Page 25 of Sheltered By the Surly Forester

My breath stops.

"Not only do I love you, Emie, I like myself better when you're around. I'm much brighter. Less grouchy. I've always devoted my life entirely to the forest, but now I want you as well. I honestly think I can do a great job of being devoted and caring for both youandthe forest."

"I've never had anyone compare me to a forest," I whisper.

"If you want to go stay with your friends for a few months, I will visit you as much as I can, and hope to heck that you'll come back here when their project is off the ground. Or if you want to stay here, maybe you can help your friends through emails and video calls. Maybe we'll take a couple of trips there together to see the space in person."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Flights are really exp?—"

His finger lands on my lips. "Baby, I have never once thrown my money around. If some flights back and forth will makeour lives easier while you help your friends, let this be my one splurge, okay?"

Air is stuck in the top of my chest. "You told… You told your cousin that I'm yourgirlfriend. He's going to tell everyone." My eyes feel dry as I blink. "And people were already staring at us in the diner before."

"Yeah," he sighs. "I’ll admit, we're going to be stared at a lot for a few months. But I promise you nobody would dare say anything bad about you. Not when you're with a Wolfe."

It takes me a moment to relax, inhale deeply, and pull my shoulders down from around my ears.

And now I finally get to say the words that have been on the tip of my tongue for days, but I've been too freaking terrified to say.

15

JOSH

I’ve learned that Emie sometimes needs a few seconds to collect her thoughts, so I wait patiently while she stares at me.

"I love you, too," she finally whispers. "I didn't think…you know, believe…that we could really…"

She trails off, so I stretch forward to kiss her lightly. "I don't know if I ever really believed I'd find someone, either. Didn't know how to go about it. I just hoped."

Standing up, I pull Emie to her feet to wrap my arms around her. "I've never believed in fate, or soul mates, or any of that stuff. But it was honestly only around sixty seconds after I finally admitted to myself that I was lonely that I got the call from James to look for you. And there you were: the beautiful, sweet, creative, adorable girl of my dreams." I try to scowl. "Even though she still doesn't know how to rest very well, dammit."

"Our relationship started with a call from the cops." She giggles sweetly. "How are we going to explainthatto our kids someday?" She pauses. "Um – assuming you want them. Like, way, way down the road."

"Our family is already huge, but I'm still hoping for one or two."

"Perfect."

"Yes, you are." I stand behind her, grab her by the waist, and march her straight into the bedroom.

I keep her standing in front of the reflection in the full length mirror as I peel her shirt up and over her head. My hands skim up her waist as I cup her breasts while Emie leans back against me.

"You're so sexy. I'm going to worship this beautiful body day in and day out."

"You don't have a steady day job. I don't know what I'm doing yet. What's going to happen if we decide never to get out of bed?"

Spinning her, I dip Emie back to kiss along her throat, then down to her peaked nipple. "We'll leave the bed for food and coffee. That will be enough."

I lean her farther back, bending down to kiss around her breasts, then pull her nipple into my mouth. She hums, clutching the back of my neck. Then she gasps as my teeth scrape across her sensitive skin.

"You know I'm going to be putting some photos or paintings in here eventually, right?"

"Of course," I murmur against her skin. "I hope you'll do the entire house."

"You don't even know what style I might pick."

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