Page 52 of Devoted Enough

Her hand came to her mouth as she blinked rapidly at me.

“You’re the most amazing woman I have ever met, Haven. You’re kind, selfless, and you love your dogs with all your heart, as well as strangers, but mostly the dogs. You are perfect in my eyes, sweetheart.”

Haven slowly shook her head as she lightly chuckled at the accuracy of the dog statement.

“I was trying to stay away because…because I love you, Haven. I gave you my heart long ago. You’ve had it this entire time and never knew it.”

“Wh…what did you say?”

Meeting her eyes with mine, I asked, “Which part?”

She closed her eyes and gave her head a quick shake before focusing back on me. “You love me?”

Smiling, I nodded. “I think I’ve been in love with you since I first saw you.”

Her hand came up to her mouth as she stared at me for a few moments before it fell to her side. “Nathan Shaw, I would like to just punch you right now.”

My head jerked back. “What?”

“How do you not see what an amazing man you are? Any woman would call herself lucky to be loved by you. And I know in my heart of hearts that you won’t hurt me.”

“I have before.”

“I now know that you weren’t doing it on purpose. And I’m sorry I always made cracks about the amount of women you slept with.”

I shook my head. “Every woman I’ve ever been with has been interested in me for one of two reasons. My looks, or my money. None of them ever meant a thing to me, Haven. I need you to know that.”

Haven made her way over to me. She placed her hand on my chest, and I felt my heart jump in response. “That’s not true, Nate. Not every woman sees that in you.”

My eyes searched her face. “What do you see, Haven?”

When her gaze met mine, something in the air crackled between us.

“I see a man who loves his family and would do anything for them. I see a man who is involved in this community. I see a man who pretends nothing bothers him, but I can see the hurt behind his eyes. I see a man who played Santa Claus and bought me new tires for my car—and sent a check to my company to help me follow a dream of mine—and he did it all without anyone knowing he did it.”

“How did you know that check was from me?”

Smiling, I rubbed my thumb over his shirt and stared straight at his chest. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. The tires and the check all happened the same day.”

Confused, I shook my head. “The check wasn’t supposed to be mailed out until a few days later.”

“Well,” Haven said with a soft laugh. “You better have a word with your attorneys because it came the same day. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was from you. Once I found out that the law firm the check came from was your family’s firm that you use, the puzzle pieces fell into place.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

“Why did you do that, Nate?”

My hand went to the side of her face, and she gently leaned into my touch. “I want to see you happy, Haven. I want to see your dreams come true, and I want to be a part of all of it—and I don’t want to do it anonymously for one more second.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “What are you saying?”

Cupping her face within my hands, I leaned down and whispered against her lips, “I’m tired of denying my feelings for you, Haven. I want to take you to your bed and explore every fucking inch of your body with my eyes, my hands, my tongue. I want to make love to you until I don’t have the energy to move. I want to make you mine.”

Chapter Nine

HAVEN

The feel of Nate’s hot breath against my lips caused my entire body to shiver in anticipation of what would happen next. His words swirled around in my head, and I felt dizzy with happiness. I reached for his arms to steady myself.

---