Page 65 of Everything I Crave

“Hey, darling. I’m so glad you’re here.” I kiss her forehead once more.

“Oh yea? Did you miss me or something?” She grins.

“Or something,” I respond, placing her back on the ground.

“Right hand a little tired?” She giggles, reaching between us to cup me.

“Don’t start something, darling. There’s a lot of Keatons around right now,” I warn.

She gives me one more squeeze and pulls out of my arms, running up the front porch of the inn. I follow behind her, and when I get close I reach out to grab her around the waist, pulling her back to me so she can feel what she’s done.

“Let me go!” she squeals.

“Sorry. I told you not to start something.” I scoop her up into my arms and take the steps to our room two at a time.

She fights me the entire time to be put down.

I shut the door behind me and drop her to the bed.

“No dust. I cleaned.” I grin at her before jumping on the bed and covering her body with mine. I pin her against the bed, trailing kisses along her collarbone.

She wore my favorite sundress that has small straps, exposing her chest to me, and giving the perfect hint of her amazing cleavage. I bunch up the bottom of her dress with one hand, and push her strap down with the other.

“I missed you,” she blurts out.

I stop kissing her and look into her eyes.

She squirms under my stare.

“Darling, I missed you more than I ever want to miss you again.”

“I love you,” She says quickly before averting her gaze.

The relief that she feels the same as I do is unequivocal to anything I’ve ever felt.

“Darling, look at me,” I demand. “I want you to be looking at me when I say this.”

She reluctantly turns to face me, a light pink blush covering the apples of her cheeks.

Her reaction to her unexpected confession is so fucking cute.

“I love you. You never have to be afraid that I won’t.”

She pulls me back down to her, and I know in my heart she’s it for me.

I cover her mouth with mine, with more intensity than before. When she’s grasping at me, I stop to look her in the eyes again.

I say a silent prayer that she chose me to give herself to after what she’s been dealing with. I promise right then and there I will never take that for granted.

Now I need to pay a visit to Lorelei.

Before dinner I want to bring Willow down to the cove to get a minutes alone. I love my siblings but I've spent enough time with them recently.

Now that the steps are completed, it's safe for us to go down. The project ended up being a lot more work than we thought. We finished them this afternoon with a few of Hunter’s guys.

Wyatt and I found a large driftwood log this afternoon, and we set it up with some of the rocks so people can sit in a circle around a bonfire on the beach.

After a long talk with Momma and Pops, we all made a decision that Liam has been too nice to Pops until now and he is going to do what needs to be done, and Pops is going to step back from operations. Needless to say the nurses at his rehab facility weren't too happy with us for agitating him, but it had to be done. Emma and Liam are now in control of everything.

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