Page 103 of Single-Minded
“I do.”
“You told the girls that?”
He nodded. “I did, but I explained that didn’t automatically mean we were gonna get married, because that’s where their minds go. I told them people need to date and really get to know each other and see whether it would work to be a family.”
I stepped a little closer, feeling light enough that I might actually lift off the ground like a helium-filled balloon. This man loved me? “Tell me again.”
“I love you, Presley.”
I breathed in his scent, feasted my eyes on his familiar, beloved face, sliding my hands up his solid chest and settling them at the back of his neck. “I love you too, West.”
The next thing I knew, his arms were around me, pulling me in tight to him, and his lips were all over mine. That familiar taste of him, feel of him… It intoxicated me, made me dizzy in the best possible way.
We both pulled back at the same time, breathing hard. Then we laughed.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he said.
“Same.”
“I drove hundreds of miles away on a trip that should’ve been nothing but magic, but all I could think about was you.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know how you got under my skin and into my heart so completely and so quickly, but you did. I don’t want to live without you anymore, Presley.”
I gazed into his eyes. “I had a really super-good day, but I have to say, you’re blowing it out of the water.”
“Congratulations, by the way. This place looks incredible. You, Presley Holiday, are inspiring and amazing and exactly the kind of woman I want my daughters exposed to.”
“That’s a giant compliment.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I flicked his chest at the ma’am. “So where do we go from here?”
“Ah. Come with me.” He took my hand and pulled me toward the kitchen, then out to the front room.
Magnolia looked between West and me, noted our entwined hands, and sent me a knowing smile. “You found her, I see,” she said to West.
“Yes, I did, and thank God for that,” he muttered as he kept walking out from behind the counter.
That’s when I noticed Nova, Sienna, and Scarlet at the raffle table with Hadley, each of them apparently writing their names on tickets to put in the kids’ drawing.
“Miss Presley!” Scarlet abandoned her entry and ran over to us.
She threw her arms around my legs, and a crazy, happy laugh burst out of me.
“Hey, girls. It’s great to see my favorite smart-girl brigade,” I said.
Nova was next for hugs. Sienna painstakingly finished her raffle ticket, stuck it in the box, and turned to us with a wide smile.
“Miss Presley, your coffee shop looks beautiful,” Sienna exclaimed.
I hugged her, aware that everyone in the place was watching us, but if West didn’t care, then I didn’t care. Judging by the gorgeous smile on his face as he watched us, he was not bothered one bit.
“Girls, do you remember what you’re supposed to say?” he prompted.
With deliberateness and fanfare, they lined up, side by side.
