Page 55 of Starting Our Chance

And without even thinking of it, I blurted out, “Marry me.” It wasn’t a question. I dropped to my own knees, right there in front of her. Although it was a sudden thought, I knew instinctively that it was the right one. Lore’s gray eyes widened. I leaned toward her and opened my arms ever so slightly. “I won’t tell you how to live your life, but I need to be there for you and to help you. You’re just going to have to learn to tell me how, Gorgeous.”

“You . . . you want to marry me?” Lore’s bottom lip trembled, but she managed to say, “I’m embarrassed to admit how many times I’ve day dreamed about that.”

A rough laugh escaped my throat, and I felt my shoulders relax ever so slightly. “Then just say ‘yes’ and let’s make this thing official.”

When her head bobbed in the smallest of nods, I grabbed for her. Pulling her close, I tipped her chin up so that we were mere inches apart. “I need to hear you say it.” My voice was gruff to my own ears.

“Yes, I’ll marry you, Duke—I want you. All of you.” Lore swallowed hard.

Bending down, I kissed her hard, crushing our bodies together. However, soon my cheeks were wet and as I pulled back ever so slightly, I saw the tears streaming down her face. But her lips were turned up in the biggest smile possible.

We’ll get through this.If we could survive everything we had already gone through, together we would make it through so much more. I wiped my thumb across her cheek and reached to do the same to the other, but she caught my hand and gently kissed it.

“I’m sorry—”

Whatever speech she had prepared was never spoken, though, because I didn’t let her say another word. She was here . . . for me. I captured her mouth again, forcing her to open up to me. Lore sighed into my kiss. The next moment, our hands began to scurry under pieces of clothing. We were panting, furious to get at each other.

The way I felt about this woman was not a mere trifle. I was going to put a rock on her hand first thing tomorrow, but for now, I was going to hold her all night long. If this is how we end all our arguments, we’ll be just fine. I lifted Lore into my arms and carried her into my house. “This is your home, now—and it’s about damn time, because this is where you belong. I love you, Lore.”

“I love you too, Duke.” But she wasn’t looking at the no-expense spared remodel. Those gray eyes were fixed on me. It wasn’t until we were in my bedroom that she finally took a peek and laughed at the fresh coat of Nascar blue. “I’m so glad you kept it the same color.”

“It was the room we painted. It’s going to be our room,” I confided. And it would be. We would learn and overcome whatever stood in our way, so long as we did it together.

THE END

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