Page 86 of The Wedding Wrecker

My heart skipped. "No? What was it to you?”

He pulled back to meet my eyes. "This was... everything. You're everything."

I blinked back the threat of tears. "When did you get so smooth?"

He laughed, pulling me closer. "Must be all that practice pretending to be your boyfriend."

"Pretending, huh?" I nipped at his jaw. "Are we still calling it that?"

His expression changed. "No. This is as real as it gets, whether you like it or not."

"Good." I curled into him, loving how perfectly we fit together, "because I like how real feels with you. I like it a lot."

We lay there trading lazy kisses until the sweat cooled on our skin. James pulled the blanket over us, careful of the papers still scattered everywhere.

"We should probably clean up all these papers now," I said, but made no move to do so.

"Probably." His hand slid up my thigh. "Or I could show you all the other things I've been dreaming about for three years."

Heat pooled low in my belly. "That's a pretty big promise, Mr. Carter."

His eyes glinted with challenge. "I always deliver on my promises, Ms. Marshall." He rolled me beneath him again, his mouth hot on my neck. "Want me to prove it?"

I pulled him down for another kiss, already addicted to the taste of him. "Prove it."

Turned out, James Carter was almost better at keeping promises than he was at breaking rules.

We laysweaty and exhausted with our cheeks on the pillows, eyes locked.

James stroked my cheek. "I love you," he said.

My heart stopped, then started again double-time. "Don’t you think it’s a little soon to be dropping the ‘L’ word, Mr. Carter?”

“Frankly, I don’t give a shit. I love you, Em. I’ve spent the last three years thinking about you every day—wondering what could’ve been.”

I felt a little light-headed as I stared into his dazzling eyes and let the words wash over me. I smiled, biting my lip. “What if I love you too?”

He chuckled, hooking a finger under my chin and lifting my face. “Was that a question mark I heard?”

I kissed him again, pouring everything I felt into it. "I love you too," I whispered against his lips. "Even if you did ruin my career that one time."

He laughed. "I’ll make that up to you. However long it takes..”

“Oh, is that right? We’re already planning a future together, now?”

“Why not?” he asked.

Why not?

The words echoed in my mind, both tempting and exciting.

It felt like something lifted from my mind—some artificial barrier I’d been holding between us. But he was right, wasn’t he? Why the hell not? We were happy together, so why shouldn’t we take this thing and run with it as far as we possibly could? And who was to say we might not make it all the way to our own happily ever after.

But first, we needed to make sure Lily got hers.

30

EMMA

---