Page 90 of Only for Love

I brush her ear with my lips. “The things I could do to you in five minutes.”

Her breath sucks in quietly, and as I stand up and head for my seat, it’s not lost on me that her pink cheeks and dreamy, soft brown eyes are now rabidly hungry.

Her blue Jeep is a boxy older model but impeccably well cared for. There’s a dream catcher hanging from the mirror and a photo of her and Cally on the center console. I slide into my seat, push my chair back, and reposition the mirrors. A sense of making myself comfortable in her life settles over me.

Emma’s fiddling with the radio, and I back out the driveway and head for her parents’ house. The wrapped notebook is stashed between the center console and me, and I catch her glancing at it.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

I take her hand and wish I could fulfill every hope she’s ever dared dream. “It’s really not much.”But it’s everything to me.“Something I should have given you long ago.”

“Oh.” She raises an eyebrow. “Any hints?”

How to explain what’s in that notebook? “No words to describe what’s in there.”

***

Emma

The drive’s a short one. Grayson pulls into my folks’ driveway as if he does it every day, and thenhejumps out to unbuckle Cally. It’s enough to make my ovaries scream “Oh my God.” Seriously. He’s this gorgeous, massive beauty of a man, and now he’s talking gibberish with my—our—daughter.

“There you go.” He pats her on the back, and I can tell he took that moment to give her a hug. The loopy look on his face makes my insides go mushy.

She makes her stuffed puppy say “thank you” and runs off up to my parents’ front door. He turns to watch, his green eyes glowing with unsaid emotion, and I’m melting all over the place. There’s nothing sexier than a hot guy and a cute kid.Nothing. So, to watch the man that I adore hug our daughter for the first time… it transcends all other sentiments I’ve felt for him. It’s epic.

Grayson beams and throws his arm around my shoulder. “Gave my girl a hug. Nothing else matters today.”

“She hugged you back.” My throat catches, and I lean into him. Cally has never known a father, but there is a connection between the two of them already.

“Ready?”

My gaze falls on the house, a place I think of as Cally’s fun house. There’s a room dedicated to her with a rocking horse and cowgirl hat, a mini-slide, dolls, and games. It pretty much looks like a toy store threw up in there. But this is where I grew up, where Grayson was by my side almost every day. I fell in love with him in that house; we shared our first kiss in my room.

“Gamma!” Cally slaps the door. “Gamma. Hwello.”

We follow behind, slowly walking up the sidewalk. Gray’s hand takes mine as I think about how I like him in my driver’s seat, how I like him unbuckling Cally, how I like him being part of everyday life. Knowing where we’re probably going, together in a forever kind of relationship, gives me the tingles. Even though I’ve only had days to take in this new reality, I know it’s the future.

But despite all that, nervous butterflies tornado in my belly. I have no idea what will happen between Ryan, my dad, and Grayson.Oh, God… “I’m gonna puke.”

He chuckles low and squeezes my hand. A rush of goose bumps erupts over my shoulders, shooting down my spine.

“Don’t do that.” His voice is so calm, so steadfast that I actually take a semi-normal breath.

His thumb slides over my knuckles as I hang on to him with everything I’ve got. “Grayson, wait.”

We stop midway up the sidewalk. “I have so much to tell you before we walk in there.”

A playful half grin curls on his face. “Right now?”

I nod, adamant that he has to hear how I feel. I have to arm him with the knowledge of how deeply I care before we go in there.

“Okay. Shoot, baby.”

“You’re not just my best friend, not just the father of my daughter. You’re the love of my life.” My thoughts are rushed, and I want them to sound perfect. “I haven’t explained that to you since you came home.” The pulse in my neck rushes. “I can’t seem to get the words to come out right. What’s in my head isn’t what I’ve said.” I take a deep breath and plunge forward. “I need to say I love you. But what I mean isI love you—in a way that defies definition and exists only in a world that you and I are in. I’m in deep for you, and I just need you to know that before we go in there.”

His eyes fire, and their intensity makes me feel as if I have angel wings, as if I can do no wrong though I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to pull off even semi-okay.

Thick arms wrap me into a muscled hug so consuming tears spring into my eyes. His lips press against the top of my head, and he breathes in deep. “You smell like sunshine.”

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