Page 85 of The Bookbinder's Guide to Love

He took a deep breath.

“I love you.”

The words came out low and gravelly, and he knew that was because he’d rarely said them. He’d even rarely let himself imagine he could experience that emotion. Love might have been in his life, but he’d never seen it or allowed himself to believe in it until Sera. She’d done something to him. Wove her magic—with her books and her halo of curly hair. With her smile that made him hard and her quick wit that kept him on his toes. She’d captured him completely and he knew he was under her spell.

But it wasn’t as if he’d gone into it unwillingly. A part of him believed this was what Grandpa had experienced. That he’d found in Sera the well of love she gave to the world. Amber Rapp might have told the world there was witchy magic in the journal Sera made her. But Wes had come to realize the only magic was Sera herself. She’d spent a life on the outside of other families, watching them from a distance and creating a strength inside herself that came from a deep, loyal love.

“You do?” she asked.

She dropped her arms and her hands were shaking as she watched him. He had no idea if she loved him too. She didn’t have to fall for him the way he had for her. He wanted her to, but he loved her regardless.

He was going to love her for the rest of his life. That future in Birch Lake he’d been unsure of now seemed like the easiest and smartest decision he could make.

He wanted to be close to her. To talk books with her, to sit at the table at night working on their projects and then pull her into his arms and make love to her before she fell asleep, snoring gently in his arms.

That was new. And scary. But he wanted it.

“Yes. I almost told you the other night when you video-called me.”

“The night I drunk-called you,” she said.

“Yes, and then fell asleep. You’re sweet and sexy, and I knew in that moment I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

She cleared her throat and twisted her fingers together. “So what happened when you sawRobinson Crusoeon my table? Did you stop loving me?”

“No. I just let my past get in my head.”

“I do the same thing. No one who loves me has ever stayed. I’m really not sure that, other than Liberty and Poppy, anyone has truly loved me.”

“You know they’re never going to leave,” he pointed out.

“I do. I was starting to think you might stay as well,” she said. “Then you walked out that door.”

“You asked me to leave.”

“I know I did. I couldn’t do anything else,” she admitted. “I would have been mad if you hadn’t left.”

“I know. As soon as we walked up Main Street, I knew I’d been a jerk and wanted to come back, but you needed time. And I needed time too. To be sure of myself and what my heart wanted. I had to know I wanted to stay here not just for you, but for myself.”

“And?”

“I do. I am staying. But it would be a hell of a lot easier if I knew you still cared about me,” he said.

She chewed her lower lip and then reached up to bunch her hair together, as if she were going to put it in a ponytail, and then she let it go. He recognized those nervous gestures of hers. But he had no idea if that was a good sign for him, and his heart, which was beating so hard and fast, he’d think he was having a heart attack if he wasn’t waiting to find out if she loved him.

“I do care,” she said.

He took a step closer to her. “Do you care a lot?”

She nodded in a series of quick motions and then took a step toward him, throwing herself into his arms. He caught her closer, holding her to him as she put her hands on either side of his face the way she liked to do.

She kissed him hard and deep. He moved so he was leaning against that overstuffed bookcase so he could run his hands down her back. She lifted her head.

“I love you too.”

“I was so afraid you wouldn’t be able to,” he admitted.

“Well, I do.”

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