Page 67 of The Little Black Book

Looking around the room, I catch my brother’s eye. I jerk my head toward Ava’s retreating form and mouth “Ask her to dance.”

He shakes his head, frowns, and looks away. I stare at him a moment, my body still swaying in time with Sam’s. What the hell is wrong with Zeke? I know he has a history of bumping heads with Ava, but they’ve been getting along better recently…haven’t they?

“Hey,” Sam says, pulling my attention away from my brother’s stiff form. “Are you okay?”

Letting the tension drain out of me, I smile. “I’m better than okay. I’m in your arms.”

“I love that,” he says with a small laugh, “but if you want to go after Ava, I completely understand.”

“No,” I say. “It’s not the time or place. But I will be finding out what the fuck is going on with her. And soon.”

“My money is on you,” he says, lifting our clasped hands to brush a kiss over my knuckles. “Always has been, always will be.”

I smile and lean into his chest, loving the way I feel so cherished and protected in his arms. I wish we could stay just like this, forever.

“You want to get out of here?” Sam asks suddenly.

“Right now?” I ask, pulling back to meet his eyes.

He shrugs. “We’ve eaten, made toasts, congratulated the happy couple… Besides, I bet those two wouldn’t even notice our absence.”

There’s a spark of heat in his eyes that sends a shiver through me, and I nod. Smiling broadly, he holds onto my hand and pulls me off the dance floor. I look around for Ava so I can say goodbye to her, but she’s nowhere to be found. Apparently, we’re not the only ones cutting out early. Grabbing my purse from our table, I wave to Zeke. As Sam pulls me toward the exit, I catch Sophie’s eye and she grins, giving me a thumbs up and mouthing “Have fun!”

“You, too,” I mouth back with an eyebrow waggle, then Sam and I are out the door and running through the casino, hand-in-hand.

“Wait,” Sam says, pulling me to a stop next to the horseshoe bar.

The bartender James smiles at us before sliding two cocktails toward us. I look from the drinks to Sam, my brow wrinkling with confusion.

“You want to stop for drinks? There was an open bar at the party, Sam.”

“I wanted to stopherefor drinks,” he says cryptically.

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why here?” I ask, picking up one of the drinks and taking a sip.

“Because this spot, right where we’re standing, was the spot where I realized I didn’t want to be just friends with you anymore.”

“What?” I ask, setting my drink back down on the bar as I stare at him.

“That night Sophie introduced you to Branson, I lost my mind. Not just because he’s a womanizing asshole, but because…he’s not me. I couldn’t stand the idea of you being with him. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

I arch one eyebrow. “Need I remind you, you were still actively dating other people at the time? You went out with that waitress the next day.”

“Were you jealous?” he asks, grinning wildly and earning a shove to the shoulder.

“No.”

“Honestly?”

“Okay, fine. Maybe a little,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Zoey,” he says, turning serious in an instant, “there was no reason to be jealous. I only went on that date because we’d already planned it out, and I didn’t think you reciprocated my feelings. Feelings I, myself, was still trying to sort out. But even though I was physically at that bar with her, I was really there with you. It wasalwaysyou.”

My heart swells with his words, and I can feel my eyes stinging with tears. Even though we’ve been together for months, and I moved into his house four weeks ago, I still can’t control my emotions when he tells me he loves me. It still makes my heart skip and my breath catch in my throat.

That this beautiful, funny, kind, amazing man is in love with me. I love him so fucking much, I think I might burst with it at any given moment.

“And I want it to alwaysbeyou,” he says, then slowly lowers to one knee.

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