Page 122 of Someone You Deserve

“Hey, it’s okay.” I squeeze my arms around him as tightly as I can. “It’s okay.”

“Were they all right?” Willow asks.

Penn nods. “Yes. They got damn lucky. But I waited with them until the paramedics arrived. Then I got here as fast as I could because I didn’t want to miss this. I would have called but I lost my phone in my truck and didn’t want to waste time looking for it.” He turns back to me. “I couldn’t miss your night.”

This man. His heart knows no bounds. His desire to be there for others has no limit.

I love him.

I pull him back down to me and kiss him again. I hear murmurs beside us, but I don’t let up until I feel like I’ve told him everything he needs to know with that kiss. And then when we part, he looks to the side and notices our audience. Straightening his spine, he stands tall with his arm around my waist, and asks, “Is everyone enjoying the cupcakes?”

Laughter rings out and more guests come up to talk to us. But I barely have to say a word now. Penn answers for me. He brags about my talent. He makes suggestions on what someone should order if they visit the bakery. He also drops Dallas’s restaurant in the mix, bragging about our small town that they should visit when the weather gets warmer.

“And Penn will have a few beautiful rentals available for your stay should you choose,” I add in. He glances at me with a lift of his brow. “I’ve seen the work he’s done and they’re stunning.” A lie, but I don’t have to see the house with my own eyes to know what kind of time and care Penn puts into his projects.

“There’s only one house right now,” he mutters in my ear.

“There may just be two sooner rather than later,” I mumble back.

As the conversation dies down and I give out my last business card, Penn grabs my hand and pulls me into a small alcove just outside the ballroom, granting us some privacy.

“You are so incredible,” he says, dipping his lips down to mine again, kissing me like he needs me like oxygen.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up tonight,” I admit on a shaky breath.

He rears back and looks at me confused. “What?”

Fidgeting with the lapels of his jacket, I stare at where my hands are and not into his eyes. “I don’t know. I thought maybe the other night was too much for you, that you didn’t want…”

He stops me with a press of his finger to my lips. “Don’t you dare fucking finish that sentence.” Trailing a finger down the side of my face, the corner of his mouth lifts as he speaks again. “I made the mistake of not telling what I was thinking after your revelation, but I’m not going to make that mistake again. And honestly, I needed some time to process.” He takes a deep breath and says, “I’m sorry thatBrandon was not the husband you deserve. I’m sorry that I have been making myself sick with guilt for wanting you when you weren’t really his anymore to begin with. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you this that night, but I’m telling you now.” He bends his knees so our eyes are in line. “I promise to be the man you fucking deserve, Astrid. I love you, and I want a life with you, and that means a life that we both want. I want us to be a team because that’s what we both need—a person we can count on to be there through the highs and lows, a person that will fight for us until the end of time.”

Emotion overwhelms me. “I need you in my life so much that it scares me, Penn. You’re the only person who has ever really seen me and values who I am.” Shaking my head, I continue. “When you marry someone, people fail to realize you’re vowing to love every version of that person—who they were before you, who they are when you say your vows, and who they will become. Brandon and I grew apart, plain and simple. We grew into two different people, and he wasn’t the person I wanted a future with anymore. But now, I want that chance with you.” His smile grows. “I want to love the friend you were before, the man you are right now, and the partner you will become. I’m in love with you, Penn, and I’m all in. I want to tell and show the world that you’re mine.”

“It’s about fucking time,” he grates out, and our smiles mirror one another’s.

“I’m sorry that it took me so long to get here.”

“I’d wait ten lifetimes if they led me to you, Astrid. You are my person, and I wouldn’t trade how we ended up here for anything.”

A tear slips from my eye. “I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you more,” he says before our mouthsconnect again.

And in the alcove of a hotel, Penn and I find ourselves on the very same page at the very same time, ready to write the rest of our story together.

Chapter twenty-one

Penn

“Why am I so nervous?” Astrid wrings her hands together, fidgeting as she sits in the passenger seat of my truck. It’s Sunday afternoon and we’re headed back to her house after spending the night in Raleigh after the benefit.

My chest feels lighter than it has in years, and in its place is something I haven’t felt in just as long—hope.

Hope for our future. Hope that we get this right. Hope that everyone can just accept that she and I belong together—including Bentley and Lilly.

“Do you honestly think they’re going to have a problem with it?” I ask because in my mind, the discussion we’re about to have with them should go swimmingly. I’m already a constant in their lives and Astrid and I being together isn’t going to change that.

“I don’t know. I’m not concerned about Lilly. More about Bentley.” She bites on her bottom lip. “I guess my fear in us being together was always in him feeling like you are trying to replace Brandon.”

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