Page 48 of Dominate
My breath catches in my throat as his words sink in. I roll over to face him, desperate to see his face after he uttered the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. His arms tighten around me as I cup his face in my hands, our legs intermingling as moonlight reflects in his eyes.
“What did you just say?” I croak, my emotions completely taking over.
He stares back at me, his face deathly serious. “I said I’m in love with you, Sloan.”
“You are?” I ask, still unable to believe it.
“Like crazy,” he confirms, stroking the path of a tear that slid down over my nose.
I bite my lip and smile a true, genuine smile. “Well, that’s good because I think I’m in love with you, too. I’m not quite sure when it happened. Maybe it was right after the attack. Maybe it was on this trip. Or maybe it was back when you first kissed me outside of my house. I don’t know. But at some point, you burrowed inside of my heart and made me feel something I’ve never felt before. And I know I’m divorced, and I have a daughter, and I am way more than a handful, but I think we can—”
My words are cut off by Gareth’s mouth as he presses his lips to mine and kisses away the doubt, and the fear, and the laundry list of things in our lives that make us a highly complicated couple.
Because, right now, in the paraphrased words of Taylor Swift, we’re just a man and a woman in a love story, just saying yes.
“IHAVE TO HEAD OVERto Hayden’s room, so I guess I’ll see you on the beach?” I ask, draping my garment bag over my shoulder and propping myself in the doorway of the loo in our suite.
Sloan is wrapped in a fluffy white towel, finishing her makeup at the vanity. Vi’s itinerary says we should arrive at the bride and groom suites by ten a.m. today before the wedding begins at eleven.
This morning has been interesting to say the least. Sloan and I woke at different times, showered at different times, and have been doing an awkward sort of “don’t touch each other” dance all over our suite. We’re acting like two teenagers who just lost their virginity and don’t know how to behave around each other the morning after.
I’m over it.
“Okay, I’ll see you later then,” Sloan replies as she stares at me in the mirror, her mascara wand frozen in the air.
I move in behind her and drop a kiss on her bare shoulder. “Love you,” I add with a cheeky smile and turn to leave.
She makes a strange noise in her throat and replies, “You’re just going to drop it on me all casual like that, then walk away?”
A broad smile spreads across my face as I turn to see her still watching me in the mirror. “Should I have dropped it another way?”
She swivels in her chair to face me, her tan legs exposed as she replies in a rush, “Well, I mean, if we’re going to just say it any time, I’m wondering what your family will think or how they’ll see this. Will they think it’s happening too fast because they barely know me? What if they think I’m a gold digger? And what happens when we get back to Manchester? I have to figure out what I’m going to do with Sophia and when it’s appropriate for you to officially meet her. This is a complicated process, Gareth. We should talk about it—”
“Sloan,” I stop her midsentence and her eyes shoot up to me.
“What?”
I hit her with a crooked smile and reply, “I’ll see you at the wedding.”
She puffs a strand of hair out of her eyes and replies, “Okay.”
“I love you,” I add with a smirk.
She bites her lip hesitantly, then adds with a small smile, “I love you, too.”
She turns back toward the mirror and, before I realise what I’m doing, I toss the garment bag on the bed and stride straight for her. She looks up in surprise as I turn her in her chair and hoist her up onto the vanity. Her bare legs wrap around my waist for balance as I kiss her and add, “I seriously love you.”
The smile on her face could light up the whole world when she replies, “I seriously love you, too.”
My brows lift. “See? We’re getting better at this already.”
“Gareth, I want you to walk me down the aisle.”
“What?” I exclaim, stepping inside the bridal suite after Vi texted me a 999 urgent message. “Vi, everyone is waiting down at the beach. Where’s Dad?” I ask, looking around the room.
“I sent him down to the beach.” She shrugs with a shy smile.
I exhale heavily and shake my head, taking a minute to look down at the stunning lace wedding dress my sister is wearing. “Vi, you are beautiful.”
