Page 111 of The Fiance Dilemma

He tickled my sides, and I rushed out,“Okayokayokayokay.”But Matthew didn’t stop, and so I squealed some more, wiggling my body on top of his to free myself and—I felt him. Hard and long and very naked at my back.

My laughter died off, immediately replaced by a powerful wave of awareness. Need. Sultry and warm.

I felt his smile when he kissed my shoulder from behind me. “Can I ask you something?” he asked and I nodded my head, squirming, moving my ass against him. We both let out a hitched breath. “Why are you wearing so many layers of clothing? Don’t get me wrong, I want you warm, cozy, and happy. But I don’t even know when you left my side to suit up like this.”

I breathed out a laugh, although it sounded strained, still very aware of the heat at my back. God, I wanted him again. Several times. All day? All the time. Yes. I—

“Blue,” Matthew insisted. And to make a point he rearranged me, nestling himself right against my ass cheeks.

A shudder rocked me. Stupid pajamas. “I can’t sleep naked,” I confessed. “I feel… too exposed.” I swallowed at the way his hold changed, I knew he was going to do something. Hopefully. “What if a monster comes and gets me? What if there’s a fire and I need to climb out the window without clothes?”

There was a pause.

Then I was being rolled to the side, and as anticipated, Matthew turned me so I’d face him. He kissed the tip of my nose. I frowned at the tameness of that, and he chuckled in return. “I’d protect you,” he told me. “From the monsters.”

“You don’t think my explanation is silly? I’m closer to thirty than thirteen.”

“Nah,” he said quickly. Easily. His arm came around my waist and he pulled me in. Secured me against him. “You’re smarter than me. It never occurred to me that I might end up flashing my junk to a firefighter.”

The corners of my lips inched up. “Would you even care if you did?”

“Not really, no.” He shrugged. “I have great junk.”

I tried to stop it from coming out, but boy, I couldn’t not laugh. His eyes lit up, gaze going a little crazy, as if he couldn’t decide where to look. “You kinda do, I guess. Maybe.”

He brought me closer still. “He’s not hurt by your reluctance.” His chin dipped before adding, “He was there last night. For the moaning, the screaming, the coming, theOh shit, Matt—”

I punched him in the stomach. Softly. A chuckle left him, unbothered. “I justknewyou would be the kind of man who would talk about his penis in third person.”

He grasped my fist with one hand, bringing it up between us. It was my left. “And I knew you’d love that about me.” Matthew’s gaze lowered, and as much as that happy glow didn’t go away, something else entered his expression too. “Do you?” He swallowed. “Do you love that about me?”

I looked down at what had captured his attention. My ring finger. His grandma’s Claddagh ring. Mine, for the last few weeks. “I do,” I said, the words squeezing out of me. His eyes climbed up to mine. “I love that about you.”

I love every single thing about you.

“Are we really doing this, Matthew?”

He inched closer, not letting go of my hand when it pressed between his chest and the flannel of my top. “We’ll do anything we want. Anything we decide.”

We.

My chest expanded with… hope. It was fuzzy and overpowering. The kind that filled you up, bringing bubbles to your head. “I think I could really marry you.”

His laughter was soft, intimate, and it fell on my lips. “Flattery, meet Josie.”

“You know what I mean,” I told him. I was talking about walkingdown the aisle to him. Like it had been planned. I never thought it would really happen. “Do you think it’s going to make any difference? Outside of us.”

“I think I don’t give a shit what it does for Andrew if that’s what you’re asking me. I only care about you.”

I shot him a glance, even though I couldn’t blame him. Not after last night. “I have a reputation, too. Which is kind of justified by real facts, you know?”

“You have a life,” he told me. His mouth pressed against mine. “You don’t have areputation.You have a heart that chose to believe in love. A beautiful mind that singled out every bad or ugly thing that came at you and stayed hopeful. You have the kindness to give second and third and fourth chances. You’d rather lose hours of sleep baking so someone can feel a little better the next day than take care of yourself. You showed up on some guy’s doorstep with a folder filled with printed job ads that you’d color coded. You have a fucking sun painted on the wall because it makes you smile. If someone fails to see all of that, or who you really are, then good.” A throaty sound left him. “More of you that’s just for me.”

My smile was slow, but I knew it was there, parting my face. Mirroring the butterflies filling every gap inside my chest. Even the hole that Mom had left, even if just for a little while. “Those should be your vows,” I told him, before doing the same and planting a hard kiss on his mouth. “Then you can pat your chest with your fist and growl a loud,Josie, woman. Mine. Just for me.”

His gaze darkening was the only warning before he rolled me on my back. Arms caged my head. “Poke fun at me, Baby Blue,” he rasped. “The truth is scary sometimes, but it doesn’t make it any less real.” I swallowed, and Matthew licked his lips. “That doesn’t mean you’re not getting that ass s—”

The doorbell rang.

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