“Brody…”
He shook his head. “I have no excuse for not coming to see you in person. It may have been late or an inopportune time, but I should have come.” Raking a hand through his damp hair, he continued. “Being with you was never about a promotion or about polishing my reputation. You and I both know why we spent time together that first weekend, but after that it was simply about you and me and the fact that everything about you calls to me. Everything.”
She blushed and he took that as a good sign.
“I thought I knew everything I wanted for my life but it wasn’t until I met you that I realized how shallow and empty it all was. Then I brought you here and…everything fit.” His heart began to race and he knew his voice was a little shaky, but he didn’t stop. “For the last few weeks, I came home and felt lost and empty. Everything here felt cold and foreign. Then I came home tonight and it was like…warm and welcoming and so much more than I ever could have imagined.”
Slowly, he walked around the island until he was standing beside her. “I never understood what love was but that was because I hadn’t met you. You, my sweet, beautiful girl, are everything that love is. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner. I’m sorry I took it for granted.” Reaching out, he caressed her cheek and watched as her eyes filled with tears and hoped they were ones of happiness. “Leanna Baker, I love you so damn much. Please forgive me for not being the man you deserve and know I’m going to work hard every single day to be better. You are everything to me and I don’t think I can go through another day without you.”
“Oh my goodness,” she whispered as she reached up and gently touched his face. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say you forgive me and that you still love me. Tell me I haven’t ruined this because I need you so much. Right now. Tonight. Forever.”
She was shaking her head as her tears freely flowed. “I do love you. I don’t think I could ever stop. And I wouldn’t be here right now if I hadn’t forgiven you. Now you better kiss me because I need that more than anything.”
They were the best words anyone had ever spoken to him and this time when he leaned in to kiss her, it was slow and sweet–full of love.
Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “You own my heart.”
“That’s a good thing, because you own mine,” she said softly, kissing him one more time before stepping away. “But please have something to eat before the soup gets cold.”
His stomach chose that moment to growl loudly so he knew he needed to do as she asked. “Are you going to have anything with me?”
“I ate earlier. This is all for you. What can I get you to drink?”
“Believe it or not, a hot cup of tea sounds about perfect right now.”
“For me too.”
It was crazy how hungry he was and he felt bad about how he was so focused on his meal while Leanna talked to him about a wedding cake she was designing.
“I’m telling you, this bride has been a dream to work with. I wish they could all be like her. More often than not, they’re like my cousin.” She shuddered.
“Speaking of your cousin,” he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “It appears that the wedding is off.”
“No!”
Nodding, he told her, “Unfortunately–or should I say, fortunately–it is. Travis came to see me today and told me.”
“Oh, wow. Charlene must be devastated!”
He winced slightly and then started to laugh. “I’m not quite sure devastated is the right word. Furious seems a better fit.”
Leanna let out a small laugh and then stopped herself. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story and there are so many other things I’d like to talk to you about tonight. Would it be horrible if I told you about it tomorrow?”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “It’s fine. Although I should probably go in and change it on my schedule. I blocked out that entire weekend sort of like the engagement party just because I knew she would make me crazy up to the last minute.”
When she went to reach for her phone, Brody stopped her. “Don’t. Not yet. Maybe we can plan a little getaway for that weekend.”
A slow smile played at her lips. “Ooh…a getaway, huh? Like maybe to the coast for the weekend?”
This girl…
And because he was unable to resist, he leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. “If you were your cousin you would have immediately asked if we could go to London or Hawaii. God, I love you.”
Her giggle made him smile. “Well, that’s just not the way my brain works. I’m not looking for anything extravagant, as long as we’re together.”
And damn, that was such an unassumingly sexy statement.
Pushing his dinner dishes aside, he stood and held out his hand to her. “My plan for when I got home was to take a hot shower–which I’ve done–and crawl into bed.” Stepping in close, he kissed the sweet spot behind her ear that always made her shiver. “And I’d love nothing more than to crawl into bed with you.”
Her head slowly fell back as she let out a low hum. “I thought you’d never ask.”
His steps were slow and his exhaustion was starting to catch back up with him, but he fought it off. In the bedroom, Leanna turned to face him and slid her hands under his shirt and helped him take it off. Her warm breath on his chest felt so good. He anchored one hand in her hair and simply enjoyed the way her soft lips played across his skin. It seemed like far too long since she touched him like this. Next thing he knew, his pants were gone and he was kicking them away.
“Okay, sleepy man, crawl under those sheets,” she urged quietly and it took him a minute to realize what was happening.
“Wait…I thought…I wanted to…”
One slim finger covered his lips. “And we will. In the morning. You look like you are in desperate need of sleep.” The whole time she was talking, she was helping him into the bed and covering him. When she moved to the foot of the bed and slowly undressed, Brody almost hated how heavy his eyes felt.
But it was all worth it when she climbed in beside him and curled up in his arms, her head on his shoulder.
His favorite sleeping position.
And as much as he wanted to protest and roll her over and make love to her, Leanna was right. Tomorrow was another day and as cheesy as it sounded to someone like him, tomorrow was definitely the first day of the rest of their lives.
Together.
Never before had he been so excited and happy about what lay ahead and he couldn’t wait to start making plans. Because from here on out, Leanna was his main priority. Everything else could take care of itself.
He fell asleep with a smile on his face and slept better than he had in a long time.
He woke up with a smile on his face as well.
Leanna was slowly kissing her way down his body and it was the world’s greatest alarm clock. His hands tangled in her hair as he chanted that he must be dreaming.
Then she did things to him that let him know he was very much awake.
He would gladly look forward to waking up every day if it started out like this morning.