One More Time

I sighed and reached for her. She moved hesitantly into my arms. “I’m sorry, Emily. I’m sorry for being such a miserable prick lately. I pull you close, then push you away, and it’s all because of my own insecurities. You don’t deserve that, and I’m sorry. I know you take such good care of us because you care, not because it’s your job. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us. To me,” I told her honestly.

When we pulled apart, I tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled her face to mine. I kissed her softly, sighing and leaning into her.

“I love you,” I said when our kiss broke. “Emily, I love you.”

“What?” she asked, stepping backward. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were wide. She looked like she didn’t believe me.

“I love you,” I said again.

“No.” She shook her head. “You don’t mean that. You’re just excited about your book.”

“Emily,” I said, stepping forward to take her hands. “I love you.”

She blinked and stared at me in disbelief. While we looked at each other, understanding dawned on her face. Slowly, she smiled.

“I love you too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - EMILY

My heart was pounding in my chest as the words rolled off my tongue. I’d been struggling to understand my feelings for Sean for weeks now. When Janie accused me of being in love, I felt for sure she was wrong. After all, I’d only known Sean for a short time. I couldn’t possibly love him yet. Still, there was a truth to Janie’s words that stuck with me in the days to come.

While Sean’s feelings continued to be unpredictable, I always felt a natural affection for him. Even on his worst days, I longed to be near to him, to help him, and to take care of him. He was like gravity, pulling me to him time and time again. I couldn’t deny my own heart anymore, and now, I no longer wanted to. I’d been waiting to hear Sean tell me how he felt about me. When those three words finally fell from his lips, I thought I would lose myself completely. My heart melted, and my stomach filled with butterflies.

“I love you, Sean,” I said, loving the feel of those words on my tongue. “I love you.”

“I love you so much,” he said with a laugh.

Sean stepped forward to press him lips to mine. Our kiss was slow at first, full of untapped love and passion. Now that our emotions were finally in the open, we had nothing left to hold back. We kissed each other with abandon, pouring every ounce of emotion we had into each other. Sean’s arms were tight around my waist, and I stood on my tiptoes to press myself against his hard chest, my fingers tangling in his dark hair.

It wasn’t long before I couldn’t breathe. I pulled away with a gasp and a giggle, but Sean didn’t release me. He moved his lips down to my neck, kissing me softly. His stubble had grown out over the past couple days, and it tickled my sensitive skin. I laughed and pushed him away, but he held onto me, rubbing his face back and forth against my neck. I was giggling uncontrollably, and when he growled against my neck, I laughed loudly and slapped my hand over my mouth.

“Stop it,” I said, still laughing. “You’ll make me wake up the kids.”

“They’ll be fine,” Sean said. “They can sleep through anything.”

“I doubt that,” I said.

“It’s true,” Sean said. “They once slept through an earthquake.”

“They did not.” I laughed.

“They did,” Sean said with a nod. His face was serious, but I knew he was kidding. His eyes were flashing playfully.

“I’ve never seen you this happy,” I said softly. “It’s nice.”

“It’s because of you,” he said, his voice just as soft. “You make me happy Emily, happier than anyone ever has.”

“I’m so proud of you for finishing your book,” I said, cupping his cheek in my hand. “I knew you’d do it.”

“I’m sorry for how I acted,” Sean said, his eyes looking down at the floor. “I know I wasn’t easy to be around for a while. It’s been hard not to be moody and cranky. The stress really got to me, but that’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have taken out my frustrations on you, Emily. That was wrong.”

“Thank you for apologizing. Fortunately for you, I can’t stay mad at you for long when you’re standing there looking all sexy as hell,” I said.

“You think I look sexy?” Sean asked, smiling.

“Come here,” I said, taking his hand.

“Where are we going?” he asked.