Page 92 of Midnight Hunter
My breath hiccupped in my lungs.
“I think I’ve been falling for you since you showed up at my door in those high-heeled boots, looking like some hoity-toity city girl who didn’t know the first thing about life and survival.” His thumb traced my cheekbone. “I was wrong about that too. You’re one of the strongest people I know. I wouldn’t have survived the bush or Deke without you.”
His hand slid around the side of my head to cup the back of my neck. “And I don’t want a quiet, risk-free life anymore. I want you in it, making noise as you wear your fancy shoes on our hardwood floors. I want to watch Eloise terrorize you, and you return the favor.”
That drew a smile from me.
He bent his arm, drawing me in closer until his forehead touched mine. “I love you, Lana. I wish it hadn’t taken a madman for me to realize it, but I do. With every fiber of my being, I love you.”
I brought my hands up to frame his face. Pulling back, I looked him in the eye. “I love you too.” My voice broke on the last word, but I cleared my throat. There was more to say.
“I’m not Cara,” I continued, softly. “I’ll never ask you to forget her or try to replace her. I know what she meant to you, and it would be wrong to think you could just shove her aside for me. I think there’s room for both of us in your heart. We’ll just live in different parts.” My thumbs stroked his stubbled jaw. “You’re stuck with me now that you’ve admitted how you feel. I’ll run off with your heroic chicken if you try to leave me.”
He huffed a quick laugh, the sound a little watery.
I silenced the sound with what I’d been wanting to do since I ran to him in the cabin.
I kissed him.
Tightening his arm, he pulled me closer, hugging me to his torso.
Eloise let out a squawk and pecked my arm.
“Ouch.” I pulled back, frowning as I looked at my arm, then the chicken.
Toren laughed, the sound ringing through the barn.
“One day,” I shook a finger at her, “you’re going to be in my skillet.” I looked at my arm again. I had a red spot, but it wasn’t bleeding. “Stupid bird…”
Toren’s good arm came around me, drawing me back into his side, and I went without a fight. He pressed his lips to the top of my head and just left them there. I felt his chest rise with a deep breath. He stroked Eloise’s back again, and she settled down.
I closed my eyes, a single tear sliding free as I said a quick prayer of thanks, both for getting me through the worst day ofmy life but also for making it one Id never forget for an entirely different reason.
The End
