Page 88 of All I Need

Because the woman walking down the stairs with eyes only for me is my future.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, clutching my chest.

My reaction causes her steps to falter and she looks down at herself. All she’s wearing is a simple navy blue and white sundress. The hem falls slightly above her knee and her shoulders are bare. My eyes fall to her feet and the pair of flip flops. Her shiny dark blonde hair falls in a straight sheath across her shoulders. I can tell she’s wearing eye makeup but very little. Her plump lips are a shiny pink.

I can’t stop staring.

She’s mine. Those two words flip over in my head a few times before they settle in my gut. She might not know it yet, but she is. How any man let her go truly boggles my mind. But every single part of her they tried to break, only made her that much stronger. And I plan to make her heart forget every single second she spent with them.

“Do I need to change?”

“Don’t you dare. You look so beautiful you made my heart skip a beat.”

She smiles brightly. “Thank you. You look pretty amazing, too.”

The second her feet touch the bottom step I tug her to me, bringing her body flush with me. I lightly graze my knuckles against the soft skin of her cheek before wrapping my hand around the back of her neck.

I kiss her on the lips once. Twice. Three times and I know it will never be enough but I pull back, because I also know that I want more.

“Ahem, I’m still here! Now… get out of here before I witness something that’s going to make me want to bleach my eyes.”

Ellie giggles and walks over to hug Miss Polly goodbye. “I’m not waiting up.”

Miss Polly releases Ellie and marches over to me, gestures to me to get closer then whispers, “Do I need to throw out her birth control pills or poke a hole in your condoms?”

“Polly,” I groan.

“What?” The look on her face tells me that she’s only joking but still. Geesh.

“You’re terrible.”

She winks and saunters off to the kitchen.

“What was that about?” Ellie asks me as I walk her to the door.

I drape an arm over her shoulders and pull her in close, kissing her temple. “Polly’s losing her mind,” I chuckle. “Told me to knock you up so you’ll stay around.”

Her body goes stiff underneath me and I realize I just overstepped. I might be all in, ready to charge full steam ahead in a relationship with her but I don’t know where she’s at. It’s obviously too soon for her. I stop walking and turn us so we’re facing each other. “Hey, she was only joking around. We like having you here but there’s no way I would ever do such a thing. You trust me on that, right?”

It takes her a few seconds to respond but when she does, I don’t feel all that much better. “Yeah, I trust you won’t trick me into getting pregnant.”

I wanted tonight to be perfect. For us to get to know each other better but also for her to realize that I’m not like her exes.

“Ellie…”

“It’s fine, Walker. I know she was just messing around.”

I hate that our evening is starting out on a shitty note. I pull her in close next to my pickup. “Talk to me.”

After a few quiet moments she asks, “Do you want children?”

“I’ve never felt like I was missing anything in my life.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I know. I don’t want to freak you out, though.”

“You won’t.”

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