I gasped, a chill exploding across my skin. “You what?”
He grinned, hauling me toward him until our mouths were no more than a breath apart. “Fate, Remi. I put up a good fight because, at the time, I was scared of it too. But I knew it then, and I sure as fuck know it now.” He kissed me, chaste and sweet. “But don’t you worry. I’m gonna do my best to be a patient man so the next time we talk about this you won’t look like you’ve just scheduled a root canal.”
My mind raced with a million thoughts as love swelled inside my chest. When I was younger, I’d had plenty of daydreams of finding and falling for Mr. Right. Planning a massive wedding with an obnoxious number of red tulips and all my friends and family in attendance. I’d dreamed of two kids—a boy and a girl. A big house with a tire swing out front. I wanted—no, I believed—the Happily Ever After that fairy tales had sold me.
Then my mom cheated on my dad. I witnessed the pain on his face day in and day out. The anger and betrayal in his eyes where nothing but love had lived before. The heartbreaking sadness she burdened him with when she chose a man she barely knew over my father who had loved her tirelessly for almost half his life.
She’d had that wedding.
She’d had that life.
She’d had that love.
But in the end, none of it had meant anything to her.
No. I didn’t believe in fate because I refused to believe that my mom had abandoned our family because she was destined to be with my high school Spanish teacher.
Aaron had told me for years I was jaded when it came to love because of what my mom had done to my dad. But it wasn’t until that very minute, while sitting in Bowen’s truck as the most incredible man I had ever met told me he’d been contemplating forever with me before I’d even known that a tomorrow together was a possibility, that I realized it was never love that I’d been afraid of.
I was absolutely terrified of loving someone so deeply and so profoundly and then having them abandon me too.
My mom hadn’t just left and crushed my dad’s heart; she’d broken mine too.
But I wasn’t a robot. Of course I’d thought about the future. I wasn’t ready to vow to forever, but he’d painted such an inviting picture. I certainly liked the way it looked through his eyes. Mainly because in his version of the future, we got to spend it together.
He frowned, the space between his eyes wrinkling, making little parentheses. “Remi, seriously. Don’t stress about it. I’m completely happy with how things are right now. Yes, one day, I would like more, but I’ll wait an eternity if that’s what it takes for you to be ready. And if you never get there, I’ll wait for the eternity after that. I love you. That’s all that matters, okay?”
My stomach did a somersault. God, just when I’d thought he couldn’t get any more incredible, he went and said stuff like that—reading my insecurities like a book.
I brushed my nose with his. “I won’t make you wait an eternity, but I need some more time, okay?” I pressed my lips to his, inhaling reverently.
He tried to take it deeper, his mouth opening and his tongue gliding against mine. But if we got started now, we’d never make it inside to Katherine’s mixer.
Righting myself in my seat, I gave him a teasing side-eye. “Though we can discuss things that may or may not happen if we ever were to get married. Like, say, that whole boys and girls thing?”
He didn’t even try to hide his smile. “What about it?”
“Boys and girls are both plural. In order to have that, you would need at least four kids.”
That damn sexy smile of his, the one that had me regretting my decisions not to kiss his face off, stretched wider. “And?”
I chuffed. “And your brother told me all about the Michaels siblings growing up. No way I’m volunteering for that kind of trouble. You get two. Two boys or two girls. Or one of each. Take it or leave it.”
His face got dark, and his eyes heated.
Oh boy. I knew that look all too well. He was going to kiss me again. It wouldn’t be quick or gentle, and there would be no stopping it once his lips met mine. Usually, I did not mind. Truth be told, even in that moment, I did not mind.
But it was going to be a hell of a lot of fun trying to get away.
I dove for the door handle, but he caught my arm. I giggled, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. For a big guy, he had no issues coming across the truck. His mouth collided with mine and his hand left my forearm only so he could thrust it into the back of my hair. His fist closed, sending a heady combination of pain and pleasure straight to my clit.
