I shrug. “The first man who asked me to marry him did it out of obligation. Look how that turned out.”
He slips a hand up my cheek, fingers sliding into my hair. “When I marry you—and yes I said when—it won’t be because I feel obligated. It will be because I love you more than I could have ever imagined, and I’ll be damn sure to remind you of that every day.”
My eyes well with tears again, and he sweeps away the lone drop that falls down my cheek.
“Got it?” he asks.
I nod. “Got it.”
“Good.” He drops his hand. “Now, are you okay? With the tests being negative?”
“I am. I mean, a part of me loves the idea of having a baby with you someday, but I want that someday to be off in the future. You know, after we have basic things figured out like our living situation, so we aren’t going back and forth between apartments all the time.”
“Speaking of that…” He clears his throat. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk about.”
My heart flutters in my chest.
Is he…
“As you just said, we’re always traveling back and forth, and it kind of sucks. I know we said we wanted to do slow, but this shit is starting to kill me. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up to you every morning.” He licks his lips and flicks his eyes away. “And so…”
He trails off again, and I can tell he’s nervous.
“Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Yes…but I’m also asking you to buy a house with me.”
My mouth falls open. “A…h-house?” He nods. “Like a real house?”
Another nod. “Yes. I drove past one the other day and—”
“The white brick one with the gray door and giant porch? On Gardener?”
“How’d you know that?”
“Because I saw it the other day too. As soon as I got home, I took a virtual tour and spent at least two hours planning our life in it.”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “I got yelled at today because I was on my phone looking at it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. And then on my lunch break, I called the realtor, and she said there are no offers yet.”
“Little presumptuous, huh? How do you know I’d say yes?”
He lifts his shoulders. “Because you love me.”
I do. So much.
I never thought I’d find someone who makes me as happy as Nolan does. Even when I don’t like him, I love him. And that’s all I ever really wanted out of a relationship—someone who respects me, loves me, loves my kid, and wants to grow together instead of apart.
He reaches for me, pulling me off my stool and into his lap with ease. I slip my arms around his neck as his fingers play against my lower back.
“So, what do you say? Want to buy a house together?”
So badly. But the reality is, Nolan makes a lot more money than me. I’m not sure I’m financially ready for something like a house.
“I don’t have a ton of savings,” I tell him.
“I’ve been saving for a place for years. I can take care of the down payment.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that…”
“Do you trust me?” he asks, and I nod. “Then trust me that we’ll figure it out. I don’t ever want you to think it’s not your place too. We’ll make all decisions together and we’ll split things as evenly as we can. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable, you say the word and we’ll stop and re-evaluate.”
My heart swells. “How did I get so lucky with you?”
“I am pretty amazing, huh?”
I laugh, and he swallows the sound with a kiss.
He doesn’t pull away until we’re both out of breath.
“So?”
“Keep kissing me like that and I’ll buy a hundred houses with you.”
“I said I have a decent savings, not that I’m a billionaire.”
“Well, then this definitely won’t work out.”
I try to push away from him, and he locks his arms tighter around me.
“Nice try. You can’t get away that easily.”
“Not for lack of trying,” I pout.
He rolls his eyes. “So, you did a virtual tour, huh?”
“Oh yeah. I practically have the place memorized.”
“Did you happen to see the…”
I grin, knowing exactly what he’s getting at. “Balcony?” I nod, dropping my head against his. “I knew I had you pegged right, Romeo.”