Page 42 of Chasing his Ex

“We are a proper family,” I say. “Families comprise lots of variations. Ours is no different. We can work it out to suit everyone.”

“And if I meet someone and have a family with her,” he says, almost knocking the air from my lungs. Just imagining him with someone else, her making him feel like she belonged to him with just a glance. And he wouldn’t hate her, he would want her regardless of whether they had a child.

“I expect Emmy will have half brothers and sisters to visit,” I say, swallowing the lump that appears in my throat, because as hard as this is, Emmy has to be number one and two parents that are at each other’s throats because of the past wouldn’t be in her interest. “We’ll work it out, as long as it works with your partner.”

His nostrils flare. “I don’t want someone else. You work for me,” he says.

I blink hard. “Finn.”

The second his name leaves my mouth, he bursts into flames. His lips slam against mine at the same time my back hits the wall. His hands grip my waist, then under my shirt, sliding over my belly and over my skin and I melt into his touch as his large warm hands splay across my back, pulling him closer to him, flattening his broad chest against me. I hold his cheeks as our tongues tangle with each other, battling for control.

Our kiss is electric, but this is crazy.

I tear my mouth from his and turn my head to the side, inhaling deep breaths of air into my lungs.

“Finn.” My voice comes out breathless. “We can’t do this.”

He doesn’t listen. His mouth sucks against the sensitive spot below my ear until I let out a moan.

This is an elevator in a high-rise building in London. If we don’t get it moving soon, there’s going to be hundreds of firefighters making their way here.

I press the red button on the elevator, and the car moves again. Because as much as it is wild what we’re doing, it’s also crazy for all the wrong reasons.

He slams his hand on the button and the elevator shudders—so do I.

It’s unbearable, the way he looks at me now. It’s want stirred with a mixture of doubt and something else I can’t work out. And it takes every last bit of my strength to stop myself from leaping on him.

“One more try.” His eyes scan my face, and for a moment, he gives away a hint of despair. “I’m glad you took my father’s money. It probably helped you. I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at him for keeping Emmy away from me. I’m angry that my mother knew too.”

I gasp.

“They tried to explain that they thought you were trying to trap me. They thought I slept with hundreds of girls,” he says and laughs. “Then hearing I had only had sex with you in my entire life. I wanted no one else.”

For the first time, I know why I can’t walk away. Why I could never let myself want to be with someone else—especially when he hated me? It made no sense.

He sighs, his minty breath tempting me closer. “I’m not asking for anything more than a chance. One last try.” His eyes are pleading. “It was always you.”

He looks so damn sincere. I momentarily worry my knees will give out. I suck in a deep breath, but my voice goes shallow. “You too, but...”

“There are no buts. We did everything so fucking right, but at the same time, messed it up massively. We both made wrong choices, good choices, and we're still here. Two people who always loved each other, and no time apart, changed that.”

Finn lights a fire in me that leaves my skin hot, but I can’t shake the tiny knot at the pit of my stomach.

I don’t know what it is.

“You never asked why I took you to my parents’ cabin that night,” he says, taking a box out of his pocket.

“Finn,” I whisper.

He drops onto one knee, opens the box. I gasp. “Ava, I knew the moment I met you, you were the one. And I lied to you when I told you I hate you. How can I, when all I could ever do is love you?” He hesitates for a moment. “I was going to ask you to marry me that weekend four years ago because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I still feel the same way now as I did then, and that feeling will never end. I want lots more children with you. I want to grow old with you. But more than anything, I want to be your husband.” He hesitates again, staring at my face. “Please marry me. You are my forever.”

We gaze at each other for a long time, both breathing until he puckers his lips gently, waiting.

I nod my head. “Yes,” I whisper. Because it would’ve taken all the strength I had to turn him down.

Not that I want to.

I take his hand, pulling him off the floor. His mouth crashes into mine.

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