Page 41 of Stalker's Valentine

“I know that,” I rasped, opening my eyes. “No way I could find love like yours and it be touched with anything but goodness.”

“Smooth talker,” she mumbled. The lightness in her voice fed my hope. “You need to tell that guy to stop following me,” she demanded, and I nodded.

“Done.”

“And you…” She shook her head. “You need to relax. We can’t work if you keep thinking something bad’s going to happen.”

“That’s not all it is.”

“What is, then?”

“I need…” I hesitated. Confessing my obsession with her might be the thing she wouldn’t be able to get over.

“What? What is it, Merri?” she asked softly. Her hand moved from my shoulder and cupped the side of my face. I leaned into her light silky touch and kissed her fingertips.

“It’s this need,” I started to say when the thing inside my started to claw at my throat, trying to shut me up. It might have driven me crazy, but it was scared as shit to lose her. “This need that gets the better of me,” I kept sharing, “It’s like I can’t get enough of you. If I’m not around you or your things, it’s almost like“—I swallowed, taking her hand and sliding it down between my chest— “it’s like I can’t breathe.”

“All that… for me?”

“Only you. Never have I felt this. I won’t lie. My age, you gotta know I’ve dated, had my share of women but—“ I stroked the top of her hand. “Those women don’t exist in my head anymore. The only thing, the only person I can think about, is you. It’s like I got shot with Cupid’s arrow and, fuck me, it turned me into a madman, an obsessed one.”

“Over me,” she whispered, and I groaned.

“Only you,” I reminded her. When she didn’t say anything for a long moment, panic started to stir in my gut. “Tell me I didn’t just fuck up by showing you the crazy part of me?” I asked. Fuck, I wasn’t below begging her to give me a chance.

“Would it scare you if I told you I’m weirdly okay with you being that obsessed with me?” Her words were like a balm over my heart and soul.

“Thank fuck,” I growled. “Tell me I can kiss you. Tell me I can kiss you for the rest of our lives.” The grandfather clock in my cabin dinged, and we both looked over.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” she whispered.

I didn’t have her flowers or chocolates on hand. I didn’t have any of the pile of gifts I had waiting for her, but somehow, it was okay. It was just the two of us, and I knew it was time to ask her.

“Will you be this stalker’s Valentine?” When she smiled and nodded, I knew it would be okay.

“Yeah. I’ll be your Valentine. I love you, my sexy stalker.” Tears rolled down her face, and I wiped them away with the pads of my thumbs.

“I love you, cutie,” I grunted before pressing my mouth to hers. There was no sweetness in the kiss. It was a passionate seal of what was to come.

Today, tomorrow, and always.

She was mine, and I was completely hers.

epilogue

. . .

Scarlett

I walkedthrough Merritt’s home, our home now, not only feeling at home, loving the way his things mixed and blended perfectly with mine but his gaze on me. It was crazy. But I did. He wasn’t even home. He was in his office, but it was impossible not to feel his eyes on me.

The man was crazy about me.

And I was crazy about him.

I had a feeling he could be across the world and still watch me every possible moment if he had anything to say about it. But then again, if he had anything to say about it, there would be no way that Merritt would ever be that far away from me without taking me. He liked me with him as much as possible.

No one around us would have understood what we had, not his brothers or my siblings. So, it wasn’t something I shared. Cameras moved, adjusting to get a better view of me as I walked through the hall and into my new home office. Like I said, he was obsessed.

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