She feels the same.
She wants a family together.
She knows she belongs to me, now and always.
“I’m not sure if I’ve ever believed in destiny,” I say. “I know that probably sounds strange since I’ve been looking for my soulmate for so many years. But in terms of there being some force out there, guiding us… I never bought it. But I don’t know how to explain this, Kyra.”
“I think it’s fate,” she murmurs after swallowing a mouthful of burger. “I mean, heck, I can’t even begin to calculate the chances of you feeling the same way I do.”
“Fate or not, all I know is I can never let you go.”
“I don’t want anyone else,” she murmurs.
“Good, because you’re never going to have them. That’s another reason I left the way I did the other night… when you told me you were a virgin, it confirmed what I hoped, what I dreamed – that you’d be mine, only mine, forever.”
She smiles, nodding, but an uncertainty fills her expression.
“What is it?” I ask.
She looks at her burger, biting her lip. “I don’t want to ruin this. This is a magical night, we’re going to look back at this forever.”
“It’s the show,” I say.
She nods. “I’m sorry, Kayden—”
“You don’t have to apologize. You’re right. If the positions were reversed, there’s no way in hell I’d let all those men think they had a shot with you. I hate it, Kyra. I hate every second of it. Even before I told you the truth, I felt like I was betraying you every single moment I was on camera.”
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “You have to know that they mean nothing to me.”
“I know. I believe you.”
“But it’s still difficult.”
“Yeah.” She laughs humorlessly. “And maybe that’s an understatement. Online, so many people are speculating about who you’re going to choose… who you’re going to kiss in the final show.”
“I’m not going to kiss any of them,” I snap. “The thought of touching another woman makes me sick. You’re everything to me, Kyra. I swear I’m not going to touch anyone else.”
“But how…”
I sigh. “Jack says the show is helping to remake my image, whatever the fuck that means. He says it’s even helping with the stock prices.”
“I know how important your company is to you.”
“You do?”
She smiles. “I might have done some online stalking when I first started on the show. And I may have…”
I grin like a wolf, reaching across the table and cradling her cheek. “You naughty girl. Are you saying you might’ve… indulged when you were doing your online research?”
She reaches up, pressing the back of my hand firmly against her cheek. “Yes, I am.”
My cock jerks in my pants. It’s been solid steel ever since we shared the truth, as though my body is telling me to hurry up and make her mine, instill our future inexorably into her eager womb. But now my length swells, even more, the head bulging.
But then her hand drops.
“I know your company is important,” she goes on. “I don’t want to stand in the way of that. But it’s so freaking painful, watching you with those women. A few days ago I was there when some of them were getting their makeup done, and they all seemed so glamorous, so not me.”
“You’re right. They’re nothing like you. You’re a thousand, a million times more beautiful.”
Her cheeks turn bright red at my words. I’ll never get tired of making my woman blush.
“You said you’re not going to kiss them. How is that even possible? Are you going to abandon the show?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I say. “I need to find a way to satisfy Jack and the shareholders – to remake my image – while still being loyal to you.”
“But how?”
“I don’t know.” I sit back. “But I promise you right now, Kyra. No other woman is ever going to touch me. I’m never going to stray, not now and not ever. I’d never disrespect the future mother of my children like that.”
Her face lights up, her eyes shining. She couldn’t look more captivating if she tried.
“Say it again, Kayden.”
“You’re going to have my babies,” I growl. “You’re going to be at my side for the rest of our lives. I’m always going to be here for you. What I shared with you, about my childhood, I never speak about that. I’ve only ever told one other person.”
“Jack?” she guesses.
I nod. “We served in the Marines together. He’s my closest friend. But you’re the only other person who knows.”
“It means a lot that you shared that with me,” she says. “I know it must’ve been difficult to speak about.”
“Yeah, it was. But I felt like you had to know. I’ve thought about this a lot over the years and I’m sure that’s where it all started, this crazy quest to find the woman of my dreams… But I’d given up hope until I met you.”