Page 86 of Searching Blind

“I love you.”

He fumbled the bottle. “Oh. Wow. Okay, I thought I was going to have to do a bit more work before I heard those words.”

She stepped forward to take the bottle from him. “Well, I can make you work for it if you really want.”

His pale blue eyes widened in surprise before crinkling at the corners as a grin spread across his face. “No, no,” he said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. “I’m absolutely fine with not having to work for it.”

She laughed again and moved a little closer, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. The tension and fear from earlier had faded into something warm and sweet— a feeling she realized she wanted to hold onto forever.

Her voice was barely above a whisper when she asked, “Sawyer, do you still love me? I was such an ass. I shouldn’t have pushed you away, but I was so scared.”

He looked at her with such open affection in those unseeing eyes that it stole her breath away.

“Lucy Harper,” he said softly, tracing his hands over her shoulders and up her neck to her face. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve loved you since the moment I found you. It was dark, you were hurt, and you needed someone. And in that moment, I realized that I wanted to be that someone for you. Always.” He leaned in closer, bringing their faces just inches apart. “And every day since then, I fell a little more in love with you. The way you laugh at my terrible jokes, how fiercely you fight for what you believe in, your stubbornness–God, Lucy, even your stubbornness… I love all of it.” His voice fell to a whisper, his forehead resting gently against hers. “And I especially love how just when I think I’ve got you figured out, you surprise me all over again.”

“Sawyer…” she began, her voice choked with emotion. But he placed a finger gently against her lips, silencing her.

“I’m not finished yet,” he told her, his face serious. “You’ve made it clear that your past has made you wary of relationships. You’ve also made it clear that you’re scared – scared of me leaving, scared of me getting hurt again.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I want you to know that I’m here for the long haul. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that whatever it is, I want to face it with you. And as for your past… we all have one. But it’s just that—a past. It doesn’t define us or dictate our future. I’m not your ex-husband, and I will spend every day for the rest of my life proving that to you.”

The lump in her throat quadrupled in size, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. “You don’t need to. I already know it.”

“Okay.” His thumbs swept over her cheeks, catching her tears. “Good. But I still want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

chapter

thirty

There are so many things to be afraid of in life, but love isn’t one of them.

Donovan was right. She’d spent so much of her life in fear, but she didn’t want to be afraid anymore. Not of this. Not of Sawyer. Not of them together.

She pressed her lips to his. “Yes.”

He started to return her kiss but then pulled his head back. “Wait, yes? As in, yes, you’ll spend the rest of your life with me?”

She laughed, her heart light and full. “Yes, Sawyer. As in, I love you too, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to you just as much as you want to prove it to me.”

Relief washed over his face. His grin was so bright it outshone the sun setting on the horizon as he leaned down and captured her lips with his.

She melted into him, and her hands curled in his worn blue flannel shirt, tugging him toward the blanket behind them.

He chuckled against her lips. “I thought we’d at least eat first…”

“Hmm.” She pushed him down to the blanket and straddled him. “Well, there is something I’ve been dying to taste.”

His laughter came full and free, a sound that echoed through the secluded cove. His hands found their way to her waist, his thumb tracing the curve of her hip through the lightweight material of her jacket.

“And what might that be?”

She leaned down and dragged her open mouth down the muscle in his neck. “You.”

His fingers dug into her hips, and he exhaled sharply as her teeth sank into the skin over his collarbone. “Far be it from me to deny you anything, love.”

How could she have ever pushed this man away? How could she have let her fears, and her scars dictate her future when this is what it could be like?

She was struck by a sudden overwhelming need to make up for lost time.

She slid her hands under his shirt, tracing over the planes of his muscular chest as she pulled it off him. He was still bruised all over, the deep blues and purples fading to ugly greens and yellows—but he was still the most beautiful man she had ever seen. She kissed her way down his chest, stopping to tease his nipple with her tongue.

---