right in the chest, so powerful he couldn’t breathe. Or speak. It was so obvious his fate lay with Abby, he could see it suspended between them in the air.
“We can’t have a man living in the apartment. If you moved in, Ben and Louis would insist on moving in, too, and the whole place would be overcrowded. And since I need to be with you, the only option is for me to move here. So you can’t sell it. No one gets this office but me. No one gets this house but us.” She swiped at her eyes when more tears fell. “Are we getting married or living in sin? Because as long as I get you, Russell, I’m in either way. Any way.”
He went down on his knees and crawled the remaining distance to Abby. She clutched his shoulders and tried to pull him up, but he refused, wrapping his arms around her waist and inhaling the scent that clung to her clothes. “How did I fuck this up so badly when I love you this much? How is that possible?”
She knelt on the floor in front of him, seized his face in her hands. “I love you, too.” Her lips drifted over his forehead, cheeks. “I love you. You love me. And nothing else is more important than that.”
He crushed her against his body, feeling alive for the first time in days. The oxygen he sucked in was laced with Abby, the staggering relief that he wouldn’t have to live without her. Thank God. Thank God.
“We’re going to go tell the Realtor you’re not selling, okay?” He nodded into the crook of her neck. “Right after she rejects the offer I made.”
Russell’s head came up. “You made an offer?”
“I was afraid I wouldn’t get here in time, and you’d accept someone else’s offer.” She searched his face. “If I’d bought the house, what would you have said?”
His answer was important to her. Important to them. After the way he’d pushed her away until he felt stable enough to give her things that could only be bought with money, she needed to know his insecurity had been obliterated by the reality of losing her. Russell tipped up her face. “If you’d bought my house, I would have asked you when I could move in, angel. Either way, it would have been ours.”
The smile that spread across her face was so damn beautiful, he breathed her name. “Did you mean what you said about getting married? I can have a priest here in half an hour.”
Her laughter wrapped around Russell as she eased him backward into a sitting position on the floor, wrapping her legs around his waist. “I meant it. Of course, I meant it. There’s no one else for me in the world.”
“Christ, me either, angel—” She rolled her hips and Russell saw sparks behind his eyes, but somehow found the wherewithal to reach over and slam the office door. “You need me now? God knows I need you so damn bad.”
“Yes.” She tugged down the straps of her dress to reveal her lack of bra. The sight sent Russell’s erection surging between her legs, making her gasp. “I can’t wait.”
They both reached for his zipper at the same time with shaking hands, lowering it carefully to take out the arousal she’d inspired. Russell groaned against her mouth as he hurried to remove a condom from his wallet, quickly rolling it on. Abby’s panties were shoved aside seconds later, and, fuuuuck, he was inside her. Neither one of them moved, simply breathing into one another’s mouths. “Tell me you . . . love me again while . . . I’m inside you.”
“I love you, Russell,” she husked, looking him in the eye. “I’ll never stop. I couldn’t.”
“Marry me, Abby.” His voice was urgent, breaking as she started to move, her body undulating on his lap. The perfect feel of her made it difficult to focus, but he battled to stay present. “Tell me you’ll marry me.”
The way she looked at him spoke of love, more than words ever could. “Make me.”
So he did.
Epilogue
“SEE, THERE ARE obstacle courses, like the one the Army uses for training.” Alec paused to make eye contact with Ben, Louis, and Russell. “And then you have the real deal. Not many men have attempted the American Ninja Warrior obstacle course and survived to be the best man at his brother’s wedding.” He spread his hands wide, pulling the lapels of his tuxedo wide.