Page 69 of Somebody To Love

A sob broke free, tears pouring down her cheeks, their liquid warmth welcome for the first time in days. The emotional dam inside her broke as everything came pouring out. The fear, the worry, but most of all, happiness.

“You’re in love with me?”

He stepped closer, pulling her into his arms, bending his head until their foreheads touched. “So damn deep in love I can’t even see the sunshine. All I see is you, and honey, you’re the brightest, most beautiful thing in the entire world.”

She smiled, sniffing back the last of her tears. “I love you, Bravo. So very much. And we don’t need to decide on anything right away. We can take it slow, take our time. I know this changes our plans with the baby thing again, but I—”

One large, rough finger settled gently on her lips. “It’s been seventeen years. Pretty slow by most people's standards.”

“Yes, but we’ve been friends that whole time. Not lovers.”

Full lips turned up in a wicked grin. “Not the whole time.”

True. They had changed the dynamic of their friendship recently. “Yes, but we still don’t have to rush anything. I know you never planned on getting married or having a family and I’m willing to wait until you—”

He silenced her this time with a kiss. A killer of a kiss. One large hand came up to cup the back of her head, angling her so he could devour her mouth. She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. The moment his tongue stroked hers, fireworks went off behind her closed eyelids. Her body trembled with need, aching in low, deep spots. How could he affect her so deeply with just a kiss?

Simple. They were in love.

“Penelope,” he whispered against her lips, breathing as hard as her. “I love you and I want to be with you. I want to marry you, have a family with you, face all the stupid scary shit this life can throw our way. Am I still afraid? Hell yeah, but I’m more afraid of never having all of that than I am of having it and losing it. What do you say?”

She smiled up at him. Her best friend, the person she trusted the most in this world, the one she turned to whenever she had a problem. “I say yes. To you, to us, to everything.”

His smile grew. Brightening so much it almost blinded her with its happiness. He bent, scooping her up into his arms. A laugh of pure joy poured out of her as he carried her toward the bedroom.

“Now,” he said in a husky, teasing tone. “How about we continue with your plan to become a mother, because I suddenly find I am really looking forward to becoming a father.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, and the trying part is so much fun.”

He bobbed his eyebrows, and she laughed. Her body was so light and happy she couldn’t believe any of this was real. But it was. She thought her heart wanted only one thing when, in fact, it wanted it all. And lucky her, it looked like she was going to get her heart’s desire.

EPILOGUE

“Honey, I’m home!”

Penny giggled at BJ’s announcement. It had been four months since they confessed their love and decided to make a real go at this relationship thing. Four glorious months filled with laughter, joy—the occasional disagreement over which pizza topping to get—and most of all, love. About three months ago, he’d moved into her place. She quickly realized that her cozy apartment was much too cramped for two people.

And it was about to get a lot smaller.

Smile on her face, Penny tucked the small box with the surprise in it behind her back and stood from her seat on the couch. BJ held up a tub of strawberry swirl ice cream. Her mouth watered at the sight.

“We ran out this morning. How did you know to get more?”

He grinned, moving to the kitchen to put the ice cream in the freezer. “You’ve been having it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner lately. We were low last night. I figured better to play it on the safe side and grab a tub on my way home.”

Wasn’t her fault the sweet, creamy confection was the only thing that didn’t make her want to puke her guts out lately. Well, it kind of was her fault…his too. She rolled her lips in, eager to shout out her new, but not wanting to spoil the surprise. Giddy excitement filled her chest. The secret she held inside threatened to crawl up her throat, but she held it back. She wanted BJ to at least be in front of her when she told him.

“Plus, I figured we needed the ice cream to celebrate,” BJ said, coming to stand beside her.

“Celebrate?”

“Yeah.”

He cupped her face, placing a gentle kiss to her lips. She’d never tire of kissing BJ. Not even if they suddenly became immortal and lived forever. Kissing him was like sinking into a pool of all the warm and wonderful things life offered. He loved her. She still couldn’t believe it most days.

“It’s our four-month anniversary,” BJ whispered against her lips.

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