already know what it is. You’ve known ever since our first date. I could see it in your eyes, but you deserve to hear me say it.”
His eyes close. “It’s the only thing in the world I want to hear.”
I pull his head down to mine, so I can whisper in his ear. I should say it out loud, in front of everyone, but I want it to be just for him.
With my mouth next to his ear, I whisper, “I don’t care what your name is. I don’t care where you came from, or what you’ve done. I. Love. You. And I always will.”
When I pull away, his mouth crashes into me, and his lips press up against mine. His entire body trembles beneath my touch, and I’m pretty sure I just made him the happiest man on the entire planet.
Cheers ring out through the sanctuary. I can hear people stand up, whooping and hollering.
Dominic squeezes his arms around me, and I don’t know if he’s ever going to let go. He smiles against my lips, our tears mixing together, and even through the chlorine smell, I can still smell him, just like when I wear his tee shirt.
His forehead presses against mine, our eyes just inches apart.
His fingers dig into my hips like they always do. “Tell me.”
My face flushes, and the electricity courses through my body again. When I stare back at him, I can see the determination in his eyes. I know what he wants to hear this time.
“Will you ever put me through that again?”
He doesn’t even flinch this time. His eyes harden. “You know I won’t.”
“Then I’m yours.”
Without warning, he scoops me up in his arms, bridal-style, and I wrap my arms around his neck. He carries me up the aisle and straight through the entrance of the church.
I focus on his eyes. He stares intently ahead, and for the first time in our relationship, he has a course charted, he knows exactly where he’s going and what needs to be done. He’s a leader with a purpose. But more than that, he’s the man he wants to be. The man he’s always wanted to be, but never thought possible.
I don’t think I could love him more than I do right now. Yes, we have wounds that need to scar over and heal. But we have each other. The world is right again.
And that’s enough. The happiest days of our lives lie ahead of us, and that gives both of us hope.
As we breathe in the city air, the sun on our faces, he whispers in my ear, “This is happening.”
Epilogue
Dominic Romano
Three Months Later
I don’t have time to do this right now, but I just can’t help myself. I walk up behind Mary in my apartment. She’s getting ready for our date in a mirror and the way the light from the window highlights her silhouette, her soft curves, that little dip where her hip forms—I come alive at the sight of her, and I just can’t help myself. I set down my phone from the video I was taking of her in front of the mirror, and prop it up so it’s still recording.
“I don’t know why you keep taking videos of us all the time.”
“It’s so I can cry my eyes out and watch them over and over if I ever royally screw up and you leave me.”
She laughs, knowing there’s no way on earth that will ever happen.
Just watching her laugh, watching her get ready—it’s what I enjoy more than anything.
I shake my head and scold myself.
It’s reckless to even think about it. I have everything planned out perfectly, and we absolutely cannot be late.
You can spare ten minutes.
In the moment, I just have to have her. There’s no stopping it.
I grab my phone and stop the recording, press a few buttons on the screen, and toss it on the desk.
I walk up behind her and brush my hand along her collar bone, scooting her hair out of the way.
“No, no, no.” She smiles at me in the mirror as she says it.
I kiss the tender skin along her neck. “You know that won’t work.”
She lets out a huge sigh and whines, “Why do you do this to me?”
My other hand reaches around her hip, and I brush it across her pussy. She quivers at my touch and drags out the word “me.”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t love every second of this.”
Her hands move up to her hair, like she’s going