Page 136 of The Photograph

Better now.Already hard for her, I take her mouth until she makes that sound in her throat that makes me harder. When she shifts away, I take her hand to lead her further into the house.

She hooks her purse on the back of a chair of the dining room. “Something smells good. You’re cooking?”

My heart racing, I kiss her knuckles. “No, I asked for Michelle tonight.”

As we walk past the kitchen, Aelin waves at Michelle who responds in kind. The clickety of her high heels halts as she turns to me with the cutest frown. “Are we celebrating something I forgot?’”

I plant a peck on her parted lips because I can’t help it. “Yes, I hope we’re celebrating and no, you didn’t forget. I have a surprise for you.”

Her eyes light up while she squeezes my hand and my heart races faster. “Yeah? Show me.”

What if she…?

She cups my cheek in that way that spreads warmth in my chest. “Honey, are you okay?”

Kissing her palm, I tug her toward the gift I got her. We walk past the library to stop before a closed door at the very back of the house.

I brush my fingers on the soft skin of her cheek. “Ready?”

She nods with a smile.

“Close your eyes, baby.” When she does, I open the door and with my hands on her lower back, I guide her in the middle of the spacious room. “Okay, look now.”

After a couple of blinks, she rotates slowly in the vast room, taking in the white walls, the naked six-foot arched windows. My beautiful Aelin gapes at the cone-shaped sunroof and grazes her fingers on the large sketching rectangle table set right underneath the rectangular glass roof.

There are four wooden easels standing against the wall in between the windows on one side of the room and a bottle-green, small, sectional couch with white pillows and a black coffee table on the other side.

I wait by the door and shove my hands in my pockets while she visits the new space.Her new space.She strokes the ergonomic black chair and the collection of brushes and paint placed on the sketching table. Her long legs close the distance to the adjacent smaller room which contains two full deep sinks and a bathroom equipped with a shower stall.

Say something, baby.When she strolls back to me with an inscrutable expression, I cup her nape and kiss her soft.

“Before you say anything, I’ve built you a studio, so you can stay here.”

Her brows knit. “What?”

I’m fucking this up. After a sharp exhale, I pull her closer. “I want you to come live with me. I want us to live together. The studio is yours to do whatever you want, and we can change it if you don’t like it.”

She tilts her head down and I clench my jaw while tension hardens my back.Baby,please.I brush her cheek with shaking fingers and start breathing again when she leans into my hand with her eyes closed.

I lock my eyes to hers. “I know I’m supposed to give you time, but I can’t. I love you too much and I want you with me when I wake up and fuck you before you fall asleep in my arms. Every day. Every night—”

Her eyes widen and she lets out a soft gasp. “What did you say?”

I stare at her vulnerable expression and the vice strangling my chest slackens.

What an idiot.I show her how much I love her, but I never said the words. Groaning at my own stupidity, I cup her gorgeous face.

“Aelin, I adore you. Baby, I think I’ve loved you since the minute I saw your picture.”

“You do?” she whispers.

“Fuck, yes.”

The love of my life loops her arms around my waist and beams at me. “So, you have to tell me, honey, because I need to hear it.”

“I love you, Aelin. Every day. I’ll tell you every day.”

Her eyes soften. “I love you, Gabe, and yes I’ll move in with you.” She rolls on her toes and brushes her mouth on mine. “Thank you for my studio, I love it.”

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