Page 92 of My December Darling

His arm tightens around me. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I wish I could take away whatever has you looking so…” He scans my face with a small frown.

I don’t bother concealing my true feelings with a reassuring smile meant to put him at ease. Truth is that death is a dark part of the medical profession. Denying the reality doesn’t make it any easier, but knowing I have Luke to come home to…

I couldn’t ask for a better friend, lover, and life partner.

“Thank you,” I blurt out without any context.

His brows pinch together. “What for?”

I clasp his chin. “Being you.”

“You give me too much credit for doing the bare minimum.”

I point at the LEGO box. “Are we pretending that you didn’t stand in line for ten hours to get that?”

“I’d do it all over again to see the smile on your face when you saw it.”

My heart thumps harder in my chest. I disguise the way his words turn my insides to mush with an eye roll. “Will you ever stop being so sappy?”

“Depends on how long you plan on loving me for.”

“Now that you mention it…”

He brushes the ticklish spot between my ribs that always makes me laugh and kick my feet.

“Stop!”

“I take personal offense to that statement.”

“Well, you did emphasize the importance of being honest?—”

He twists our bodies until I’m trapped beneath him with my spine pressing into the couch cushion and him hovering above me.

“Emphasis on the honesty,” he says with a little hiss.

“I think I could love you forever.”

“You. Think?” he enunciates each word.

I swallow my laugh. “I’m still not entirely convinced.”

“Is there anything I can do to sway you either way?”

“Perhaps.”

“I have a few ideas.” He grabs my left hand and brushes his mouth over my ringless finger. A small shudder courses through me, a fact that doesn’t go missed by the man I love given the way his eyes spark with interest.

“And here I thought you wanted to wait another year.”

“What?” I sputter. “When did I say that?”

His brow arches. “So youdowant to get married?”

“Obviously.”

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