Page 88 of The Good Guy on My Porch

His smile widened, and I found it suddenly hard to breathe. The love I felt for him, the joy in his presence, was so overwhelming as to be frightening. He took another step toward me and cupped my face with one hand. “Does that mean I can kiss you?”

I nodded, unable to speak. This was going so much better than I’d hoped. Before I could congratulate myself, his lips were on mine, his free hand was holding my head to pull me tighter against him. I got lost in his kiss and I gave into the feeling instead of pulling back, instead of maintaining a distance. Loving someone was terrifying, but it was worth the risk, because the alternative, never loving Oscar, never feeling his arms around me or his lips on mine again, was unthinkable. “I love you,” he said, pulling away only enough to be able to speak.

“I love you, too,” I said. “Do you think we could try the dating thing again?”

“Nope,” he said. My heart dropped for a moment until I realized he hadn’t let me go and he was smiling like he’d never been happier. “We’re going to rock dating so hard everyone else in town will be jealous. We’re going to skip straight over trying to date to being a bona fide couple because I don’t want to go one more day without calling you my girlfriend.”

Tears filled my eyes and my lower lip quivered.

He faltered. “If you’re okay with that. If you aren’t ready—”

I grabbed his head and pulled him in for another toe-curling, life-changing kiss. “I’m more than ready,” I said when we came up for air again. “I’m so ready I brought Buddy here to convince you if you tried to turn me down.”

Oscar laughed and tossed the box of muffins onto a chair, so he could wrap both arms around me and hug me tight. “I love you and Buddy and I’m never letting either of you go ever again.”

The sound of a throat clearing interrupted our reunion and we turned to see Oscar’s receptionist and a customer watching us, both grinning. “Congratulations,” the customer, a man in a suit, said.

“Thanks,” Oscar said. He looked at the woman behind the counter. “Do you think you could handle things here for a bit? I’d like to walk Dilly and Buddy home.”

The woman waved and gave us a saucy wink. “Take all the time you need.”

Oscar grabbed his muffins, linked his fingers through mine, and walked us out into the bright sunlight. “If I take all the time I need,” he said. “I’ll never come back.”

I laughed and wrapped my arm around his waist as we walked down the street, my heart light, the sun warm, and the future brighter than it had ever been before.

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