Page 88 of Falling for the Bad Boy
I nodded, wanting to hear the words out loud.
“I love you, Trinity Ryan. I don’t deserve you, especially not after what I’ve done, but if you’ll forgive me, I plan on spending the rest of my life making it up to you.”
Happiness like I’d never known radiated out from my center, sending warmth through my veins. “I love you, too.” I put my hands on his shoulders, finally letting myself believe that there may be a happily-ever-after just for me.
His smile broadened as he lowered his lips to mine.
Epilogue
TRINITY
I wrapped my arms around my waist as I stood outside of the international arrivals at Terminal Five of Chicago’s O’Hare airport. It had been six months since I’d set eyes on Oliver. Six months since I’d felt the hard planes of his chest under my cheek. So much had happened in that amount of time.
Finally, the doors parted, and I caught a glimpse of his dark hair bobbing above a group of people. My mouth went dry even as my eyes began to water. What if things had changed between us over the time we’d spent apart?
But then he was there, standing in front of me, scooping me into his arms and twirling me around even as his mouth met mine. I clenched my arms around his shoulders, never wanting to let go. Passengers parted to go around us as we stood there for what seemed like hours, breathing each other in.
“You’re really here.” My words came out soft and breathy, which made sense since the sight of him pretty much knocked the wind right out of me.
His lips curved up into that grin I loved so much, and I lifted a finger to trace his smile. “Where else would I be? God, I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” The past six months had been hell without him. I’d thrown myself into my business and thank goodness I had. My sales had exploded, which is why I’d been able to justify bringing Oliver back on a full-time work visa. Even though he’d been half a world away, it had been his advice, his business acumen coupled with my creative instincts that had resulted in the phenomenal success of No Limits. There was no telling how things might take off now that we were actually in the same time zone.
“I can’t believe we’re really going to do this. Are you sure you want me around all day? Don’t you think we’ll get sick of each other?” He nudged his nose into my hair, sending goosebumps marching down my limbs.
“It’s too late now. I’ve got your visa, and you have a meeting with the historical development committee on Monday morning. They want to know more about the plans you have for the space next door now that Tapped moved out.”
His hand squeezed mine. “You have no idea how happy I am that I won’t be running into Wyatt on a daily basis.”
“Oh, we’re having dinner with him tomorrow night.”
Oliver pulled back, his brow furrowed. “Are you kidding me?”
“He wants to apologize. I told you we made peace.”
“Yeah, but I thought you meant you didn’t want to strangle him anymore. Not that we’d be joining him for beer and burgers.” Oliver shook his head.
“I think you’ll want to meet with him. He mentioned something about wanting to hire a certain freelance business consultant.” I bit back a smile. “One who can help him get that craft brewery started now that he’s in a space big enough to handle it.”
“I don’t know. He’s a snake. How would I ever be able to trust him?” He shook his head, dismissing the idea before he’d even had a chance to think it through.
“Keep an open mind. You don’t want to spend all of your time with me at the store now, do you?” My shoulder nudged into his. Honestly, nothing would make me happier than to have Oliver with me every single moment of every single day. But he needed something of his own. He had the same entrepreneurial drive that I did, probably even stronger. He wouldn’t be happy to sit back and help me build my business without having something of his own to nurture on the side. “Just think about it, okay?”
“Later. Right now, the only thing I want to think about is getting you home, stripping these clothes off of you and not coming up for air for the next three days.” His palm clamped onto my hip, sending a jolt of heat right through me.
“I’m totally on board with that. But we’ve only got twenty-four hours to shut out the world. I’m a business owner now, you know.” I almost laughed at the way his face fell at that bit of news.
“Twenty-four hours? Couldn’t you find someone to take over the shop for the next week?”
I laced my fingers with his and tugged him toward the exit. “Why don’t you add that to the list of improvements we need to make? Hire weekend manager so we can spend forty-eight hours in naked slumber each weekend.”
“Oh, we’re not going to be sleeping.” He leaned close and pressed a kiss against my ear. “Sleeping is the absolute last thing on my list.”
I glanced down to check out the bulge in the front of his jeans. “I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going straight home.”
“Seriously?” He gave me a look like he wanted to make sure I wasn’t joking. “I’ve been sitting on a plane with a hard-on for you for the past twenty-four hours.”
“I’m sorry. Everyone wants to say hi. They’re waiting for us back at the shop. Macy, Mitch, some of my sibs.” I stopped as we approached the door leading outside. “Are you mad?”
