“You hit him.” The surprise in her voice startled him.
He drew back and searched her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I saw you, and then he said that shit…Laney, you can’t marry him. I know I don’t deserve you—I have never committed to a single damn woman—except for you. I’ve stayed true to our pact, Laney. For thirteen years. That has to count for something.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and he pressed his lips to hers.
“Please, let me finish. All I know is that I’m capable of loving only one woman, Laney, and that’s you. I love you. I’ve always loved you. I want you to have the future you deserve, but I want to be the man who gives it to you. And I’m sorry it took some other guy’s proposal for me to get that, but, hell, Laney.” His shoulders fell forward with the admission. “That’s all I’ve got. My heart belongs to you. You either want it or you don’t.”
She opened her mouth again, fresh tears in her eyes, and he kissed her to silence her again, needing to say one more thing.
“I don’t have a ring to give you, and I don’t always say or do the right things, but I love you, Laney. God, do I love yo—”
She pressed her lips to his, silencing him this time.
“I told Bryce I loved you, Jackson. I can’t marry him, or any other man. There’s only you.” She dropped her eyes to the ice cream container on the floor. “And ice cream. There’s always ice cream.”
He sealed his lips over hers, and their bodies melted together with all the passion and all the longing they’d both been holding back. He took her hand and led her toward the bedroom.
Laney stopped cold and dropped his hand before they even reached the bedroom door. Jackson’s heart stilled.
Her lips quirked up and mischief filled her eyes. “Ice cream,” she whispered with a devilish grin as she bent to retrieve the container from the floor.
“Now you’re thinking.” He pulled her in close and kissed her again. “Let’s call in sick tomorrow and head down to the courthouse so I can marry you before you change your mind.” He had no idea where the words had come from, but hell if they didn’t feel right. He wasn’t taking any more chances, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let the woman he loved get scooped up by some other asshole. He was her asshole, and he was damn proud of it.
She smiled, and it breathed life into his heart, lungs, and soul.
As he gazed into her eyes, she said, “No courthouse wedding. I want to get married in your backyard and say our vows where we first fell in love.”
He touched his lips to hers. “You’ve known I’ve loved only you all this time, haven’t you?”
“Everyone has, Jackson, except you.” She reached for him again and said, “Let’s call in sick anyway and stay in bed all day. You can show me how you’ve known it all this time, too.”
He swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. “Oh, my dirty, dirty girl. I do love you.”
—The End—