me believe? Made me feel?
“Baby, look at me.”
I keep my eyes downcast in my lap as hot tears burn my eyes. I hear him rustling around, but I refuse to look up. I hate that he’s seeing me cry. Again. I’m tired of feeling weak. That’s not who I am anymore, but my tears say otherwise.
“Oh my God,” my sister breathes.
My head jerks up, and I see Grant with his T-shirt off, sitting on the table. My eyes go to his chest, and that’s when I see it. “Grant.” I reach out to touch him but quickly pull my hand away. “What did you do?”
“I wanted a piece of you with me always. You’re always telling me that I give you butterflies, and you do the same for me. You’re my butterfly, my magic.” He moves in close, grabbing my hands again. “I love you. I want to build a life with you, a family. Please don’t be mad at me for doing this. I can afford to buy this building twenty times over, and I would if that’s what I needed to do to help you.”
“You got a tattoo. Of a butterfly.”
“I did, but it’s more than just a butterfly, Aurora. It’s you.”
My eyes zero in on his new tattoo, and that’s when I see it. My name. “That’s me,” I say, losing my battle with the tears that have been threatening to fall.
“That’s you, baby. Now.” He taps the papers on the table. “Please sign these.”
“I—” I start to protest and then think better of it. I can’t keep fighting the good in my life because of the evil. Fighting the man I love, the man who is sitting here with my name permanently marked on his chest, who is offering to take my fears away. I won’t let Elijah take from me like that ever again. Swallowing back my protest, I try again. “Thank you for what you did. I accept this amazing gift that you have given me. So many of my fears have been diminished by this, and I don’t know how to thank you. However, I don’t want to sign those papers. Please keep the building in your name.”
“No. I know you’re going to fight me on rent, and damn it, Aurora, I’m not doing that. You are not paying me a fucking dime.”
“Okay,” I agree. “I won’t fight you on it. But please keep it. If something happens.”
“I’ll sign it over to you. But, baby, nothing is going to happen. You and me, we’re forever.”
Forever. My heart stutters in my chest, and hope blooms. I want Grant to be my forever. I want everything life throws at us, because I know with Grant by my side, we can tackle anything. “I’ll buy it from you. Once this money situation is figured out, I’ll buy it from you. The bank is telling me another two weeks.”
A slow, sexy grin lights up his face. “Deal. I get to name the price.”
“Grant Riggins, you can’t say something crazy like a dollar,” I warn him.
“Oh, no. I’ve got a price in mind.”
“Let’s hear it,” I say, glancing over at my sister, who I see is also crying. She smiles, wiping her tears, and shrugs.
“I want all your kisses. From today, and for our lifetime, I get all of your kisses.”
“You’ll get those anyway.”
“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
“And if I don’t take it?”
“I put the place in Aspen’s name.”
“She won’t sign it.” I glance over at my sister, who is grinning. “Tell him you won’t sign it.”
“No. I’m sorry, dear sister, but I can’t do that. He’s just given you the grand gesture of all grand gestures. I’ll sign the papers and then find a way to give it to you.”
“Traitor.”
She laughs.
“Do we have a deal?”
Everything I’ve ever wanted and never thought I’d have is sitting here in front of me. Grant is my lifeline and he’s asking me to reach out and grab it.
Hot tears threaten to fall, but I push them back, square my shoulders, and look the man I love in the eye, sealing our fate with the promise of our future. “Yeah,” I say, relenting. “We have a deal.”
He leans in and presses his lips to mine. His hand slides behind my neck as he holds me close. I get lost in his kiss. In the love that we have. I will forever be grateful for the day that Grant Riggins walked into my bakery. Kiss by kiss, he’s stolen my heart, and I never want to know what a day in my future looks like without him in it.
When we finally pull out of the kiss, I notice Aspen has disappeared. “I need you,” I tell him. I don’t know where my sister is, but I don’t care if she heard me.
“Tell me when and where.”
“Can we go to your place?” I don’t want Aspen to have to listen to us, and the way I’m feeling right now, so overcome with the need for this man, I know I won’t be able to be quiet.
“Let’s go.”
I grab my purse from behind the counter and send Aspen a text letting her know we’re going to Grant’s, and telling her that I love her. I don’t know if I would have gone through with this adventure had it not been for Aspen coming along, and it’s been the best thing to ever happen to me. He is the best thing to ever happen to me.
The drive to his place is full of sexual tension. At least for me. He keeps glancing over at me with those blue eyes of his, and the look he gives me… it’s carnal. Not only that, his thumb is tracing lazy circles on my palm, and his touch, it’s igniting a fire deep inside me. I’m more turned on than I have ever been in my entire life. However, Grant doesn’t seem fazed. He pulls his SUV into the garage, and with leisurely steps, he makes his way to the passenger door. His hand lands on the small of my back, and the heat from his touch is searing, even through my clothes.