Page 124 of His Greatest Treasure

Humour lights more than just her eyes. Her entire expression has become brighter since the last time I saw her, like the clouds that used to veil her happiness have been lifted. She looks free, the way she did when we were just little kids.

“Missing you is just the beginning,butternalle.” She leans further forward, using me to stabilize herself. Her lips taste like oranges when they touch mine. “My grumpy bear.”

The name registers a moment too late. She’s kissing me with a fierceness that sets fire to my blood before I can comment on the meaning of my nickname. Running my fingers through the hairs at the base of her neck, I slip my tongue into her mouth to remind her of my claim. Not just on these soft lips but over every inch of her. Mind, body, and soul, she’s mine the way I’ve always been hers.

“Come with me,” I whisper, dipping a hand to wrap aroundhers. “I don’t know how long we’ll have, but I can’t let you walk out of here without telling you what I need to.”

She lets me pull us into the bunk room with a soft noise of agreement and waits with her hand in mine as I shut the door behind us and twist the lock.

“We could have ten minutes or two, but?—”

My words die against her lips when she kisses me and strokes a finger along my jaw. “There’s no rush. I’m not going anywhere other than back home to wait for you.”

“Fuck, Avery,” I breathe out. “If you say shit like that to me again, I’ll lose my mind.”

“I’ve already lost mine.”

With a shake of my head, I grab her hands and hold them between us, letting them anchor my thoughts. If she keeps touching me freely, I’ll have her beneath me on one of these beds before we’ve even started speaking.

“I love you, Avery Miller. But I also love your daughter. I’ve been struggling with how to describe to you just how much it means to me that you’ve let me into not only your life but into her life. The two of you . . . you’ve filled this aching, empty spot inside of my chest that I’d grown used to ignoring. I’m no longer lonely, my life dull and bland, because with the two of you, it’s impossible for my cup to be anything short of overflowing.

“Our connection goes soul-deep, baby. You’re mine on a molecular level. I’ll never understand how it happened or why, but I do know that it means you’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives.”

“Oliver,” she whispers, her nails tracing the undersides of my fingers.

“I have a few promises to make you.”

“Promises?”

I hum, hovering my lips over hers but never quite touching them. “I’ve spent the past week kicking myself for not making these to you the very first night you fell asleep on my couch and I carried you to my bed because you deserve to hear them all.There’s never been a doubt in my mind that you were it for me, Avery, but I want you to know that until I can slip a ring on your finger, I’m completely fucking yours.”

“I already believe you,” she declares, cheeks flushed.

“Humour me, then. Please.”

She grazes her teeth along her bottom lip before nodding. “Okay.”

“I’ve said it before, but I know you’re a woman who appreciates action more than words, so until I can make good on all of these promises, my words are all I have.” I lift our hands and unlink our fingers before guiding hers to rest against my chest. My heart jumps against my sternum. “You’ve gone through too many experiences alone, struggled with hard decisions, and have carried enough weight on your shoulders to buckle a grown man’s knees, but I promise from today on, that’s going to change.

“I want to be by your side through every bad day and be there to witness your smile on the best ones. You no longer have to be both the good and bad guy. Choose one and give me the other. We do things together. And all that weight you’ve been carrying, baby, shrug it off and pass it over. I’m strong enough to handle the bulk of it while you get some rest. Then, we’ll split it straight down the middle. There’s no more suffering alone. Not anymore. We’re a team.”

A tear leaks from the corner of her eye, but I thumb it away before it falls down her cheek. With a shaky inhale, she curls her fingers in my shirt and grips it tight.

“That all sounds . . . It sounds perfect, Oliver. But what about Nova? Where does she fit into all of this? There isn’t anything I want more than this. For you to make good on all of these promises to me, but with a daughter, it isn’t going to be an easy road,” she says cautiously, but there’s an optimism there that I latch onto.

“I know I won’t ever be Nova’s father. I’d never overstep that boundary. Chris can have his title. What I want to be to her iswhatever and anything she wants me to be. The one thing I can promise you right now is that I will love her with everything in me and will always only be one call away. From now on, she will always have my love, support, and care,” I declare. “You asked me weeks ago if I knew what I wanted my life to look like in ten years, and baby, the only right answer to that question is you and Nova.”

“And down the road, if Nova chose to think of you as another father figure? If that life you dream of becomes a reality?” Avery asks, her voice a near whisper.

“Then I’d be grateful she loves me even half as much as I love her.”

With a blink, she leans her forward against my chin. “I love you, Oliver Bateman.”

“I love you, Avery Miller. Soon to be Bateman.”

“Soon to be? That’s presumptuous of you. It’s only been a couple of months,” she teases, breath bathing my throat.

“It was always meant to be Bateman.”

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