Page 75 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

Air was for sissies who’d never met a woman like Hannah.

She slid out of his arms and stood in front of him, hands on her hips. “I thought you were going to try and reform your awful, meddlesome, argumentative ways?”

“Nope.” He gave her a big grin to hide his nervousness. “You have to love me just the way I am, because most of the time I’m right.”

“Good.”

“What?”

“Don’t change a single thing about your meddlesome, bratty self.” She waggled a finger at him, her eyes twinkling, and man, he wanted to kiss her.

Instead he released the laugh that had built up in his chest, his heart lifting, his tension ebbing. He ran the pad of his index finger down her nose, then gave it a light tap before slipping one hand to her hip and the other against her neck, his thumb caressing her jaw. “And why should I stay like this and not reform?”

She narrowed her eyes as though he was laying a trap, her body leaning into his. “Because I love you, you big, bossy know-it-all. You were right about my life.”

She said something else but his ears had stopped working.

She loved him.

Hannah Murphy loved him.

She let out a quick, loud sigh as though already regretting what she was saying. It didn’t matter. His brain was already doing celebratory laps around his skull, chanting that she loved him. That was all he ever needed to hear.

“You pushed me to start making changes,” she said with a huff, and he focused on her again. “They’re small and potentially disruptive, but I’m fairly sure they’ll pay off.” She finished huffing and met his eyes. “And I hope that you’ll be here to watch them happen.”

“I will,” he said, pulling her tight against him with both arms. “Always. No other place I’d rather be.”

She leaned back, splaying her palms against his chest. He reminded himself to be patient. That Hannah made decisions a lot slower than he did. But when she made them, he knew she’d be locked in.

“You also need to know that I’m not some big adventure,” she said, her tone slightly scolding. “I like living here, and I like being a mom and having things in my life just so.”

“You don’t know me very well, do you?”

“Um, you spend more time in the air in a week than most people do in a lifetime.”

“Hannah, you’re all the adventure I need. Plus you’re more adventure than you realize.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You keep me on my toesallthetime.”

She laughed, then tipped her head to the side, giving him a look best described as Mom-is-amused-but-trying-to-act-unimpressed. She was adorable.

“Sometimes, Hannah,” he said in a confiding tone, “a man roams the earth and does crazy things like jumping out of planes because there is no one waiting for him at home. There’s no one to hold his hand and snuggle against him while watching some cheesy romantic flick. There’s no one lighting up when he walks in the door. No one to share his secrets and dreams with. And so he keeps looking. Keeps going on these adventures in hopes of chasing away the emptiness inside. Taking risks and trying to find a way to light up that dark void.”

He gathered her hands from his chest and cupped them between his own, whispering, “Hannah Murphy, you chase away my emptiness. You challenge me to think differently, and you are all the adventure a man like me will ever need.”

Her eyes grew damp and Louis’s heart felt about eight million times too large for his body. It was the most brilliant, wonderful feeling in the world.

“I don’t believe you,” she muttered huskily.

“Believe me. Because I’m here to stay.”

“Why, though?” She seemed thoroughly baffled, as if blind to the power she held over him.

“Because I love you.”

She stared at him for a long moment, as though searching for more of an explanation. That would come in time, because some things you simply couldn’t put into words. They had to be experienced.

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