“What do you mean?” he asks, though I can hear a spark of hope in his voice, as though part of him senses I might feel the same.
I lean back, swiping at my cheeks. Looking deep into his eyes, I tell myself this is real. This isn’t a joke.
I can feel how genuine it is, sense it in the way he cradles my hips, the way his eyes sear into me.
“I want the same,” I whisper.
He freezes, his eyes widening.
“I want a life together,” I go on. “I want a family. I want a future. I wanted it all the same way you did, Preston. From the first moment, I saw you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Preston
“I can’t believe it,” I say, holding her hand tighter in mine.
We walk through a park near the studio.
After she told me she felt the same, it was like neither of us could sit still. We were too full of energy, too pumped up from the revelation.
She returns the pressure to my hand, looking over at me with her flushed cheeks and bright eyes. All around us, birds chirp. A soft wind makes the trees sway and a mother pushes her stroller down the path, and Penny and I watch it all together. And I just know Penny is imagining the same thing I am.
Her pushing a stroller, with our baby inside.
“If I didn’t know any better,” she murmurs. “I’d say this was a joke.”
I laugh, lean over and kiss her lightly on the cheek. Any more, and I know I won’t be able to stop. I’ll drag her to the other side of the park, shove her up against a tree, slide my hands down to her hips, and then lower, as she writhes against me.
“It’s not,” I say gently. “I could never joke about this. I just can’t believe you feel the same.”
“I do,” she whispers.
“I didn’t plan on telling you,” I go on. “But when you used my surname by accident… something snapped in me. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. It was like once you’d said it, it became real. Our future was that much closer.”
She pauses at the edge of the pond. I stand at her side, wrapping my arm around her and hugging her close. She sinks into me like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and it is.
“If somebody had told me, a week ago, that I’d be in the park with the woman of my dreams… I would’ve laughed in their face. But here we are. Here you are.”
She glances at me, her eyes skittish under her lashes.
“What is it?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I don’t want to ruin this. But I have to ask. Even if I think I already know the answer. I have to hear it.”
I nod. “Okay…”
She takes a moment to summon her courage. “Did you ever say anything like this too—”
“I’ve never said anything like this,” I tell her with complete certainty. “I swear, you’re the only person I’ve ever felt this way about. You’re the only person I’ve ever spoken like this with. You’re it, for me, Penny. You’re everything.”
“Oh, Preston.”
She turns and stands on her tiptoes. I take her lips, claiming them, kissing her all the harder now that I know she feels the same. Suddenly, worrying about the past, about relationships and virginity and all the rest of it seems so pointless, so needless.
This, my woman, our heat and our passion and our intimacy, it’s all that matters.
She grips my arms. And I can feel how badly she wants this. Us.
“What brought us together?” she whispers, her lips against mine, our noses brushing. “I’ve never been one to believe in fate or destiny or any of that stuff.”
I smirk. “I was thinking the exact same thing earlier. But when I discovered our mothers had died in the same way… I knew I couldn’t ignore this feeling anymore, I started to question if fate is real. I’m still not sure. But in the end, it doesn’t matter.”
“No?”
“All that matters is we’re together,” I say fervently. “Me and you, Penny, forever. We’re going to have a family. We’re going to have four, five, six, seven children.”
She giggles in the cutest way, slapping her hand against my chest. “Seven, hmm? That might be taking it a little far.”
I grin, feeling more carefree than I ever have. Even when I was a kid, I never experienced this feeling.
It’s like time has reversed, giving me a second chance. She has gifted me with all the light and love I’ll ever need.
“How many, then?” I ask.
“Four, five,” she says.
My heart feels like it grows. It’s like a song to my soul. I know I’m being a sappy bastard, but I don’t give a damn.
Already, I can feel my grumpy days drifting away, leaving something new and thrilling in its place.