Page 28 of A Very Grumpy Thanksgiving

“I…” he closes his mouth, and I watch him swallow hard once more. “I love you.”

“What!” I gasp, my mouth dropping open.

“I love you, Saffron. I have for months, well before I asked you to be my fake girlfriend for Thanksgiving. God, I never should have done that. I never want anything between us to be fake.”

My knees feel weak, and for a second, it feels like I’m in the middle of one of my romance books.

“You regret it?” I ask him and he frowns.

“No, not really. I can’t ever regret any time that I spent with you.”

I grin, and he seems to relax.

“You love me?” I ask him softly, and he nods.

“So much, Saffron. So damn much. I should have just talked to you. I should have asked you out weeks ago, I should have told you about how I felt from the beginning, definitely before we slept together.”

“I kind of panicked this morning. I should have stayed and talked to you and told you how I was feeling,” I tell him, stepping closer to the kitchen island.

He nods, a hopeful look in his dark blue eyes.

“I love you too, Nolan. I’ve had a crush on you since I moved to town and first saw you, but I never thought that you would be interested in me. I didn’t think that you noticed me at all,” I admit.

“You were all that I noticed,” he tells me, and I smile as a blush spreads across my cheeks.

“So, last night…”

“Was everything that I dreamed it would be and more,” he finishes.

“Yeah, it was.”

We share a smile, and he takes a step towards me.

“So, we’re doing this? We’re together? Officially?” I ask, and he nods.

“Fuck yes. You’re my girl, Saffron. For real.”

“For real,” I agree.

We close the distance between us, and he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me flush against him. My hands cup his face and he smiles down at me as his lips slowly lower to claim mine.

His lips move against mine slowly, like he’s cherishing me, like he has all of the time in the world to kiss me. I moan as I lean against him, loving the feel of his strong body against mine.

“Mine,” he whispers, and I nod.

Nolan’s lips mold to mine and I get swept away by his kiss, by the feel of his hands on my back, pulling me closer and closer still.

When he finally pulls back, I feel like I’m floating, drugged by his kisses. His hands rub up and down my back, like he can’t stop touching me, and I smile up at him.

“Do I get my surprise now?” I ask him, and he grins.

“Yeah, come on.”

He takes my hand and to my surprise, leads me down the hallway to the bedroom off of the living room. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a wall of bookcases. If I wasn’t in love with him before, seeing this would have had me falling head over heels for him.

“Oh my gosh! It’s perfect!” I gush as I rush over to run my fingers over the wooden shelves.

“I didn’t paint or stain them yet. I thought that you might want to pick out the colors and stuff.”

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