Page 98 of Accidental Fiancé

Every movement, every breath was in sync, as if we were made for each other. She cried out my name, her body writhing beneath mine. I loved the way she jutted her hips up to take me deeper. When she cried out this time, I couldn’t hold back. I followed her over the edge, my heart pounding in my chest as I whispered her name in turn. Afterward, we lay tangled in the sheets, the room filled with the sounds of our breathing.

Maggie's head rested on my chest, her fingers tracing lazy circles on my skin. I was tired, and my body was heavy withsatisfaction. But there was something about the way she was touching me that told me she couldn't sleep just yet.

“What's on your mind? I asked softly, my fingers playing with the ends of her damp hair.

She was quiet for a moment, her fingers stilling on my abs. “I've been thinking about the bakery.”

I stiffened slightly, my mind immediately going back to everything with Chloe, the fire, all the pain that had come from that nightmare. Truthfully, I had hoped the sex would send us both to sleep. I knew she was exhausted—I certainly was.

But if she wanted to have a conversation through the night, I was down for that. I just hoped her concern wasn’t Chloe-related. I had enough of her in my life. I didn’t want to think about her in bed, naked and relaxed.

I asked, “What about the bakery?”

She shifted slightly, propping herself up on one elbow so she could look at me. Her eyes were filled with the kind of sadness I hadn't seen in a long time. She whispered, “I miss it. I miss baking. I miss the smell of bread, the feel of my hands in dough. I miss creating something that was mine.”

My heart clenched at the vulnerability in her voice. I reached up and cupped her cheek, brushing my thumb over the smooth skin. God, she was pretty. How could I be so lucky that she had agreed to marry me?

I put the thought out of my mind. Otherwise, I’d get stuck on that, and the conversation would go south. “Do you want another one?”

She blinked, clearly caught off guard by the question. “Another what?”

“Another bakery,” I clarified in a steady tone. “Do you want to open another one?”

She looked at me as if she weren’t sure if I was serious. But I was dead serious. “Maggie, if that's what you want, then let's do it. Let's get you another bakery.”

Her eyes searched mine, her expression a mixture of disbelief and something resembling hope. “It's not that simple, Julian. It took everything I had to get that one off the ground. And now…”

I shook my head, silencing her with a kiss. When I pulled back, I looked her straight in the eyes. “We'll get it figured out. You've been through hell, and you deserve to get back what was taken from you. If opening another bakery is what you want, then we'll make it happen.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she smiled, a genuine smile that made my heart swell and break at the same time. As if kindness was something she never saw coming because she never had it before now. “You really mean that?”

“Of course, I do," I said, brushing a stray hair away from her face. “You've got me now, remember? And I'm not going anywhere. Whatever you want, we'll figure it out together.”

She kissed me then, slow and sweet, and I could taste the love that flowed between us.

Chapter 37

Maggie

After that kiss, we settled down. The house was quiet, the kind of quiet that pressed deep into your bones and made you feel like the world outside didn't exist. I lay against him, my head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart as his fingers moved slowly along my back.

Other than the bakery conversation, we hadn't said much after we left his family's estate, and honestly, we didn't need to. After the week we'd just survived, silence felt like a gift. My mind had been spinning for days, overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Chloe's hateful, psycho confession. The proposal. The endless chatter from Julian's family. Not all bad, but it had been a lot.

Here in his bed,ourbed, all of that felt far away. A distant memory. The warmth of his skin beneath my cheek and the feel of the diamond ring on my finger was what was real.

I shifted slightly so I could look at his face. His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, but I knew he wasn't asleep. His body hadn’t yet fully relaxed and that told me he was waiting for me to say something.

“I've been thinking,” I murmured, running my fingers through his hair.

“Oh?” he teased, his eyes opening, a lazy smile on his lips. “Should I be worried?”

I giggled softly, shaking my head. “No, it’s nothing bad.” I hesitated, biting my lip as I tried to find the right words. “I don't think I want another bakery.”

Julian raised an eyebrow, surprised. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he processed what I said. “Really? You sounded like you missed it.”

“I do,” I said quickly, not wanting him to think I didn't. “I miss the baking, the creativity, the satisfaction of running something that was mine. But I think I miss the idea of it more than the reality. I don't know if I want to dive back into that world.”

Julian frowned slightly, the line in his brow deepening. “Then what do you want?”

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