Love Like Her (Against All Odds #3) - Claudia Y. Burgoa Page 0,79

yet. There are a lot of things we have to discuss. “It’s frightening for me too, but I trust you.”

“To tell you the truth, when Holly asked me if I could help her, the first thing I thought was maybe Eros and I can finally be in the same place,” she confesses. “But you disappeared on me. I understand it was a foolish misunderstanding that blew out of proportion last Saturday. These past months I’ve been wondering what I did wrong to make you disappear from my life.”

“So, you came for me.”

“There you go, ruining the moment.”

“I’m still wondering what I have to do to make you fall madly in love with me.”

She smiles. “I’m already in love with you. If you play your cards right, I can fall more and more just by being around you.” She clears her throat. “Honestly, I’m sure I fell madly, irrevocably in love with you when Dad was in the hospital. You always make me feel safe. You give me strength.”

“You’re the love of my life,” I say. “I have a confession to make. The first time I realized that you had some kind of grasp on my heart, it terrified me. It made me superbly happy that I had no idea what to do, so I ran.”

She gives me a flirty look. “Maybe we should run together.” She sucks her lip provocatively. “Home.”

I raise my hand, signaling to the server that I need the check. We make it to my house in less than ten minutes. I’m glad I chose a place close to my office. We barely make it out of the car before my lips are on Liv’s. I’m pressing her body against the garage door.

I want to wrap her legs around my body, show her how hard I am for her. Take her mouth, rip off her clothes, but I can’t. Not just yet. We have to finish talking.

“Though I need you so much, we need to talk. I want to make sure that this is the beginning of forever. That we agree this is more than what we had in the past. This time, there won’t be your world and mine. It’ll be you and me living our lives. Together,” I say, my voice is so croaky it sounds like grunts. “Us, existing in one time zone. Not through texts and serendipitous moments.”

“What are you saying?” Her lips tremble.

“Marry me,” I propose, bending on one knee. Tears gather in her eyes. She mumbles my name so low I can only read it on her lips, Eros.

“I don’t have a ring, but I have my heart and my soul to give.” I take both her hands. “I don’t want to wait another second to spend the rest of my life with you. It’s been hell not having you with me. It’s because of you that I became the man I am today. You believed in me when no one did. In a way, you showed me how to love myself. We can live anywhere in the world, or here close to our families. All I know is that I want to bind myself to you, forge a bond that will be unbreakable even after we’re gone. Olivia Evelyn Sierra, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

My heart stutters as I see the loving look in her eyes. I’ve witnessed that look, and I can’t believe I never thought that she loved me before. That we loved each other the way we do. Tears stream down her cheeks, her voice cracks as she says, “I love you. I’d… Yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

I stand up, bringing her mouth to mine.

“You’ve always made me happy,” I say, kissing the back of her neck.

“Always?”

“Yes. There’s something about you that’s always called to me, Liv.”

“So this was your plan all along?”

“It’s better than sacrificing you to some volcano, don’t you think? Maybe I’ll just keep your first born instead.” I kiss her deeper as I take her to my bedroom. We finally found each other, in this life.

In this moment.

Epilogue

Olivia

Every day and night with Eros are amazing. This though might be one of the best of my life. We spend all night in bed, making love while promising a life filled with trust, love, and a future where we grow old—together. We emerge the next day around noon. Dad has called me several times. I missed the weekly meeting. For the first time