Page 147 of Finding Forever

“And this is me proving to you and the world that you mean more to me than anything else. You come ahead of the company, ahead of my family.… My main priority now and always will be making sure that you—and Cas—are happy.”

“How can you do this? Wasn’t it a done deal?”

“It’s backdated. Cyrus and I worked something out. It’s all perfectly legal.”

“Your father?—”

“Understands. I told him, the other day actually—after my other discussion with him—that I was going to do this. He’s fine with it. And frankly, even if he wasn’t, I’d still have done it. I don’t want you because of what you have, Fern. I want you and I love you because of who you are.”

Cyrus cleared his throat again, and she met his eyes. He looked a bit awkward to be witness to such a private moment but also visibly moved by it.

“I—and several of my aides—have been over this contract with a fine-tooth comb, Fern,” the man told her with a smile. “Everything is well in order. The terms and conditions are more than satisfactory and—unless you want me to squeeze a few more pennies out of them—my advice is for you to go ahead and sign.”

Fern’s eyes flitted back to Cade, who met her gaze with a level stare. His hand closed over the top of her foot and squeezed reassuringly.

“Please, Fern… it’s important to me.”

She nodded and took Cyrus’s heavy gold pen in her hand and—to make both men happy—took her time flipping through each page, reading the sections requiring an initial carefully. Giving the moment the gravity and consideration itdeserved. It took her nearly half an hour, while Cade and Cyrus quietly discussed a recent rugby match, but she finally signed the last page with a flourish.

Cade took the pen from her and added his own scrawl in the designated space beside hers.

“You didn’t read it,” she admonished with a mock gasp and he laughed.

“Sorry, this has already taken up too much of our day and I want your lawyer out of our home so that I can have you all to myself again.”

“That’s my cue,” Cyrus said with a chuckle, capping his pen and carefully placing the contract back into his briefcase. “You get well soon, young lady.”

“Thank you, Cyrus.”

“I’ll be in touch next week to discuss further details on the sale of your company. We’re going to need to set up a meeting with your bank manager ASAP and?—”

“Yes, thank you, goodbye, Cyrus,” Cade said, jumping up and crowding the laughing man out of the front door.

Once he’d shut the door behind Cyrus, he turned to face Fern.

“Alone at last,” he said, a predatory smile lifting the corners of his lips. And she squealed as he stalked toward her.

“How do you feel, Fern?” he asked as he closed the distance between them. She leaped to her feet as he approached, catching her bottom lip between her teeth as she waited.

He was next to her in seconds, but because of the height disparity, she had to bend her neck too far back and she jumped onto the sofa to close the height gap.

“I feel fantastic,” she told him, winding her arms around his strong neck.

“No headache?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck.

“Nope.” She caught his earlobe between her teeth. “You?”

“No.” He laughed softly. “Thanks for asking.”

“Cade… what you just did—” she whispered, serious now.

“I did because I love you. And I want the whole fucking world to know it. I love you so much I want to beat my chest and shout it from the rooftops.”

She leaned against him, trusting him to support her weight and—with her lips hovering the merest breath away from his—whispered, “I love you too, Niall”—kiss—“Caden”—kiss—“Hawthorne, and I can’t begin to imagine what my life would’ve been like now if I hadn’t met you. If I hadn’t followed my instincts and trusted you. You’re my hero, Cade. You saved me.”

He laughed and shook his head.

“You’re the hero, Fern,” he corrected. “You saved yourself. You savedme. And that’s yet another thing I love about you. Your strength. Your bravery…. How the fuck did I get so lucky?”

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