Page 43 of Time to Stirrup Love
“Sorry for just bursting in.” He ran his hand through his mane. “I just…I need to get this off my chest.”
“Clearly.” She sat the laptop down. “Still, you could’ve knocked.”
“Are you teasing me or being serious?”
She smiled, her green eyes twinkling. “Teasing. I’m sorry. Is Magnus okay?”
“I don’t care about Magnus.” He closed the distance between them, kneeling down in front of her.
“That’s kind of coldhearted.”
“Margaid, I’m being serious.”
“What’s up. You’re acting so weird,” she said, sitting up straighter.
Finn swallowed the hard lump in his throat, took a deep breath and then took her small hands in his. “You asked me what I thought about you living here and we…we date.”
“I did.”
“I would like that.”
Just tell her you love her.
“Oh, is that all?” Margaid asked.
“No. This is hard for me to say, because I never thought I would get the chance to meet someone that would like me for…me.”
She smiled tenderly. “I do like you. All of you.”
He touched her face and then handed her the charm. “Here.”
“You said not to touch this.”
“I know. My father put it there to declare his love for my mom. It was theirs. Now, it’s ours. I love you, Margaid. I don’t want you to go when this year is up. I want you to stay.”
“I love you too. I didn’t think I would ever find love and it happened so fast, but I want to stay when the year is up.” She kissed him tenderly and took the charm. “It’s beautiful.”
His heart was soaring. “You love me?”
She nodded. “I do. I’m not ready to bear your little glashtyn babies or anything, but I would like to stay and see how this all works out.”
Chuckling, he ran his fingers through her hair. “I’d like that too, but I don’t want you to give up your job. I can follow you.”
“No, that’s not necessary. I’ve applied to a transfer.” She worried her bottom lip. “The samples are showing a decline in the fish population, it won’t affect you this year, but next year it would, unless something is done. I’m coming up with a proposal to regenerate it and to do that, I have to stay here. I have Jim Mason’s approval on the proposal. He thinks it would be good to have a marine biologist here to keep the lake healthy, so tourists can continue to come to Harmony Glen and the residents can prosper.”
Finn’s heart skipped a beat. “Do you think your department heads will go for it?”
“There’s a good chance they will. However, I’m going to have to find a new place. I only signed a lease with your mom for a year, and after this contract is up, my work won’t be paying for my rent. I have to find myself a more permanent place.”
“I think my mom would give you a decent rent on this house. Or you can move in with me?”
She giggled. “I love your houseboat, Finn but I prefer to spend most of my time on land. I really don’t want our home to be rented out to sportfishermen.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. I do have one condition when it’s time for me to move in here, though.”
“Please don’t say a singing mounted fish on the wall.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
