I shrugged, shaking her in the
process to make her smile. “We’re so good at it. And Mom’s ring looks great on you. Would you mind?”
“Not in the slightest,” she said. “But somebody is going to eventually find out, don’t you think?”
I shook my head, swinging her from side to side with me. “From the brilliant way you described our wedding, there wouldn’t be a lot of photos online. People honestly don’t poke into each other’s lives very much unless there is something they’re after. But all people want from us are amusing party anecdotes and buildings that are built faster and better than the competition.”
Her teeth burrowed into her perfect bottom lip, still looking worried. Leaning in, I nuzzled just under her ear. “Please, Claudia. I need you. I’ve never needed anyone as much as I need you. There’s something about you that just makes everything feel right.”
I felt her body move in waves as she took a few slow deep breaths. It felt like my entire future was hanging in the balance.
“I’ll never abandon you like he did, baby,” I whispered.
Cupping her face in my hands, I kissed her forehead. “I love you, Claudia. I’d marry you tomorrow, but I know you’re going to want us to take some time first. I want us to be a team. Forever. We belong together. I know it, and I know you know it.”
All I could do was wait, the space between every heartbeat seeming to take forever.
Chapter 17
_____
Claudia
Vaughan was simply amazing. Any other man would have simply tossed me to the curb for being so irrational. Or at least, corrected me in a way that made me feel terrible.
But he’d actually taken the time to relax me so that I could listen to him properly and take it all in. More than anything else, that told me that he was the one. He was prepared to be patient with me.
All I had to do was let my guard down, and let him in.
Holding back a laugh, I asked myself what “Claudia the waitress” would do in this situation. She would either blame everything on Scotty, to make everyone laugh. Or she would throw a hand on one hip and say something saucy, pretending that she had been right all along. But neither of those felt right in this situation.
Maybe now I could do the right thing by simply being me, and being honest.
“Vaughan, it means a lot to me that you went to all this trouble to check up on my father, and that you still want to be with me.”
“Of course, sweetheart—”
I held a finger over his lips. “Please, let me spit this out.”
He nodded, stroking my back gently, making me melt against him.
“My mother was unbelievably quiet, so she never stopped Dad when he was being ridiculous, or when he took off on us. I always worried that if I was that quiet and shy, people would take off on me as well.”
Vaughan nodded, as if he wanted me to continue.
“So I’ve been trying to be more outgoing. Over the past year, I’ve forced myself to be bubbly and bright at work. I always told myself it was to make better tips, but really, it was testing what being more confident would feel like.”
He smiled, nodding again.
“But as I’ve been trying to break out of my shell, it’s been uneven. I think that’s why I panicked so terribly at the thought of you knowing what a scumbag my father is. Knowing that I was related to such a lowlife. I thought that might make you think I wasn’t good enough to be with you.”
Vaughan’s mouth fell open, then he crushed me against his chest in a bear hug. “Oh, baby, no. No. Please don’t think that for one second. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”
He tilted my head to kiss me, slow and sultry, with that gathering steam that drove me wild. Just as my fingers began running through the back of his hair, he pulled away.
“To be honest, it did feel like you were acting now and then. I wasn’t sure whether it was to please me, or just because you were nervous. Maybe I can help you if it’s the second one.”
I’d do anything he asked as long as he kept rubbing my back, taking hold of me so possessively.