His brows shot up. “Are you sure? I know how much being a prosecutor has meant to you.”
“I went into law so I could make a positive impact,” she told him. “After seeing firsthand the terror this family experienced…”
“There are going to be a lot of people you can’t help, Elle,” he told her, knowing all too well the challenges she might face.
She sighed and shook her head. “If I can help just one woman have a better life, help one child escape that kind of situation before it comes to what happened today…”
Gabe’s heart swelled with pride for the woman in his arms. He’d never known anyone quite as strong or resilient. She’d been through hell, and instead of dwelling on her own trauma, all she could think about was how she might continue to help others.
When she fell silent, snuggling in tighter against him, he smoothed his fingertips along her arm, trying to push away the images of just how wrong things could’ve gone earlier that day, how close he’d come to losing this incredible woman, how close the world had come to being deprived of the light she brought to the lives of so many.
He sighed, realizing he’d completely underestimated her. “I’m sorry, Elle.”
She frowned at him. “For what?”
“For thinking you needed a knight in shining armor.” He brushed her hair from her face. “You were right when you said I can’t constantly worry that something could happen to you, that I might not be able to protect you.”
She rose up on her elbow and scooted up higher on the mattress so that she could look down at him. “You saved my life that day at the courthouse without a moment’s hesitation,” she reminded him. “And odds are good that you saved my life again today. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I don’t know what would’ve happened. So while it’s true I may not need a knight in shining armor, I do need you, Gabe Dawson. But I want you as a partner in whatever this is between us, as my lover and my friend—not just as my handsome hero.”
“I think I can promise that,” Gabe assured her, tucking a lock of her fiery hair behind her ear. “But you have to promise me one thing first.”
She gave him a cautious look out of the corner of her eye. “What’s that?”
“That you’ll stop referring to ‘whatever this is between us’ as if you don’t know what it is.”
She flushed, and her green eyes grew darker as she whispered, “What is this then, Gabe?”
He caressed her bottom lip with this thumb, knowing that, in a moment, he was planning to taste them again and lose himself in the bliss he could only find in her arms. “This is forever,” he told her. “I love you, Elle. And I can’t imagine ever loving anyone else.”
A slow smile curved her lips as he drew her down to receive his kiss. “I love you, too,” she murmured against his mouth. “And forever sounds about right…”
Epilogue
“Where are we going?”
Gabe grinned at her. “It’s a surprise.”
“And I needed to be blindfolded for said surprise?”
“Yep.”
Elle had no idea what to expect. After a year together, Gabe still surprised her. She found herself falling in love with him over and over again every single day.
“What are you grinning about?” he asked. She could tell even without seeing him that he was smiling too.
“How much I love you.”
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Well, hold that thought for two more minutes. We’re almost there.”
“Okay, but don’t forget we’re supposed to be back by noon to meet Jessica and the kids for lunch,” she reminded him, having lost all sense of how long they’d been in the car. “You’re helping Teddy learn to ride his bike today.”
“Haven’t forgotten,” he assured her. “I have his new bike in the trunk so we can go straight there after your surprise. And I even remembered the helmet, and the elbow guards and kneepads, and the special training wheels that are on springs, and—”
“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “You’re a wonderful godfather.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I love those kids—they make it easy. And it’s good practice.”
“Practice?” she echoed, her pulse kicking up a notch, not wanting to presume too much.
“Yeah, you know, for when I have little monkeys of my own running around some day.” There was moment of tense silence before he announced, “We’re here.”
Elle couldn’t mistake the note of relief in his voice. A few seconds later, Gabe stopped the car and came around to her door to take her hand and help her out. Elle frowned when she felt that his hand was uncharacteristically clammy.
Is he nervous?
She felt him take a deep breath and let it out on a short burst. “Okay. Ready?”