Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
She grabs the tie and yanks me close. “I meant—I was going to tell you I love you too.”
“Feel free to say that again,” I say, on top of the world. The woman I love loves me back. She fucking loves me. Life is good.
“Corbin,” she teases.
“No, really. Say it again,” I urge, unabashed in my need to hear it.
She runs her fingers down my tie while looking up at me with so much love in those big brown eyes. “I should have said it the other night too. And I didn’t. I didn’t want to get hurt again. But I should have been stronger. I should have told you how I felt. Because you know what?” She gives a bob of her shoulder. “You can have it all. I don’t have to pick between romance and success.”
I cup her cheeks, feeling stupidly happy. “You never do. Not with me. And I’m sorry I ever made you think that.”
“You didn’t. That was on me. I had to learn that my heart is big enough for all of it.”
“It’s the biggest heart,” I say, then run a finger along a strand of her hair. “And you also don’t have to pick between love and orgasms. Since I intend to give you many as soon as possible. Come spend the night with me.”
“What about…?” She tips her head down the hall toward the kids’ lounge. “Charlotte?”
“Miss Handles Her Own Schedule? She decided, since it’s a Friday night, that she’d book herself a sleepover with Mia and Luna—Tyler’s daughter—over at Rowan’s house.”
“Smart girl,” Mabel says, her arms looping around my neck where she plays with the back of my hair.
“That means you’re coming home with me.”
She arches a brow. “Is that so?”
Before I can answer, shoes click. A voice groans. “Get a room.”
I turn to Theo, glad I’ve got the last laugh this time. “Don’t worry. We will.”
“Gross,” he mutters.
“You’re gross,” Mabel says to him.
“So are you,” he says back.
She tilts her head. “What happened with the goodies and everything for the sponsors?”
Theo stops a few feet away, strokes his chin. “That was just to get you down here.”
Her jaw drops. “Seriously?”
“Blame him,” Theo says, pointing to me.
I shoot him a c’mon look. “Dude, I asked you to get her down here. Not play a trick on her.”
He holds his arms out wide. “What do you take me for? I still had VIP guests. I gave them the treats. They loved them. We’ll place a regular order for our VIP suites.”
Mabel’s eyes sparkle. “You’re not gross.”
“I know,” he says, then walks past us toward the stairwell.
As his footsteps fade, I turn back to her. “All is well. Also, I was right.”
“About what?”
I drop a kiss to her neck. “You’re hot for me.”
Laughing, she pushes me away. “You’re hot for me.”
“No shit.”
“I’m all for getting out of here, stat. But we don’t have to go back to Cozy Valley. I do have a place in the city.”
“About that,” I say, taking her hand as we leave and head to the lot.
“What about it?”
“I think you should get rid of it and move in with me.”
She gives me a curious sideways glance. “Seriously?”
I laugh. “Mabel, did you think I wasn’t serious about you when I gave you a love letter in front of our entire arena?”
She’s quiet for a beat as we near the exit. “I didn’t think you meant move in.”
“Move into the firehouse officially then, so we can be in the same town until you’re ready to officially move in with me,” I say, then stop, making her stop too. I guess I wasn’t clear enough before about my intentions. I will be crystal clear now. “I plan to win your heart and your hand. I want you to move in with me. So I’m just going to romance the hell out of you till you say yes.”
She smiles as she shakes her head, but it’s not a no she’s giving me. It’s more like she can’t quite believe this is happening. When we reach my car, I open the passenger door. “You drove? I can drive you to your car.”
“I did,” she says, then tells me which lot.
We take off and once we reach her car, I open that door for her too, then lean against it. “Don’t speed, no matter how much you want me to fuck you up against the wall the second we arrive.”
She scoffs. “Please. You want to fuck me up against the wall, and you have since that day in the trailer.”
I bend lower, grab her chin. “Wrong. Since the day I met you, and just for that, I’ll show you.”
“You better.”
Forty-five minutes and zero speeding tickets later, my woman is up against the door, half-naked, losing her mind, and calling my name.
It’s as close to perfect as I’ve ever felt. Mabel, falling apart in my arms, as we come together in a hot, frenzied reunion.