Page 116 of The Secret
Micah ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah,” he said weakly. “Didn’t understand it any better then than I do now.”
He was so fucking cute, I had to take pity on him. “We’re getting you flowers for the wedding. Not therightflowers, butsomeflowers. And Tyler is cool with the change. He said Marissa trusts you, Micah.”
He’d also said he was going to have a few words with his father, who just so happened to be Senator Marcus Turnbull, about how HG Supply had screwed us over under direction from the Gaynors. I wouldn’t want to be Vince, Trent, Pat, or Donnie come Monday morning.
Micah frowned and shook his head. “Butyour mother, Constantine. The woman who’s tried to ignore my existence like I’m dog shit on her lawn, the woman who’s given dirty looks to anyone who dared to buy a potted plant from my stall at the market, a woman who assumed I was sending her business because I wanted to manipulate you—though I’m still not sure what I was supposedly manipulating you into doing—is now calling in every favor she’s ever racked up, just to help me. Why?”
I took a deep breath and stood up straight. “Because I asked her to.”
“Yeah,” Micah said, running a hand through his hair. “I figured that much. But again, Con,why?”
“Well. It could be because I’m going to be the head of Ross Landscape and Design, so I’m kind of a big deal.”
Micah’s eyes widened and his face split into a huge smile. “No way. She agreed? Shit. I’m so happy for you, ba—um. Constantine.” He shoved his hands into his pockets.
I nodded and pushed back from the table so I could walk around it in a wide arc until I was standing just a few feet from Micah. “With that epic business plan you helped me draft, how could she not agree? But I think she also sees an opportunity to redeem herself and welcome you the way she should have in the first place.”
“Yeah?” Micah raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I don’t see your mom rolling out the O’Leary welcome wagons for a business competitor who’d jeopardize her bottom line.”
“Well, maybe she wouldn’t ordinarily welcome you as a business competitor,” I allowed, stepping into his personal space. “But she’d welcome you to our family. As my boyfriend. As the man I…” I swallowed. “I love.”
Micah’s hands clenched and unclenched at his sides like he wanted to put them on me, but wasn’t sure whether he should. “Say that again.”
“You heard me.” Butshit, it was such a relief to say it, and to see the dawning wonder in my man’s eyes when I did, that I couldn’t hold back, even to tease. “I. Love. You.”
Micah pushed me against the refrigerator door and kissed the ever-loving shit out of me. His hands grabbed my face so I couldn’t move—like I would have—his entire body flattened against mine, and my heart, which hadn’t beat right in days, started pounding.
He pulled back a moment later, breathless and almost shaking, and I wrapped my arms around him to hold him in place.
“Sorry.” He rubbed my bottom lip with his thumb. “Fuck. I thought I’d done that for the last time.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry I freaked out. I was looking at everything wrong and I—”
“So was I. I thought if I could help you get the other things you wanted, you’d be ready to—”
“You did the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me. You believed in me. You sacrificed your business for me. You defended me.” I shook my head, because I legit still couldn’t believe that he’d hit Trent Gaynor. More to the point, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t gottenphotographic evidence. “You’re the only person who’s ever defended me like that, Micah. And that wasn’t even the first time. Even my mother told me yesterday that I needed to get over it and give you a second chance. She accused me of having mymanly pridebruised. She said you were trying to love me, even if you went about it the wrong way.” I bit my lip and stroked my fingers along the curve of his jaw.
“I guess I did. But she was right.” He squeezed me tighter. “I do love you.”
“Damn, I really like hearing that.” I laughed out loud. I’d always sort of figured that commitment would tie you down, weight you to the earth. But it was more like a tether that kept you balanced, that made it safe for you to soar. “Shit, who knew?”
“I love you,” he said again, kissing me this time. “And I get that we are gonna have to take things slow. You’re still working things out with your business, and—”
“Nah,” I interrupted. “I mean, I’m cool with taking things slow, if that’s what you want. But—” I bit my lip, tried to gather my courage, and found that I didn’t need any, because telling Micah how I felt was as easy as breathing. “I know who I love, and I have for a while. I’m done screwing around, so… As much as you’re ready to give me of you, that’s what I want.”
I wasn’t surprised when he wrapped his hands around my ass, hauled me against him, and kissed me again.
The knock at the back door sounded more like a kick.
“That’s gonna be Theo,” I said, stepping away from Micah to open the door. “You ready for this onslaught?”
Micah grinned and those eyes, man.Damn. If my brother weren’t on the other side of the door.
“Fuck’s sake, Connie, this thing’sheavy,”Theo yelled, kicking the door again.
Micah winked at me, I opened the door, and… chaos reigned.
Theo and his friend Sam were the first to arrive. Sam, with her arm in a sling, was mostly there for moral support and what she called, “packing coordination,” which had been necessary given the relative size of Theo’s little car to the load they’d collected: buckets and buckets of flowers, boxes of green foam and test tubes, Mason jars, and even some kind of fake grass that Sam said looked moreEaster bunnythanValentine’s Day, but they’d taken everything that was donated gratefully.
