Page 48 of Oops, I Fell For The Town Bad Boy!

“There’s an auto shop here in Miller Creek,” he said. “Maybe they would take me on. This is my town, and now that I have a second chance to put things right — I want to come back here. I want to build the life here that I wish I had never given up.”

She stared up at him, her eyes going wide. “You want to stay?”

“I want to stay,” he confirmed.

Her breathing was slightly uneven. “The house… you already sold me your share of the house…”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of asking for that back,” he said quickly.

“No, that’s not what I was going to say,” she said. “I didn’t think you were going to ask for it back. But… you sold it to me thinking that you weren’t going to want to stay in town. I don’t feel right about that now that you’ve changed your mind.”

“I sold it to you to pay for this event,” he pointed out. “I don’t have any regrets about that.”

Taylor hesitated. “You gave me a really good deal,” she pointed out. “I paid a whole lot less than that house is worth.”

“I suppose so.”

“Move in with me.”

Kane raised his eyebrows. “Do you mean that?”

It was what he had hoped she would say — but it had been nothing but a pipe dream. He’d had no expectation that it would happen. After all, the house was hers now. The fact that he had chosen to come back to Miller Creek didn’t change that.

He took her hand and led her off to one side. “I want to make sure you’re asking me this for the right reasons,” he said quietly. “I didn’t decide to stay here because I want to force you to accelerate a relationship. I’d never want you to feel pressured into anything. I love what you and I have been exploring together, and…” He chuckled. “Now we know that my dad would have been into it, so that’s a thing. But that doesn’t mean you’re under any obligation. I’m happy to rent an apartment. We can keep seeing each other casually, or— or even not at all. I know you always thought I would go home eventually. You didn’t get into this thinking it would be a long-term thing.”

“No, I didn’t,” she agreed. “But I hoped it would, Kane. Even though I knew there was no justification for that hope. Even though I knew I was being ridiculous wishing for it, and you were definitely going to go back home. Even then, a part of me wished you would stay.” She took a deep breath. “I think I’ve been falling for you for a very long time.”

Kane closed his eyes and let the weight of those words wash over him.

“But you’re right,” she said quickly. “I know that choosing to stay in Miller Creek doesn’t have to mean choosing me. If you’d rather get your own place, I completely understand.”

“Are you kidding?” Kane asked. He pulled her close and kissed her briefly. “You’re the main reason I want to stay, Taylor. This is a nice town, and I like it a lot, but I’d have been perfectly happy to move on if it weren’t for you. You’re the one who makes me want to stick around. You’re the reason I almost stayed ten years ago. You’re the reason I want to stay now.”

Taylor let out a long breath, and Kane felt her shiver slightly. “Move in with me,” she said again. “Let’s make this thing official. That’s what I want. And for what it’s worth, I think your dad would have wanted that too.”

And what she was offering was what Kane wanted more than anything in the world.

He nodded, smiled down at her, and kissed her again.

EPILOGUE

NINE MONTHS LATER: TAYLOR

“Toby, inside!” Kane called.

The dog came trotting in from the backyard, dropping the stick he’d been playing with at the door as he always did. As he stepped onto the new hardwood floor, he gave Kane a reproachful look, as if to say that he didn’t like this very much at all.

Taylor laughed. “I keep meaning to order a carpet runner for him so that he won’t have to walk on the hardwood,” she said, scratching Toby behind the ears. “He doesn’t like it very much at all, does he?”

“Nope,” Kane said with a smile. “He loves the new sunroom, though, so you’ve got to take the good with the bad, Tobes.”

Taylor dished chili into two bowls and set them on the kitchen table. Then she picked up the dog dish and added a little bit of meat on the top of that as well before putting it back on the floor for Toby.

Kane went to the sink and washed his hands. “So, Jeff called today,” he said.

“Oh, yeah?”

“We’re invited to his eldest grandson’s graduation.”

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