Page 166 of Rags to Royals

“I also stood up to my dad. In the middle of the coffee shop. In front of a bunch of his cronies.”

Now Cian lifts his head. “That’s amazing. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

I nod. “It felt so good.”

“You’re incredible.”

I grip his forearms, stopping him for a moment. “But that means we need to stay in Emerald. For a while. At least until Mariah graduates. I want to make a differencethere. Other places too, but there for sure. I want to show people what loving your neighbor and caring about their livesreallylooks like. Not telling them how to live, not judging their decisions, but supporting how they choose to live and just helping them do that the best way they can. And,” I swallow. “Admitting that we all need help sometimes so that they can know how good it feels to help others too. I want to give people an alternate community if and when they realize that my dad’s church isn’t what they want. But I want to be obvious about it. Loud about it. Joyous about it. So no one misses it.”

“Incredible,” he repeats. His voice is gruff. He’s looking at me with a true admiration I’ve never seen before.

“You’ll stay there with me?”

“It would be the honor of my life to do all of that with you, Scarlett.”

Yeah, not just my ovaries tingle at that.

“Really?”

He rests his forehead on mine. “You’ve had this power all along my beautiful, amazing witch.”

I smile even though tears are stinging my eyes. “That’s a Wizard of Oz quote. Kind of.”

He nods. “It is. And it’s so damned appropriate.” He kisses my forehead then leans back, looking into my eyes. “You don’t need me for any of this. You can do all of this all by yourself.But if you are going to invite me to come along and witness you work your magic and make the world a better place? Yes. With my whole fucking heart and soul.”

My entire body feels like it melts and I lean into him. “I love you.”

“I’m so,soglad.”

“You are incredible too,” I tell him. “I thinkwe’repretty magical together.”

He looks so touched by that, I put my hand against his cheek and kiss him softly.

When he pulls back, he studies me for a moment. Then he kneels, strips my clothes the rest of the way off of me, stands again, and picks me up.

My legs automatically wrap around his waist, and he carries me into his bathroom.

He sets me down as he leans in to turn on the shower.

Oh, a shower after the long flight and everything sounds great. But then I turn and…

“Oh myGod.”

He looks over. Then laughs. “Later. No time for that now.”

“But…Cian…”

The bathtub in this room is absolutely magnificent.

It’s practically a small swimming pool. There are three steps leading up to it. The massive window behind it looks out over the rocky cliff that falls off to the ocean. There are jets all the way around the tub, built in seats, andthreedifferent depths.

I could stay in that thing for days.

Suddenly I’m swept up into Cian’s arms.

A naked Cian’s arms.

He steps into the shower with me.

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