Page 161 of Pucking Matt
She looks down at me and says, “I do my job, and mind my own business. But I guess… my answer would be yes. But I didn’t want to get fired, so I avoided talking about it.”
I stand, approaching her. “If you could tell me a timeframe, I could put the puzzle pieces together.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t.”
I grab her hand and hold it open. I’m going to give her this beautiful seashell if she can answer my question honestly.
“Do you care about me?” I ask.
She nods as her eyes watch mine. I hold back my smile, knowing exactly when she started to care for me. The soft spot started when her law firm took my mom’s case. That’s the only explanation.
“I guess you’re not heartless after all,” I add, glancing at the seashell I’m still holding.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
I shrug. “It’s all starting to make sense now. When I started working at the Grind Stone, I knew something changed. You don’t have to say anything, but now I know it’s because you knew. You knew details about my mom…and you felt bad. You stopped being so hard on me.”
She rolls her eyes. “That’s not true.”
I hold her and say, “It is true. We barely played pranks once I started working at the Grind Stone. Why?”
She holds back whatever she’s about to say.
I place the shell in her hand. “I know you, Amber. You don’t need to say anything. I’m not mad that you knew. As for my mom, she thinks six months is a big deal, so she wanted to warn me before we get too serious.”
“Aw,” she pouts. “Is mommy protecting her baby?”
I close her hand over the shell and cup her face gently, my thumb tracing her cheekbone. “I’m not joking. What we have? It's real. It's ours. No one else gets a say in that. No one will get in the way of that.”
A small smile tugs at her lips. “Not even your mom?”
“Especially not my mom,” I chuckle, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her forehead.
She glances in her palm. “This is pretty.”
“Just like you.”
She blushes as I hold her hand and walk the shoreline.
This right here.
It’s all that matters.
I grab her, pulling her into me. I stare into her eyes for a few silent beats. “Amby,” I joke. “Amber, baby.”
Her gaze meets mine with the softness she only has for me.
I caress her face, taking in her beautiful features.
“I think I love you.”
“You think?” she says sarcastically.
I rub her cheek, nodding. And then we’re kissing, slow and sweet. It’s full of love and promise and forever. God, this woman. She’s fucking everything.
She pulls back and mutters, “Don’t laugh.”
I’m already smiling.
