Page 65 of Hothead

He flashed her a sexy lopsided smile. “I like having your things out. It makes the place feel more like a home.”

She turned back to the shelf to pick up her bright blue shark bottle opener. She’d snagged it in Sydney. Shark in hand, she began waving it at Luke. “This? This makes your place feel more like a home?”

“This”—he quickly swiped the bottle opener from her—“this is a part of you, angel. A part of your life. Which means I love it. And I want to look at it every day. And for the millionth time, it’s notmyplace, it’sours.”

“You love the shark?” she asked incredulously. She was not convinced.

“I love the shark.” He grinned.

“And the troll doll?”

“And the troll doll,” he repeated, a short laugh leaving his lips.

“And the—”

He cut her off, taking her hand, pulling her into him, and covering her mouth. “I’m gonna save us time and tell you that I love them all. Everything, sweetheart.”

She shot him a look. The one that called bullshit. Even with her mouth covered, she was pretty sure she was pulling it off.

“Do you know why I kitted this place out with designer shit and fancy gadgets?”

James Bond fan?

She had no idea. Her mouth was still covered, so her smartass reply was out, which meant she could only shake her head. She realized, a moment later, was for the best as his expression grew more serious.

“Growing up,” he continued, “I never had anything nice. Anything expensive. I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I’m sure you can relate.”Yup.“Well, when I started earning, I promised myself that my life would be different from now on. Where I lived would be clean. I’d own nice things. And most importantly, I wanted a home. I’d never had one before. No one had ever given me that chance.”

He was breaking her heart.

“So I saved. I worked my ass off. And I bought this place. Filled it with fancy shit. Got a cleaner to come every week. But do you know the one thing I couldn’t buy? The one thing this place is missing?” He dropped his hand then, his dark gaze boring into her, waiting for her to speak.

“A troll doll?” a playful smile started to spread.

“No, Bella.” Luke’s smile was back and so was the twinkle in his eyes. “You. You were the one thing this place was missing. You were the missing piece. The key to making it a home.”

She was beaming now. Happiness warming her insides and hope blooming in her chest. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave the troll doll out. You win.”

Wrapping her hands around his neck, she gave him a tug until his head dropped. She wasted no time pulling him into a kiss. A kiss that made everything worth it.

***

Six weeks later

Bella was back at theEvans ranch, and it felt surreal. Three months ago, she’d driven up this very driveway, completely unaware that by doing so, her life would be forever changed. But in a good way of course. Hence, the humongous smile on her face as Luke tagged her hand and led them up to the main house.

Tonight, was Zach and Libby’s rehearsal dinner. Tomorrow, they would be getting married. And Bella could not wait. She’d never, ever, ever been to a wedding before.

Because you’ve never had any friends.

Right. No friends meant no wedding invites. But now she had actual living friends, and they were all dying to get married. Jackpot.

“Wade!” she squealed as she dropped Luke’s hand and ran into her friend’s arms.

Wade had to be her favorite of all her newfound friends. And it wasn’t because she’d gotten to know him outside of her relationship with Luke either. There was just something so calming about the man. He kind of reminded her of a little old lady, not that she’d ever tell him that. He just had all of those quirky traits, like wisdom, kindness, and let’s not forget, massive freaking gossip. Oh, and he was big on home comforts too, which meant the man hardly ever left the ranch. One of the reasons, Bella guessed, why he was still single.

“Well, hello to you too, darlin’.” Wade chuckled.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Luke teased, raising his hands in the air, “you just go on right ahead and start throwing yourself at other men.”

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