Page 138 of Almost Love

She reached for a cup and sniffed it. Then her eyebrows lifted as she realized what he’d done. “You made filter coffee.”

“Took me only a million tries, but I think I got it right.”

She took a sip and when her eyes slipped shut on a soft moan, he knew he’d figured it out. “This is incredible.”

“As are you,” he admitted softly and she blinked up at him. Sighing, he set the other coffee and flowers down, so he would have his hands free. “I’m sorry.”

“No.”

“What?”

Clementine shook her head and set her coffee on the floor as well. “Ishould be apologizing.”

“No.”

“Stop it.”

“Chef, please.”

“Rude,” she whispered, but he didn’t miss the way she trembled at the term.

“Look, we both messed up and I accept your apology, but you were not wrong for reacting the way you did. Yes, you only heard a portion of my conversation, but know that the only thing I’ve been sure of in my life over the last ten years is you. I’d been talking to Lucas, my client, about you for weeks. You met him, remember?” When she nodded, he took a small step forward and continued. “What he said, that it’sjust sex,is not even close to the truth. It’s never been just anything with you. It’s beeneverything.”

“It has been everything,” she agreed, mouth turned down slightly.

“I hate that hearing two words made you feel like what we had was nothing. It doesn’t even matter what you missed hearing me saying because I’m going to repeat that to you every day for as long as you’ll have me. I loved and hated every minute of our deal. I loved that I could be with you, kissing and touching and fucking you. But I hated that I couldn’tloveyou the way I wanted to. The way you deserve to be loved. And baby, I am fucking obsessively in love with you.”

A giggle burst out of her and he smiled.

“God, I missed that sound. I missedyou.”

“I missed you too, Oak,” she admitted softly, eyes twinkling as she stared up at him.

His fingers itched to touch her, to brush against her soft cheeks and into her thick hair, to trace down her neck and around her waist to pull her lush body against his. But he needed to get all these words out first.

“You, Clementine Jane Kinney, are the center of my universe. You’re the only person I have ever loved. Every day, every minute, every fucking second spent with you was special to me. Every day apart was pretty much torture. You infused my life with so much joy and I never want that feeling to go away.”

Her breath hitched, but he didn’t let her get any words out, because he kept speaking.

“I want it all with you, Clem. The good, the bad, the ugly, the mess and everything in between. I want you for the long haul. I want us to make cakes together, figure out donut flavors and find new ways to make each other scream.” When her lips parted, he took his shot and cupped her face, thumb brushing over her bottom lip as she leaned into his touch. “I love you, Clementine. I have never loved anyone like this before. Every scowl and growl, every roll of your eyes and hidden smirk; I have savored them all. I love your grumpiness and that you only smile when you want to. I love how you take care of the people in your life without expecting anything in return. I love that you would lay down your life for those you love, because that’s just who you are.

“I was running away from my past, looking for something meaningful and somewhere to belong, and I found you. The first time I saw you, you were frosting cupcakes in a yellow coat with icing in your hair, arms and face. In that moment, I knew…fuck, I knew, that this was where I was meant to be. In your town, in your proximity and hopefully, in your life.”

Tears hit his hand and he smiled, realizing that he was crying as well. Clementine sniffled and rolled her eyes, which made this moment even better.

“Not even my dark parts and complicated bits scared you. You stayed close and held on, you fed me, cared for me and in your own way, loved me. I know neither of us planned for this, but having you in my life might just be the best plot twist.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being called aplot twist,” she whispered and turned her head to kiss his palm.

He saw the moment she noticed the tattoos, because she went still. She twisted his forearm to face her and he smiled as Clementine traced the ink, fingers quivering.

“What…what are these?”

“My Clementine tattoos.”

CHAPTER 37

Trust Oakley to foil her plans to apologize. He hadClementine Tattoos. She’d stopped breathing a long time ago—somewhere between his first admission of love and confessing it was love at first sight—and seeing the colorful tattoos had prompted her to suck in a sharp breath. Because he’d permanently altered his skin to include her.

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