hide them all the time.” Her breath hitched as she murmured, “I feel ugly.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, all but leaping from the bed to reach for her. “Those patches don’t define you. You’re still you, and you’re beautiful to me.”
Tears stung her eyes as he plucked at the sash holding her robe, untied it, and pushed the robe off her shoulders. It slithered to the floor and pooled at her feet, leaving her exposed and trembling and wishing she could dive beneath the covers.
“Truly beautiful.”
His fingertips skated over her skin, caressing, stroking, tracing every patch. He followed with his mouth, tiny kisses that made her shiver with want, his tongue outlining each patch like he wanted to commit them to memory.
Tears trickled down her cheeks as he worshipped her with everything he had.
As he made her feel beautiful.
She’d never loved him more than at that moment.
56
“I like having you here,” Manny said, topping up Harper’s coffee cup. “You should stay over more often. Like forever.”
“I’ve been here since last night and all day, so it’s nice to know I haven’t worn out my welcome.” She smiled, and his heart did that weird flip thing it had been doing ever since they’d met. “I guess that’s another thing we need to discuss: where we’re going to live.”
“Plenty of time to figure out logistics.”
One step at a time. Proposing had been the right thing to do, but planning an actual wedding made him want to get a script filled for hives. He hated fuss of any kind, and he hoped that wouldn’t clash with Harper’s ideas. Most women he knew wanted the big, fancy wedding, and their partners went along for the ride. Harper didn’t seem the flamboyant type, and he hoped she’d appreciate low-key.
“Speaking of logistics, we haven’t discussed kids.”
He choked on his coffee and coughed, several times, while Harper grinned at him.
“Don’t worry, handsome. Considering we haven’t set a wedding date, I’m not planning on procreating within the next week or so.”
“Phew.” He made an exaggerated swipe at his forehead. If setting an actual date made him break out in hives, the thought of being a father gave him a bad case of poison ivy.
“But you want them, right?”
Kids would depend on him to keep them safe and healthy. He would love them unconditionally. And they would leave, just like his mom had left him unexpectedly.
Eschewing relationships all this time had ensured he’d kept his heart intact. Letting Harper in was a big step for him. But kids took love into a whole new stratosphere, one where he wanted to run and hide.
When a tiny frown creased her brow, he knew he had to say something, other than This is all happening too fast.
“I do, but I’d want us to spend some time together as a couple first.”
“Agreed. Makes sense, as we hardly know each other but you proposed regardless.”
He smiled at her dry response. “What can I say? When I know what I want, I do whatever it takes.”
“It’s still crazy though.”
“I know.”
They sipped their coffees in silence, lost in thought. She hadn’t applied her makeup yet, and he loved that she felt comfortable enough to do that now. Revealing her vitiligo explained so much: why she’d freaked out in New Zealand, why she always insisted he stay over at her place, why she always had an immaculately made-up face.
The thing was, when he looked at her, he didn’t see the patches. He saw the woman he’d fallen for. And if she had any idea how much of a big deal that was for him, opening his heart to her, she’d know she could’ve trusted him much earlier.
“Are you sick of the treatment for the vitiligo?”
Her eyebrow arched. “That came from left field.”
“I know it can be repetitive.”
The adoration in her gaze made him feel ten feet tall. “I guess it’s handy having a doc for a fiancé after all.”
“I’m here for all your needs.” He lowered his voice. “Medical or otherwise.”
She laughed. “You have no idea what it means to me to be able to discuss this openly with you.”
“Your parents must be supportive?”
Her expression blanked as she stared into her coffee cup. “I haven’t told them.”
“What?”
From his first meeting with them, he could tell they adored Harper. Her dad looked at her like she hung the moon and stars, and her mom was a tigress who’d fight to protect her daughter. Why wouldn’t she tell them something that had obviously affected her so deeply?
“My diagnosis was at a