Page 103 of Holding Grace

“I want this. You. Us. The two of us together.” Could she see how fast my heart was beating? “I want to be married to you, Grace. If this ends, you’re going to be the one to call it. I won’t force you to be with me, to let me be with you, but I want it. I want you and all your mess. Today and always. That’s not going to change.”

She dropped her arms and let me pull her closer, looking up at me. God, this woman was my everything.

“I love you, Grace. I’m in love with you. Sometimes it feels like I always have been.” Tears welled up in her eyes again, but I kept going. “To me, we feel inevitable. It tore me apart when you left, and I have to believe there’s a reason we found each other again. This is what I want, Gracie. You and me, forever.”

She looped her arms around my waist and rested her head against my chest. I held her, stroking my hand over her hair, breathing in her scent as her tears soaked my shirt.

She was crying but the crisis had passed.

Grace was mine. I knew it – I felt it – soul-deep.

She lifted her tear-streaked face to mine, love shining from her eyes, as I wiped the wetness away with my thumbs.

“I don’t deserve this,” she said, even as she clung to me.

I lowered my head and kissed her, giving her my heart and soul. “You do. We do. We deserve this.”

She slid her hands up, framing my face. “I love you, Michael. So much it scares me a little. It’s just...” she swallowed, shaking her head... “it’s more, bigger, than anything I’ve ever felt. I don’t have words to tell you.”

I rested my forehead against hers. “I know, sweetheart. It’s the same for me. Words don’t do it justice.”

“They don’t.” Grace raised up for another kiss.

I poured everything I had into it, losing myself in her as she lost herself in me. When we both pulled back, she slipped her hand into mine. “Let’s see how actions do.”

She backed toward my bedroom, and I followed willingly, mesmerized by the heat in her eyes.

“I love you, Gracie.” I couldn’t have held the words back if I’d tried.

“I know you do,” she responded, teasing now. “Show me.”

“Show you?” My face split into a grin. I rushed forward, dipping down to lift her up over my shoulder while she laughed. “Hold on, baby. It’s going to be a wild ride.”

Chapter 37

Grace

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