Page 63 of Loving You Always

“That’s good because, like I said, you’re stuck with me.” He paused before saying the next words as if he were weighing each one before it left his mouth. “When my dad retires, if the board doesn’t think I can do the job, they’ll find a way for me not to do the job. There are men older than me who’ve been at Bennett longer than I have, who feel they have just as much right to it as I do. And in many ways they’re right. Except it’s mine.”

The possessive word hung in the air between them. And Kerris could practically see the strands of DNA Walsh’s father had passed on to him.

“My father built that company from nothing, and he wants a Bennett running it when he’s done. And that’ll be me. Make no mistake about it.”

“Are you trying to scare me? Nothing you’ve said makes me love you less.”

“I don’t want to scare you. I want you to know me and to love me in spite of the parts of me that aren’t always good.”

“Oh, you mean the way you love me.”

“Baby, I love you every way there is.” He gently bit the curving bow of her top lip.

“We’re here.”

“This is your place?” She’d envisioned an apartment in the heart of the city. A high rise. Shiny, glass, doorman. This was a townhome. Three stories. Large and imposing, but charming. “Where are we?”

“TriBeCa. And, no, it’s not my apartment. It’s the house where I grew up. Well, at least until my parents divorced.”

“You live here? But I thought—”

“It’s a recent development. Come on.”

It was spacious, yet homey. Luxurious, yet quaint.

“It’s empty,” she said.

“For now. I was hoping…well, I was hoping you’d help me fill it.”

Fill it? With what? Furniture? Laughter? Love? Children? Where had all the bravado she’d shown Sofie gone? Miss “I’m Marrying Walsh Bennett” almost lost her dinner as soon as he mentioned a future. She had to make it through divorce court before she could even entertain “filling” this house with anything. She feigned interest in the gleaming hardwood floors.

“These are beautiful.” She deliberately didn’t look at him, provoking a deep, amused rumble from his broad chest.

“Yes, they’re great floors.” He lifted her chin to look at him instead of the hardwoods, a small smile on his face. “Baby, that wasn’t a proposal.”

Her shoulders dropped with a little relief and a little disappointment.

He took her left hand, stroking the ring finger with his thumb.

“You’ll know when I’m proposing.” He kissed her empty finger. “Let me show you your room.”

They mounted the stairs and turned left. Walsh gestured to the right.

“The room I slept in growing up is that way,” he said. “You’ll be in my parents’ old room.”

“Oh, no, Walsh, you should have the master. I don’t want to put you out.”

“Do you honestly think I’m gonna sleep down the hall with you here?”

“Maybe I’ll lock you out!”

She took off running, and he chased her.

“You don’t even know which room it is.” He laughed behind her.

Kerris skittered down the hall in her precipitous heels, jerking open the first door she came to, dashing in only to skid to a stop. It was a huge bedroom with a large bed at its center. The far wall was made almost entirely of glass, providing a glorious view of the city’s distant skyline. She walked over to the window, pressing her palm flat to the glass. The city really was captivating. She thought of Rivermont, with its quaint shops, busybodies, and the river as its pulsing, life-giving heart. She wished she could live in two places at once, inhabit two worlds.

“It’s beautiful.” She heard the wistful note in her own voice.

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