Bad Boy Best Friend - Hope Ford Page 0,27

as we’re by the front desk I pick her up, carry her into my office, and put her on my lap in the chair at my desk. “I’m not a hormone driven, stupid teenager anymore, Laney. I am a man who knows who and what he wants.”

She tries to struggle. “What are you doing?”

I hold on to her, knowing that no matter how much she wants to leave, I can’t let her go. I won’t. “If you’re going to break up with me, you’re going to do it from my lap. Face to face. No running. Just the truth.”

Her sexy lower lip quivers as she tells me, “It’s time, Austin. We have to move on.”

God, even as she says it, I can tell her heart is breaking in two. Why is she doing this? I put my hands on each side of her face and hold her, looking into her eyes and telling her as calmly as I can, “I can’t. There is no moving on. You’re the one for me, Laney. You always have been. I know that. There will not be another woman for me, ever. There won’t be because I can’t feel this way about another person on this planet. I love you, Laney. I love you endlessly.”

She closes her eyes, shaking as tears streak down her face. I’m holding my breath feeling like I’m going to die.

She looks so unsure, but my gaze doesn’t waver. If she doesn’t believe me now, I’ll never give up trying to convince her. Her hands go to my chest and when they do, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. She asks me softly, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to scare you away. I didn’t think you were ready,” I say and kiss her, molding my lips to hers.

“I love you too,” she tries to tell me, but I already know. We sit there for the longest time, her in my arms, and I show her just how much I love her, not holding anything back.

Epilogue

Austin

Three Months Later

“Can I talk to you, sir?”

Jerry looks at me on the couch in surprise. “Sir? This must be serious. Let’s go outside. I’ve been waiting on this.”

Laney and I came over to her parents’ house today for dinner, and Julia has promised me to keep her occupied. The last three months have been the best of my life and I know that I want to keep this feeling forever. I’ve been nervous the whole evening and am finally to the point where I just need to get it over with. Regardless of how this goes, Laney will be mine. But it will make it so much easier if I have her father on board.

As we sit in the chairs on the porch, it hits me then what he said. “What do you mean you’ve been waiting for this?”

But Jerry just shakes his head. “Oh, nothing. What were you wanting to talk about?”

I take a deep breath and realize that even with all the planning I’ve done and practicing what I’m going to say, in the end I just blurt it out. “I love your daughter, sir. And I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But before I ask her, I would like to have your blessing.”

I hold my breath, waiting for his answer. Laney loves and respects her father so much, I know this, whatever he says, is going to determine what kind of future we could have. When he doesn’t say anything, I continue. “I know I’m probably not the man you would pick for her. I know I’ve made mistakes and you’re probably worried… Well, I know Laney deserves better than me, but I love her, and I’ll spend my whole life making sure that she’s taken care of and she never doubts how much I love her.”

Jerry seems to take it all in, rocking back and forth. When he stops suddenly, I sit up straighter in my chair, making sure that I’m looking straight into his eyes. I want him to see how much I mean what I’m saying.

But absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what he says. “I’ve been waiting for this… That’s what I said earlier. I’ve been waiting since you and Laney were in tenth grade, knowing that one day you would come to me wanting to marry my daughter. Even when she got sidetracked and met—well, you know, the asshole—I knew even then that you